Render Unto Caesar

Wow! The African Gray was a Navy pilot? They are smart!

Seriously though, our pets are very important to us all . Hopes for a good resolution.

I don't know much about Macaws. Are his reproductive behaviors something which is likely to pass with the seasons, or as he grows older, or are they likely to hang around for decades? I know those types of birds can live a very long time.

Just trying to offer options for the happiness of yourselves and your bird, and I know you would hate to give up such a wonderful bird, but if the situation becomes problematic, is there maybe a zoo or bird sanctuary that would like to adopt a beautiful male Macaw? I'm sure he would be a beautiful addition to any collection. Caesar might be happier with other Macaw's around rather than hormone treatments, and then you could give love and affection to another lucky bird of some type.

Just a thought. I really don't know much about these birds, or your situation.

We’re not giving up on him just yet. Not going to start the hormone shots. Following the vets, advice, give him plenty of toys to keep him occupied. Leave him in the dark for 12 hours a night and plenty of exercise. That is why we let him out of his cage. He wears himself out climbing up and down.

He can live to be 75 years old and can go through this for over twenty years!

Caesar is a hand fed Macaw, he hasn’t been around other parrots so I’m not sure rehoming him with other parrots would work out for him.

We’re just concerned with the kids being around him.

He’s our daughter’s parrot. He chose her out of the rest of us but even she cannot hold him at this point. We will just wait and see how it goes.

Have you done any training work with Caesar? I talked to my pal who's got 2 - she says they need training and jobs to do so they don't get bored. She also suggests looking into a pal for him - she says it's a big commitment but it could help with the current problem.

We tried, the vet always said to try training him with a stick, that did not over well, he freaked out when he saw the stick and wanted to attack it!

He’s doesn’t like other birds, when he’s sitting outside and there are birds around he is so loud the neighbors have complained.

One thing he does love is his outdoor birdbath, OMG he will say in that bath water for over an hour!

I guess you can use bathwater as a training tool. No bath til he behaves while training. He sounds like he really needs the discipline. They are smart buggers and know if they can get you on the run.

Do you take him to the outdoor bird bath, or does he take himself?

I don't know if this will help, but there is a Veterinary clinic in South Florida, Avian and Exotics Animal Hospital (they seem to treat a lot of birds and reptiles). The Vets all seem to have extensive experience with exotics and they are plugged in to Vet schools, and Vet specialists all over the Country. Dr. Susan Kelleher started the practice and she also owns a large bird (I think a Macaw, not entirely sure). I only know about them from National Geographic, I haven't vetted them, nor can offer any assurances.....but maybe they can point you to a specialist near you (forgive me if you are already seeing a specialist)...but it couldn't hurt to get a second opinion. I can send the phone number via PM if you like....but full disclosure (I don't own birds or reptiles...I live in Maryland...it's not ideal for exotics....and I have no financial ties to that practice) It's simply something I read about and it seems interesting to me....

Good luck with the boid.

Thanks, he’s slowing getting back to his usual self, he will sit on my arm or on the sofa with us but I still don’t trust him on my shoulder.

He’s got plenty of toys in his cage. Macaws are problem solvers. He’s got two acrylic boxes in his cage, toys in the box, he has to figure out how to get them out of the holes, kind of like a kids toy. Round, square and triangle toys, he will sit there for two hours trying to find the right hole to get them out, and he gets it right all the time!

We had some issues with Caesar last year. A few times we noticed his eyes would roll back and he would lose his balance on the perch. We took him back to the avian vet. His blood work came back normal. The vet thought he may of had a slight seizure. This happed twice a month. We had to put him on seizure medication.

So far he hasn’t had one in over a months now. Oh, BTW I changed his name from Caesar to COVID since the little ****** tried to bite me when I gave him his medication.

Good to see your note. Hope you and your family are doing well too. We have a new addition, Honey, a 9.5 lb Cockapoo, honey-colored. We got her from a local breeder at 8 weeks old and she’s 6.5 months now. Gotta love our pets.

Hey! good to see you, yes we are all doing well. Oh a new puppy, well I better not go into that, we still have two dogs, one cat, a parrot and now a 60 gallon fresh water fish tank with angel fish. They wanted a salt water tank but I don't have the time to take care of it.

What about the tortoise? That get left in FL?

I used to keep freshwater aquaria in my teens until about age 40. I never went to saltwater because of the expense. If you ever have a problem in the tank, you can lose a ton of fish AND $$$ by the time it’s figured out. Not to mention the time it takes for setting up right and conditioning the ecosystem. Fresh water was pretty straightforward and cost per fish was reasonable. Not as exotic but can be quite pretty. But I’m sure you know all of that.

Yep, both of them went to a tortoise farm. First the male then the female. The males grow faster than the females so we sent the female last she weighted 85 pounds and had another hundred too two hundred more to go! she was destroying everything in the yard and getting too aggressive with the kids. She was like a tank! and stay out of her way when she is in her own territory.

Tortoise 🐢 are fun place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.

Nope. cute when they are small, but I didn't realize they were the second largest in the world and would grow that fast.

I hear ‘ya there. I’m sure it was quite fun for awhile.

How’re you all coping with the social distancing etc?

lessee, You guys moved to Merin County right? Ive done whole series of paintings of the coastal range hills in Merin and I swear were gonna re visit where I used to live and take some pictures for watercolor reference. I espcially like the moods of the hills in August (very dry times) at dawn or sunset. The colors are all in ones mind.

I Miss On Lok Sam's in STockton. One of the best Fukian style restaurants in a tough little town.

Welcome back. I just caught your Caeser thread when I visited the New Posts category

Hey FM, good to see you! We live in Orange County, Laguna Niguel, it’s about an hour up the coast from San Diego.

hey! good to see you

Is Covid Caesar most attached to your daughter? I always think about him when my local friend with a macaw posts pix of him and her rabbits. Well, really they are his rabbits as he is very possessive of his flock and he thinks the rabbits are in his flock.