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View Full Version : hyacinth macaw vs blue and gold macaw as pets



koa
04-24-2014, 02:37 AM
so just thinking what would be a good pick hyacinths or blue and gold i need the bird to be nice good with younger kids like prob my 10 year old will be with it the most and my wife but we will all come and see it play and be with it for 3h i work from home so does my wife and my kids are home school so we would be with it a lot so over all hyacinth macaw vs blue and gold macaw

Grey
04-24-2014, 03:33 AM
well for starters, a Hyacinth is going to cost at least 8-10 times what a Blue & Gold would cost. Then there are the dietary needs.

What is your experience keeping parrots? Have you had a large parrot before? How much research have you done on both species? Many people will throw generalizations as "good natured" or "gentle giants": Remember that each one is an individual with emotions all their own and generalizations are by their nature always false.

Both can make phenomenal companions in the right situation, sadly the reverse is also true. I personally wouldn't recommend either as a first "big" bird. They are loving, and funny, and smart: but they also push back and test your boundaries. If not well trained and socialized, they can do significant damage with those beaks. I'm not trying to dissuade you, I am just trying to give you some food for thought. Only you can decide what is best for your family and your situation.

koa
04-24-2014, 04:29 AM
so far the blue and gold seem best for me this is what i read.Blue and Gold macaws are the most popular choices for people to bring into their homes in the macaw family for their beautiful and vibrant plumage, clear speech, and suggested loyalty. A lot of people would say that you couldn’t go wrong with this bird.

There are many things people do not consider prior to getting one of these beautiful birds. Take some time to go through this list to make sure you’re sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Are you the right home for a blue and gold macaw?

I have a large, safe space appropriate to house this bird.
I understand that this parrot is a long-term commitment.
I will provide daily interaction with this bird outside of its cage.
The natural noises, screams and sounds of this bird will be acceptable to those in my household, as well as my neighbors.
If you were able to say the above statements out loud and in all honesty, you might just be able to welcome this type of parrot into your home.

Average Size 35 inches Life Span 40 years or more

Diet- Their main diet should consist of an organic pellet with a variety of fruits, vegetables and cooked meats. Parrots love diversity in their meals and will appreciate cooked pasta, beans, brown rice and fresh wheatgrass, sprouts and non-toxic flowers on a daily basis.

It is important to keep seeds, nuts and other high fat foods to a minimal amount and not part of the parrot’s daily intake. These foods are best given as treats or within food-finding toys, to keep your bird motivated and busy throughout the day.

Feeding- Parrots tend to like to “dip” their food, or soak it in their water, in order to soften it for eating. It’s important to keep their water dishes fresh and clean to avoid bacteria build-up. This should be done daily.

Raw fruits and vegetables are the healthiest for companion parrots, but some can be picky, in which case, you can try cooking these healthy foods in different ways. Such examples include boiling a sweet potato so it’s soft for your parrot to eat (wait an appropriate amount of time when feeding cooked foods to your bird for these foods to properly cool).

Discard fresh foods that haven’t been eaten in at least 24 hours.

To keep your parrot busy throughout the day and avoid boredom (which leads to biting, screaming and feather plucking), it’s best to provide fun and interactive ways for your bird to eat its meals every day. Such ways include using skewers, for fresh foods, and various food-finding toys, for hard foods such as pellets.

Housing- An outdoor aviary is ideal for parrots; natural sunlight is essential for their plumage (feathers) and overall health. This can be supplemented with full-spectrum lighting indoors if your climate does not allow for your cage to be outside.

Parrots do best when put in a “high traffic” area in the home where they will get daily interaction.

Because parrots in captivity are more likely to become obese – a flight cage is highly encouraged as a means to properly exercise and stay as healthy as possible while living in captivity.

As with all animals, the larger the cage/habitat, the better. Bar spacing should be no less than 1 inch apart and the proper gauge should be 10g/12g.

A varying diameter and texture of perches is necessary to avoid arthritis and various types of foot sores. The main perches should be made of wood; these are perches your bird will use consistently throughout the day, and more often than others. Sandy perches should be placed high in the cage so your bird will be encouraged to sleep on it at night – this allows your parrot to get trimmed nails naturally.

