'Nother New Member...

[Marcus' Mom]

Hello to all...

Haven't been a member of a "Birdie Board" since my Marcus was just two or three years old. Found this site while doing some research on nutrition, and decided it might be fun to become part of the community after goin' it alone for so long.




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This is Marcus Aurelius, a/k/a "The Brat" :th_biggrin:

[Lady]

Hi Summer,

Welcome to the site. Marcus is quite handsome! I am sure you will find the folks here and all of their love for feathered family members a wonderful place to be.

[PlaxMacaws]

Hi Summer! Welcome to PP :D. I love your photo of Marcus... he looks to be contemplating something ;). I have a Green-wing as well. His name is Salsa... and believe me, he's quite a character! It seems like all of them are.

I'm so glad you've joined our community. Please tell us all about Marcus if you like.

[Marcus' Mom]

Thank you Alice and Tony for the nice welcome.


I love your photo of Marcus... he looks to be contemplating something.

Always! He's always got somethin' cookin' in that noodle of his. When he was just about 2 years old, I came home from work to find that he had opened his cage doors (from the inside), unbolted and partially dismantled other parts of the cage, thrown his large ceramic food and water dishes across the room (leaving a gash in one of the plaster walls) and completely destroyed my new $300.00 Eureka canister vacuum cleaner. Of course, when I walked into the bedroom (where his cage was), he was sitting in his cage as though nothing had happened... with the doors closed, of course (though not latched). Since then, I've considered changing his name to Nero.

That aside, as far as I can tell, he's more or less your typical Green Wing, if such a thing exists. He does have his quirks, of course. He won't play with toys outside of his cage, for one thing. I had purchased all of these neat "enrichment" gadgets to occupy his brain, but he just ignored them, and even got annoyed when I tried to force the issue. After a time, I figured it wasn't worth losing a finger or two just to get him to stack the stupid colored rings on the right posts. He's a pretty finicky eater as well, but only when it comes to the more nutritious foods I offer him. He'll eat his ZuPreem Veggie blend pellets and his wall nuts, as well as most of the other "people food" that I offer him. But put broccoli and/or carrots and/or squash -- either cooked or raw -- in his wet dish, and he'll look at me as if I'm trying to poison him. So I've had to be creative to get him to eat the good stuff. I've recently, for example, decided to capitalize on his sweet tooth and came up with a cinnamon nut muffin recipe made with red palm oil, nut flower (which I process myself), unbleached flour, various nut butters, regular butter, egg, a dash of vanilla, sugar and cinnamon. It's not a total food, but I can pack several kinds of nuts in there along with the red palm oil which, if brightness and shine of his plumage is any indicator, seems to be doing wonders for his vitamin A deficiency. Anyway, he loves these muffins and I usually give him half a muffin a day. Now if I could just get the little vulture's weight above 1145g, I'd be a happy woman.

Anyway, I'm just rambling now. Hope to see y'all on some of the other topics.


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[Lady]

:th_LOL: how sweet he looks on the back of the chair.
What a crazy story about him getting out making a mess then putting himself back into his cage. This is another good reason why I think they are so smart. Something less challenging happened to us with Lady. We had no idea that she could open the cage door herself till she did it one day but was also in the cage when my husband came home. It looked to him like I was leaving the door unlocked. Once we put one of the hooks you use to hang their toys on the door she never got out on her own again.

[plax]

Wow, Summer, thanks for the rundown on Marcus :D. I note some similarities between him and Salsa. But there are a few differences as well. For example, Salsa has absolutely no problem putting on the grams. His morning weight typically falls between 1570 and 1600g. There was one point when he was above 1700g (empty)! I put him on a diet and a flapping workout regimen. He continues to engage with his workouts each day and he has maintained a reasonable weight for the past 1.5 years or so.

It's a bit funny to read about Marcus being an escape artist and a vandal ;). I'm sure, though, that the humor element isn't at the forefront of your mind when it happens. But you've gotta admit that Marcus' adventures home alone tend to make for some amusing anecdotal stories :)

GW's are indeed terrific birds! Thanks for sharing a bit about Marcus!! And BTW, your muffin diet plan enhancement is a great idea :)

[Marcus' Mom]

I'm sure, though, that the humor element isn't at the forefront of your mind when it happens.

The humor of these incidents isn't lost on me. In fact, after having cats and dogs all my life, Marcus' antics and the intelligence necessary to pull them off never cease to amaze AND amuse me!

I really don't know why Marcus can't seem to gain weight (he definitely does NOT have the appetite of a bird! :th_biggrin:). It's been an issue all his life. Or perhaps it's not an issue at all -- maybe some GWs are smaller and lighter than others. But I do know that his pectoral muscles, or whatever you call the chest muscles responsible for flight, are underdeveloped from lack of use. I used to be able to get him to exercise his wings by flapping, but he lost interest in that "game" somewhere along the way. It actually worries me. Maybe I'll have to revisit the issue. In any case, those underdeveloped muscles might be at least partially responsible for him being underweight. How do you get Salsa to do the flapping workout?

