[hopehaswings]

I was just watching my macaw and thinking about how long we have had him, and his recent behavioral changes. And WOW, you know it can really take a long time for a parrot to overcome rehoming! he lives on a playstand, we have never caged him, as someone is always home, we have had him well over 2 years and all this time, he has never come down off his playstand... He JUST NOW has decided to venture down! I cant believe it took him all that time to finally feel comfortable enough in our home to go any further then the top level of his stand. We are now considering getting him a cage because he is all oer the place and he chases me and also goes after the dog(DOSNT like me or the dog, LOL), but we will never keep any parrot locked up for an extended amount of time. You know when you rehome a bird or you adopt a second hand bird, it is going to take time for them to adjust to a new home, but do you REALLy realize how tramatic it is, to suddenly without warning be ripped away from the only place and people you know, driven or flown a long way, and then suddenly day after day in a new place with new faces and wondering surley, will I ever see my family again? So YES it can take YEARS to recover! Sad but something we all need to stop and think about. I am glad the red lored I am getting in a couple of weeks is a handfed baby. I also enjoy the comany of my rescue blue front and enjoy working with him, but I also now know that because he has been rehomed many times, as well as neglected, it may be a LONG time coming before he trusts me. Aslo something to keep in mind for people considering second hand birds, even when the bird is said to be friendly, social, handlable with its currant family, it may be a long long time before your family can have that same sort of relationship. I imagine there are even some parrots that never recover.