A metal grate at the bottom of your bird’s cage is suggested, as it makes cleaning up after your parrot easier and keeps your bird out of it its own droppings.

Recommended Supplies

Indoor Cage
Outdoor Aviary
Cage Liner (newspaper, walnut shells)
Organic Pellet
Food Finding Toys
Treats
Mineral Block
Variety of Perches & Shreddable Toys
Interactive Training Courses & Tools
Bird Perch Scale (weighing in grams)
Behavior & Interaction

These macaws are typically found in pairs or family groups in the wild, thus making them a bit more social than other species of macaws, who primarily stick to only their mates. They tend to be even-tempered and sweet, if raised properly.

They use body language as a large portion of their communication and love training and learning new things – anything that stimulates their mind and challenges them to figure out something new.

They require many different types of chewable toys that they can destroy, as well as puzzle toys that challenge them to figure out how to get inside of it.

Habitat Maintenance

Perches, toys, and food-finding toys should be rotated regularly, and especially if showing wear and tear. Only toys made from all natural materials should be used; any metals such as zinc or lead can be severely harmful to your parrot’s health.

Your bird’s cage should be changed at least once a week. It may need it more often, due to fresh foods and toy parts.

It’s recommended to clean and disinfect the bird’s cage as often, as well.

It’s very important to weigh your bird daily, to be able to catch on to illness early on. Parrots are very good at disguising illness (as it means the difference of life and death in the wild).

Grooming & Hygiene

Macaws need to be bathing regularly; between 3-5 times in the winter months and 5-7 in the summer months is a healthy amount. Most enjoy the natural bath rain outside, so providing an outdoor aviary to enjoy these times is ideal.

If your bird wants to bathe more often, it is good to encourage it, as it keeps their skin and plumage looking healthy and can make it easier on allergies to dander.

Bathing can be done in numerous amounts of ways; every bird will have his/her personal preference, so it is best to let your bird try them all to tell you what it likes best. Every bird likes to bathe in the wild; it would be unnatural if your bird refused to ever bathe, as well as unhealthy.

Here are some various ways parrots bathe in captivity:

An extra bowl for bathing inside the cage (hanging or at the bottom of the cage)
Misting from a spray bottle
On a shower perch in a human shower with you (many birds prefer catching the mist off your back)
Some birds have different water temperature preferences (hot, warm, cold)
Natural baths in the outside rain provided in an aviary
Clipping flight feathers can be very detrimental to these parrots, as they need their exercise and cannot get the proper exercise from simply climbing and walking around. They make very agile, expert fliers and glory in flight. It is a great way for them to get excess energy out before mellowing out to spend time with you.

To determine if clipping is necessary in your household, consult an avian specialist. Nails and beak trimming should be done by a qualified professional if needed.

Signs of a Healthy Blue and Gold Macaw

Active, alert, social and vocal
Dry eyes and nostrils
Eating and drinking regularly throughout the day
Smooth, well groomed/preened and colorful feathers
A healthy parrot will likely fly around, parrots refuse to fly when not feeling well when they would normally take flight
Common Health Issues

Diarrhea

You can tell your parrot has diarrhea by seeing that the fecal part of the stool is not formed. This can have multiple causes, such as too much fruit in the diet or a parasite. It’s best to seek an avian specialist’s opinion and sometimes reduce your parrot’s fruit intake.

Feather Plucking & Mutilation

Most parrots pluck due to extreme boredom, an unhealthy diet, or some other related illness. Many parrots pluck because they never bathe and it causes “over preening” where they literally end up chewing the feather to bits in an attempt to get them clean. A parrot on the improper diet can lead to malnourishment and cause plucking and mutilation as well.

Boredom is the number one factor causing most parrots to pluck. This can be helped by rotating and changing toys in the cage regularly, giving extra attention through social interaction and training, as well as improving diet or amount of space and location your bird is at/in.

It’s also important to seek an avian specialist’s advice if the plucking is not related to something physical as the listed above. Some parrots begin after the significant loss of something – such as a mate.

