help with rescued severa - sleeping, twitching, more.

[jakes mom]

hello -

Today is day 5 of being 'jakes mom'. we adopted him from a rescue on sunday. He's a severe macaw - or severa, male, 8 years old.

We took him to the vet yesterday - seems ok, a bit thin.
he was in a small cage with only one perch and one toy his entire life.

We've got a new larger cage for him, with more perches and sleeping tent. So far, hes seems to make good progress with us - very friendly, seems to do well with new things - new foods, people, etc.

his 2 biggest problems are;

1. that hes VERY nervous - when hes nervous, he twitches his head, biting his shoulder then his leg while crying out. We've just been trying to avoid things that scare him... But its difficult because he dosent know how to step up, and dosent know how to fly. He's chewed his flight feathers to bits and they are unusable - so hs VERY afraid of falling. we've been keeping him on the floor, but picking him up / getting him off the floor to his cage is difficult, but were making progress.

2. eating / sleeping. the new cage is unfamiliar to him, and i know he SEES his food / water, but dosent seem to be making the effort to go get the food. when i put food in front of him, he'll eat. when i dip my finger in water and put it in his mouth, he licks it, and eventually will take it from the bowl.
again, were making progress.

<B>now the major issue, why im writing in fact - </b> is because nighttime is the most frustrating. he knows when its bed time - he gives me a few "click-clicks" as a good night kiss - but when i put him back in his cage, he begins swinging his head back and forth, wings flapping, and seems uneasy. he starts to chat, obviously wanting attention - "hello! cracker!....cracker! hello!" and climbs around his cage excitedly, when he normally sits on his perch quiet and tepid.

I tried covering the cage - hes afraid of the fabric though. i have a birdie tent in the cage, but he dosent know what to do with it. I believe he's sleeping while holding onto the bars on the side of the cage, giving him a poor quality of sleep.

Eventually, i just say good night, and close the door. i dont hear him come down from the side wall though.

the vet reccomended covering 1/2 the cage - i have the back wall covered at the momement, the rest uncovered. in the room there is only a twin bed and dresser with his supplies on it. hes in the far corner of the room - not near the door or the window.

My hahn's macaw sleeps in a tent, loves her tent, and sleeps very well.

Suggestions?

[Tinna]

well my bird doesn't like sleeping alone because I took away his happy hut out of fear he'd die the same way the other one did from ingesting the fibers so he sleeps in my head board (he's a sunny) I would suggest maybe he just needs a night cage, maybe put him in his old cage at night in your bedroom for a while to show him it's okay to sleep. My bird does well with that...just gotta watch out for the morning beak to the forehead to tell ya its time to get up at 9AM XD

[Bonesy]

It sounds much like a night fright, or one manifesting.

Try moving his cage into your bedroom so he sees the rest of his "flock" sleeping too.

Also leave a nightlight on, or a curtain well open for moonlight to come in. Many birds are Terrified of complete dark.

I wouldnt cover a bird suffering frights, my budgie suffered them and after I never used a cover again, he recovered over a week and has happily slept soundly after I did all of the above things. Also a gentle decent of light is better. A full room light to a lamp light, then the lamp to the night light, and leave the curtains wide open so he can see out.

Someone else may have a better suggestion than this but It's what helped my birds get over frights.

Regards,
Sophie.

[MiniMama]

Hi - I took i a Yellow collared that was somewhat similar - very thin, falling due to nervousness, scarred, etc. Here's what I've done (and after 3 weeks she quit fear biting and falling):
1. Cover her cage around 7. This is her preferance
2. Hand feed her in the morning. I feed them birdie mash, which you can find in good quality pet stores specializing in parrots. I was also buying carrot baby food, and mixing it in with the warm mash to boost her vitamin A.
3. Play on the ground. I would lay on the ground and just let her explore. After a while she started coming to me to play wrestle, but for a while there she liked to go off by herself and explore.
4. change out toys once a week. It took me 3 months before I finally got a toy mix that she would play wiht.
5. Put her cage outdoors. She loves watching peole go by and seems to really benefit from the sun.

Good luck. Mini macaws requre patience, about 3 months, before they are calm and in a place where they can be their playful selves.