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Marcus' Muffins

[plax]

The humor of these incidents isn't lost on me. In fact, after having cats and dogs all my life, Marcus' antics and the intelligence necessary to pull them off never cease to amaze AND amuse me!Yes :exactly: ...it's hard not feel astounded by some of the capers and escapades these feathered clowns pull off ;)


I really don't know why Marcus can't seem to gain weight (he definitely does NOT have the appetite of a bird! :th_biggrin:). It's been an issue all his life. Or perhaps it's not an issue at all -- maybe some GWs are smaller and lighter than others. But I do know that his pectoral muscles, or whatever you call the chest muscles responsible for flight, are underdeveloped from lack of use.Some GWs seem to be naturally lighter than others. And underdeveloped/atrophied muscles certainly contribute to a lower total weight. Have you asked an avian veterinarian about Marcus' overall health? His weight range may be natural for him as an individual.


I used to be able to get him to exercise his wings by flapping, but he lost interest in that "game" somewhere along the way. It actually worries me. Maybe I'll have to revisit the issue. In any case, those underdeveloped muscles might be at least partially responsible for him being underweight. How do you get Salsa to do the flapping workout?Salsa has always loved to flaunt his extended wings. He does an "Eagle Bird" pose where he extends both wings in a perfectly straight line (like an airplane) and holds them like that for several seconds. If I hold my arms straight out, Salsa follows suit. So all I had to do with him was start doing flapping motions with my arms. It wasn't long before he himself was flapping and loving it! I then praised him a lot each time he flapped - I continue to praise him for flapping in fact. I'm sure this may not work with all Macaws... but it thankfully worked for Sals.

You might also try running short distances with Marcus on your wrist to inspire his flapping impulse. That sometime works. If it does, once he gets used to flapping regularly from doing it, he may decide that he likes flapping after all. It's unfortunate that some birds simply don't seem interested in flapping no matter what we may try, though. My B&G, Jack, lost his will to fly (or even flap) after his bond mate rejected him in 2005. His wings are now atrophied :(. He's just not interested in using them anymore... and he used to be a wonderful flying bird :'(

Changing the subject a bit, that muffin sure looks GOOD! :th_tongue2:

[Marcus' Mom]

Some GWs seem to be naturally lighter than others. And underdeveloped/atrophied muscles certainly contribute to a lower total weight. Have you asked an avian veterinarian about Marcus' overall health? His weight range may be natural for him as an individual.

His vet doesn't seem to concerned about his weight. Marcus did suffer a bout of Aspergillosis some years back -- late June of '11, I think. The concern at that time was that I try to keep his weight up while he was undergoing treatment (IIRC, he initially presented at 1125g with respiratory issues). Fortunately, Marcus bounced back in relatively short order -- a few days, if memory serves (not counting the 3 week course of oral antifungals) -- and has been healthy ever since. The vet said Marcus was fortunate that his infection was confined to his respiratory system and wasn't nearly as bad as he had seen around that time. He blames Marcus' vitamin A deficiency for the infection, which is why I'm so concerned about keeping up the beta carotene in his diet (hence the red palm oil in the muffins). The vet also blamed an unusually warm prior winter, and said that he had been getting an unusually high number of Macaws presenting with aspergillosis. Apparently, Macaws are generally somewhat more resistant to the infection than other birds, so the higher-than-normal number of cases was noteworthy. In any case, Marcus' weight has always been in the 1140g range for all of his vet visits over the years.

Marcus can still fly, and does so whenever he's startled, but rarely for any other reason. I'll give the running thing a try -- thank you for the tip. He certainly doesn't lack energy, nor does he get winded easily, so it can't hurt. I've been thinking of building him a flight cage in our yard -- maybe 30'l x 10'w x 10'h with a cover or roof of some sort to keep him out of direct sunlight. The only problem is, in my town it would have to be a temporary structure. Thinking of using PVC pipe for the structure, some sort of wire fencing to close it in and canvas for the top. Anyway, I'm rambling again...

Thanks for the advice :thanks4sharingthumb



Changing the subject a bit, that muffin sure looks GOOD!

They actually taste pretty good, too. I can't take more than a small bite because the red palm oil I'm using isn't made for human consumption, but it tastes like a peanut butter muffin with cinnamon, and has chopped walnuts running all through it. Marcus LOVES them! I bake a lot, and Marcus always gets his share. So it just seemed like a no-brainer to bake something healthy and delicious for him.

Again, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with Salsa!

[Lady]

Oh Marcus is lucky to have a Mom that likes to bake! Home made recipes are always nice, especially ones we can eat too.

[Marcus' Mom]

Hi Alice,

Actually, all I'd have to do is buy a brand of red palm oil that's made for human consumption, and I'd be able to share these particular muffins with Marcus. There are several brands that come up if you do a Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo search.

And some of the other muffins and quick breads -- especially those with lots of fruit and nuts and very little sugar -- are treats we enjoy together. :th_biggrin:

[plax]

Again, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with Salsa!You're welcome, Summer. I'm glad to share helpful information when I can. It sounds to me as if 1140g is Marcus' stable weight. The fact that he tends to maintain his weight is a very good sign! Keep those muffins a comin'!! ;)