Proventricular Dilatation Disease

This disease occurs when the bird is passing undigested foods, showing signs of depression and/or is losing weight abruptly. It is necessary to consult with an avian specialist if your bird is showing these signs of illness.

Obesity

Obesity is caused by poor feeding, an unhealthy diet, and/or lack of proper exercise.

It’s important to regulate high fatty foods in the bird’s diet and make sure all foods being fed are organically grown, including the pellet mix. It may be a positive idea to introduce flight training into your bird’s learning and training schedule to ensure exercise is obtained every day – or that a flight aviary is implemented in the bird’s environment.

Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus

Signs leading to this virus are abnormal feather coloration, the loss of feathers and other beak deformities. It’s important to be able to tell the symptoms apart from molting and know your bird’s molting cycles to avoid confusion.

An avian specialist is required in properly treating this virus in parrots.

Red Flags from Your Blue and Gold Macaw

Beak swelling
Chewed, plucked or soiled feathers/plumage
A bird who sits on the floor of the cage/habitat (often it will appear fluffy)
Wheezing, coughing or other indications of trouble breathing
Runny or discolored stools (aside from diarrhea from fruit or different color from diet)
Eye or nasal discharge (runny nose or eyes)
Red or swollen eyes
Loss of appetite; a bird who refuses to eat or shows no interest
Favoring one limb over the other

Turquoise
04-24-2014, 06:47 AM
Like George said, a macaw is not generally a first bird to start off with. And is definitely not considered a bird to start a young child with. They are wonderful parrots to have, but do need a gentle but strong flock leader, meaning their human flock member. Macaws can be & are quite loud when they scream. And like George has mentioned, a macaw beak can be very dangerous to a child without strict knowledgeable adult supervision should the bird become frightened by something which can happen in a split second.

My suggestion that has been given to you already in a previous thread where you asked what species of parrot to start your son off with, was and still is a much smaller less demanding species. Cockatiels and Conures were some of the suggestions given and would still be a better choice as a first bird over a macaw for children to interact with until they become more experienced with the care and training of parrots.

koa
04-24-2014, 02:21 PM
we will be geting a blue and gold macaw a few years after we get the Cockatiel so i think my younger kids wont be going near the macaw just me my 10 soon to be 11 and my wife my 10 year old is reel good with reptiles birds he can even hand feed fish

Grey
04-24-2014, 05:04 PM
In all honesty, you may want to think more on this although it sounds like you already made your mind up and will disregard what anyone tells you to the contrary. Its great that you are all home so much. How distracting do you think a macaw can be to children's home studies? or to work? I primarily work from home and there are times that I have been on calls that I had to take outside in the pouring rain because my guys decided it was time for the Jungle Noise Happy Hour and I couldn't hear my client or they couldn't hear me. I sincerely hope you put some serious thought into this considering the bird's needs more than your wants.

koa
04-24-2014, 06:21 PM
just saying there is so much noise in my house it would not matter that much lol and i only do work calls once a week and he would be downstairs like all of are pets so we would not here the noise when we work

kendrafitz
04-24-2014, 07:28 PM
Hi Koa - sorry for coming in late. Just so I understand, you are thinking of getting a cockatiel now and a b&g in a few years? If I understand correctly, good for you for planning and doing your research. :)

I am going to give you my perspective, I am a first time bird parront. You can take it or leave it, but I hope it helps a bit.

I am an animal person, we have always had pets (dogs, cats, lizards) but never a parrot. I met and fell in love with Rosie my GW when she was 2 months old. I visited her daily for 1 1/2 months until I brought her home. The store had a large "family room" with perches, trees and couches so several families could visit at once. Since there were other people in the room with me I grilled those poor people for knowledge while bonding with Rosie. I also spent a lot of time hounding the staff for as much information as I could and had them teach me how to hand feed her. I THOUGHT I knew what I was getting into and was prepared to bring her home. But much like bringing your first child home, you can never be prepared.

