Rescue pair of the most nude macaws you will ever see!

[Sparrow]

We rescued these two, Toby and Winnie, a few months ago from a lady who lost her house in a fire. These two were lucky to survive. All we know about them is that they are approx. 10 years old each, and have been through 5 homes+ in that time. Toby, the most bald one, is extremely intelligent and a great linguist, but not big on being touched. I can take him on my arm anywhere, and he chatters about all the things he sees! Winnie, the female,hates me and tries to eat my face.lol She enjoys working with my boyfriend, though. These two were not very friendly at all, or well socialized when they first came here,but they are progressing well now, especially since Tob

y and I have become pals. Just wanted to share them with you guys!

 

[robopetz]

I'm glad they are in safe hands now. Do you own any others? How did the "bald" happen?

 

[Sparrow]

Other macaws? No. We do have several other parrots, though, most are here because of unmanageability or physical imperfections. My original two parrots, Umbrella Cockatoo and Quaker, I have had for nearly 9 years. My birds are my heart. There are also non-parrot birds who have found a forever home with us, too, mostly for the same reasons.

From what I understand, the plucking has been going on for at least 7 years, since they have been a bonded pair. The female does the plucking on both of them, but they can't be separated apparently because he just loses it if they are apart for very long.

 

[robopetz]

Sad to hear. But now in good hands which is great news. I've never heard of birds plucking then plucking its partner too. As you know with time and a happy bird it will all go away. They are very pretty birds either way.

 

[Sparrow]

Lightly plucking their mates is fairly common in captivity, but Winnie has taken it to the extreme. She is a very neurotic and nervous bird and is very easily stressed, the classic feather picker personality. They never seemed to have toys before, so now we give them lots of things to play with, and chewing on cotton rope has become a very pacifying activity for her, but she still finds time to pluck them both. We have seen hints of small feathers growing on her, but Toby's follicles appear to be so damaged that they never seem to start growing again. That's ok, he is bald and beautiful.

 

[samygwin9]

good to know their in good hands now. how are they doing? I hope well because macaws are just the sweetest birds. great companions.

 

[Magic Birdie]

Poor birdies! They're lucky to have a good home. Good luck with them!

 

[bribre]

Have you ever thought about talking to your vet about putting them on anti depressions? I've heard of people doing this for there cats to stop spraying in the house. Just a thought.

Bre

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The bird sanctuary where I worked for many years used peacock tail feathers pretty successfully with pluckers. The owner would tie them in a bunch and hang them from the cage. It gave the parrots other feathers to pluck instead of their own. That in addition to other toys, has made a big difference. She also added a supplement to the pluckers' diet called "featheriffic". Im usually skeptical about supplements, but just a small scoop of this a day on the pellets made such a BIG difference.

There were two cockatoos that had been together and the male was constantly plucking the female bald. We ended up putting them in a split cage and supervising "together" time. This made a big difference, but did not overly stress them by keeping them apart.

Good luck! I'm glad you are able to give them a good home. Sounds like they are coming along nicely. I've always had a soft spot for the pluckers.