Keeping two macaws

[Brian C]

Hi. I´m new to this forum, just discovered it.

I have a 7 months old B&G feemale, she has been with me since she was 3 months old. My question is that I want to get another parrot, and I was thinnking of another macaw, but a lot of people tells me that it can be a huge problem when they get sexually mature, if they bond strongly as a pair they can get extremely agressive towards humans, even though they might be of the same sex and/or different species.

Is it possible to keep more than one macaw as pets without a high risk of loosing the strong bond between human and parrots?

Regards
Brian

[LissaKokoKiwiKaseySam]

I am a multi parrot household. I do have a mini macaw and a Harlequin, so there is not much competition there. Most of the folks I've talked to in the past say there can be quite a bit of competition, and I'd definitely recommend that both macaws are of the same sex should you decide to get a second. It may not help calm hormone rages as they get older, but you will at least not have to worry about accidental breeding.

What kind of competition? It depends...how tolerant of you of the screams of a macaw? How about your neighbors? How will you handle the bonding of them? The Outlaw has 4 BG's- the two males are bonded to each other, and Dreamie is fiercely protective of Sailor, the 'baby'.. They would share cage space on occasion ( their choice with the door open- it was a place to play)..one day Nancy tried to remove Sailor from the cage and darn near lost a piece of her face. Last week was a broken finger when Nanc trimmed nails 'out of rotation'...Dreamie was so worked up by the time she finished with Sailor, he got her good. You need to understand, that these are the most loved and cared for macaws probably on the planet...but you can't fight love. Dreamie apart from Sailor is an absolute angel.

On the other hand, Winged Victory has several macaws who all seem to get along perfectly fine, with no problems with human intervention. My two, tho much different in size, have no issues either.

Basically, I guess I'm telling you it's a crap shoot, and you have to be willing to accept the consequences, no matter which end the dice lay.

[Brian C]

Thank you very much. It has been clear to me before I even got her that during her first year of life I wanted another parrot. Being the very social birds they are I would be happier knowing they are happier with a companion in ther lives. I thought that macaws do best with macaws, but I am concerned about the agression problem if they bond strongly since I don´t really want to keep them in seperate cages if they want to stay together. All the breeders I have talked to all tell me the same: don´t even think about getting another macaw, you will loose them, consider another species.
How well could she get along with an amazone, pionus or grey? And how well could they get along with a macaw? Could two species feel they are a "flock", not being alone when I´m not arround to give them company, that is really my main concern.
Thank you for your input, this is important to me.

Regards
Brian

[Winged_Victory]

Brian,

I can tell you only from my experience that I think you would better off getting another macaw. We have more macaw pets than most people and have found they can get along together and can also be caged together. We have birds caged together of the same sex as well as birds of both sexes. We have birds together so they have a companion to play with, birds are birds and we like them to interact with each other as well as with us.

There are times we have to give the birds their space as when they molt and sometimes during their breeding cycle.

Keep in mind we are pet owners and not breeders..............

[Brian C]

Thanks Gary, I went through a lot of posts yesterday before posting my question, I your posts surely were interesting to me, keeping several macaws without a serious agression problem, seemed like good news to me.
Thanks to both of you for your answers. Seeing that it can be done, though there might be a chance that they bond strongly and you "loose" them, sure has made me think it all over again, like I said, around here (I live in Spain) most people tell me it can´t be done.
So, from what I read from your answers and seeing the experience of other people in this board, it can be done, it´s a great idea for the macaws, but there is a risk that they bond strongly, though if of the same sex and "controlled" a bit, it could turn out well. Right?
I also forgot to mention that Rauna, (my B&G girl which I have got to love very much these months) do not spent a lot of time alone. I work afternoons and nights and my partner in the morning, so normally she spents only a couple if hours alone each day. I will ofcourse continue to spent a lot of time with them when I get another. I guess spending a lot of time with your parrots also prevents to a certain degree that they bond too strongly and turn their back on their owner. Am I right?

Thanks again, this board sure will be a great resource for me.

Brian

[The Outlaw]

Whereas I don't cage them together (I had different experiences than Gary) I do recommend getting another macaw. I think if I had it to do over again, I'd only keep similar species. Its easier to control the environment and food choices, make appropriate cage choices, toys and playgyms. And, if you get same sized or relatively equivalent sized birds, there is less problem with smaller animals getting hurt.

I have 6 macaws, 4 BGS, a Severe and a GW. They all are macaws and act like macaws. I think its hard on my greys who are far more quiet and cerebral. When you have macaws in a house, they dominate a household. Its for that very reason that I rehomed my first parrot, an Eclectus. I just don't think she appreciated their "gifts".

[Winged_Victory]

Karen,

Are your GW's both female? We usually let new birds hang out in separate cages for a few days then we take them both out of the cages and put them on individual ring stands, they have to get used to each other. The more they see each other the easier it is for both of them once they get on the same stand. The first thing they always do on a stand together, beak it out. If you think the beaking is excessive separate them, be ready to do it with a broom handle should things get out of hand.

We have quite a few pet birds here and most are caged with a friend. Our birds all have routines and if you break their routine and get the wrong one out first, the other seems to get annoyed. It is best to stick with a routine that both birds like.

We do have some male and females together and have not had a problem. We have a 12 year old female B&G that live with a 12 year old Scarlet, they are just friends

We do not pressure anyone to stay with another, we let them pick and choose a buddy. We are not into breeding and just want our birds to be happy with other birds and with us, after all they spend more time with their birdie friiends than they do playing with us.

[Winged_Victory]

Originally Posted by FeathersNFur8

Kady & Kita are male and female. They would not be sharing a cage. I would like to consider eventually putting them together in an outside aviary, for a few hours a day, weather permitting. I'm also thinking about a large play gym where they could play together for a period during the day also.

I think they will do fine if you go slow. How is Kita doing?

[Alyce Johnson]

Glad to hear Kita is doing well!!!

I'd have to also suggest getting another macaw although I'm speaking from a different perspective. I've had a horrible week - 3 visits to my vet - and we're not done yet. I mean, I like my AV - unlike that horrid reptile vet I posted about, this one's a nice guy. So he's not the problem. It's that part about the injured bird that I'm upset by!

This was all due to one of my much smaller birds attacking my blind macaw. He tried to "beak it out" with her. She has the bigger beak. He lost, badly. His mandible bone (?) was broken beneath the visible portion of his beak. He will have a life long deficit - hopefully only to a small degree though. But we don't know yet for sure - it may not heal well.

So Nancy's really not kidding about the risk of injury issues. It can be pretty dangerous to have such a wide size range of birds in one home. And it's difficult over time to keep them completely separated. This little guy (who can see) figured a way to get from his play stand to the macaw's stand, and snuck up on her! So if they're determined, they can sometimes find a way to get themselves into trouble despite your best efforts.

[featherduster]

If there is enough space for both macaw's you should never have a problem.
If you are thinking of housing the together, you may haave some difficuties.
I have a male and female Severe Macaw. They have share a cage for about 7 years. Never a problem and no mating. This year the male deided she was not his choice for a mate and proceeded to rip her tail feathers out. After 7 years of harmony!
Ya just have to be on the look-out and be ready to intervene, if necessary.
Good luck!!