I am going to preface this with a very firm statement, I adore Rosie, she has a huge part of my heart and I will spend the rest of my life with her. That being said, I am not sure I would do it again if I knew just how much my life would change. It is very important to understand that life will not be the same. I really believe that the reason there are so many homeless parrots is bc people are just not prepared for the needs of their new family member. I feel this so strongly that I do something that may not be popular with others, and if so, I apologize for upsetting you, but not for doing it. Whenever a non bird person is enamored with Rosie and says, "maybe I should get a bird", I say don't do it. It is not like having any other pet and it is a huge life change. I really believe you need to be a certain type of person to share your life with a parrot.

Here are some of the things I just didn't know:

You will now have a constant companion. I mean constant. I don't even shower alone. Rosie wants to be with me all the time. EVEN AS I TYPE THIS I HAVE A PARROT WALKING ALL OVER ME, STICKING HER HEAD DOWN MY SHIRT AND USING MY ENTIRE BODY AS HER CHEW TOY. I am used to moving my ipad all over, redirecting and just stopping to give kisses and cuddle. However, this is something to consider. Privacy and personal space are a thing of the past. ;)

Messy and destructive is not a good enough description. At least not here. Rosie has several play areas. Each area is a constant mess. The floor will have food, toy parts, newspaper with poop, feathers and feather casings on it at any given time. If you have a dog, they may be like mine. Grabbing dropped nuts, taking them to another part of the house and cracking them open. Thus, more mess. As far as destruction goes, if she can get hold of anything she will chew it up. It's not her fault, it's instinct. That fact does not make my husband any happier that the window sills, blinds or my leather office chair are chewed up.

You will NOT be prepared for the noise level. My husband works from home. His office is on the second floor, Rosie generally spends her time on the first floor. It does not matter. When she lets loose, he cannot hold a conversation without the person on the other end of the phone hearing her. That is just the way it is. I have lost hearing in my left ear from her yelling at the dogs/kids while on my shoulder. No lie.

You do not "own" them, they own you.

Big beaks can cause big damage and learning to read body language is key. I just read a story on another board. A man had a newly weaned 9 month old GW shipped to him. There were a few issues getting the bird home and she was stressed. Ended up biting the guy when he tried to get her to step up from inside her cage. He was bitten so badly that his finger was broken and he needed 20 stitches.

Now, all that said, I really and truly adore my girl. There is nothing like being bonded to a macaw. If you have the time, patience and love to give the rewards are enormous. Rosie gives me more love than I ever imagined she would. She is funny and really seems to try to do things to make me laugh. She is crazy smart and challenges me daily.

I am certainly not saying don't get a macaw. Just make sure you realize how much things will change.

Best of luck and I look forward to reading all about your experiences.

Mare
04-24-2014, 07:54 PM
Thanks, Kendra! I sure couldn't have said it better! Birds are a HUGE commitment and their welfare should come first. They, like most pets or creatures we bring into our homes, are totally dependant on us for ALL their needs and it seems the larger parrots can be the most demanding. Please let all this soak in, Koa, before doing something you wished you hadn't.

koa
04-24-2014, 08:27 PM
thanks for the help guys and if i do get a b&g macaw i will have a big stand for him/her to sit on when i am on xbox tv pc and be with it all the time when i ever get a pet i do a lot of research i rember when i got my 1# pet i did 3 years of research! and when i got it i spent all the day with him so i kind of am a pet guy

koa
04-24-2014, 11:43 PM
btw kendra thanks for likeing the post

kendrafitz
04-24-2014, 11:52 PM
You're welcome. It is great to do research to find out what works best for you. I am a researcher myself. :)

plax
04-25-2014, 12:14 AM
True and terrific post, Kendra! :)

koa
04-25-2014, 12:15 AM
kendra maybe we are twins lol

BeakFace
08-09-2014, 03:46 PM
True and terrific post, Kendra! :)

I was waiting for you to chime in. Now reconsidering getting a Hyacinth. I don't know if you remember me adopting Black Palm Luci (15 years old) from Youtube totally unexpected. Well I said my future plan for a Hyacinth is not going to happen. I am now reconsidering. I do know two great breeders that will let me know when one is available just in case I want one. I have done business with them before. Because they know and trust me I will be visiting one that is closer to me next week to look at the four proven pairs of Hyacinths. I really just want to enjoy looking at these just gorgeous birds. No eggs this year so far so not looking promising. She said breeding season for them is coming to an end. Well this is ok because I have a lot of homework to do before making this big decision! If things change and I get a baby I would be able to visit baby often and hand feed and learn from the breeder so much. She is wonderful. I still would rather get a Hyacinth that needs a good home that is about 2-6 years of age. I saw such a bird a couple of months ago but someone got there before me. I went to see him even though he was sold. He was 4 years old, tame, sweet hand fed baby. Stepped right up, calm! Just perfect. This couple was forced to sell due to 6 months of mortgage payments they were behind on. Really sad situation. Bird was shipped to Texas. One lucky lady! I don't feel I have experience or time to take on a problem Hyacinth. If you know of anyone looking to re home a Hyacinth that is tame and needing a good home please PM me. I have many references.

plax
08-09-2014, 06:09 PM
I was waiting for you to chime in. Now reconsidering getting a Hyacinth. I don't know if you remember me adopting Black Palm Luci (15 years old) from Youtube totally unexpected. Well I said my future plan for a Hyacinth is not going to happen. I am now reconsidering. I do know two great breeders that will let me know when one is available just in case I want one. I have done business with them before. Because they know and trust me I will be visiting one that is closer to me next week to look at the four proven pairs of Hyacinths. I really just want to enjoy looking at these just gorgeous birds. No eggs this year so far so not looking promising. She said breeding season for them is coming to an end. Well this is ok because I have a lot of homework to do before making this big decision! If things change and I get a baby I would be able to visit baby often and hand feed and learn from the breeder so much. She is wonderful. I still would rather get a Hyacinth that needs a good home that is about 2-6 years of age. I saw such a bird a couple of months ago but someone got there before me. I went to see him even though he was sold. He was 4 years old, tame, sweet hand fed baby. Stepped right up, calm! Just perfect. This couple was forced to sell due to 6 months of mortgage payments they were behind on. Really sad situation. Bird was shipped to Texas. One lucky lady! I don't feel I have experience or time to take on a problem Hyacinth. If you know of anyone looking to re home a Hyacinth that is tame and needing a good home please PM me. I have many references.Hey Cynthia. I'm sorry to hear that you missed out on the 4-year-old Hy who ended up going to Texas. I sincerely hope he went to a good forever home.

As I'm sure you know, locating a Hy who needs to be re-homed can be quite a challenge. And that seems especially true when someone is narrowing things down to a particular age range and to a proven desired temperament. While holding that sort of criteria doesn't mean that such birds aren't out there, it usually means that it may be a searching and waiting game. As such, a baby Hy from a breeder is always an option.

One way to look at the matter is this: Most adoptable Hys are not difficult to place in homes because of the sheer demand for them... so they often go quickly. Whereas placing ones name on a breeder's waiting list can provide a reasonable level of assurance that a baby Hy is on the horizon. And most prospective Hy parents should not feel guilty about purchasing a baby Hy from a breeder because doing so only serves to perpetuate the species (whose wild population is seriously endangered) by encouraging Hy breeders to continue their work. So, Cynthia, whatever you decide to do should be fine.

I'm hopeful the right bird will come into your life as soon as possible. Best of luck to you!

jtbirds
08-10-2014, 01:12 AM
You are all looking for a HY and I would love to find a black palm or hawkhead haha! Goodluck with your adventure if i hear of anything I will let you know:).

2birds
08-15-2014, 07:56 PM
You are all looking for a HY and I would love to find a black palm or hawkhead haha! Goodluck with your adventure if i hear of anything I will let you know:).
Aww!! I wish I would have known. I saw a hawkhead on craigslist locally to me about a month and a half ago needing a home. He was for sale but they weren't asking much for him. I wanted to go look at it myself but three is my limit.

jtbirds
08-15-2014, 11:18 PM
aww darn! It wasn't the right one then:). One will come around for me I just love the species and attitudes;).

2birds
08-16-2014, 01:48 AM
aww darn! It wasn't the right one then:). One will come around for me I just love the species and attitudes;).

I'll keep it in mind.