eclectus and blue and gold macaw

by Nadia Petrova
(Sofia, Bulgaria)

Hi! I have a 6y. old male eclectus. He has been waiting for me at the door every evening and I felt truly bad for being such a bad friend to him. He sleeps with me on my pillow, we shower together- we drink coffee in the morning. I don't like him being alone most of the time during the day. I contacted a blue and gold macaw breather and he said he will provide me with a 3month-old bird (female) and hopefully they won't have problems together. I considered that the owner of shop i got my eclectus form told me that he tried to mate him with a female eclectus and she nearly killed him. My boy is such a charming and quiet fellow, so I believe he is a peaceful creature - he just hasn't found a good companion. I have a big cage for him and I intend to buy a bigger one for the new arrival in September. Could I have another opinion for this situation? I am really anxious, but i don’t want to make any mistakes.

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eclectus and blue and gold macaw

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Jul 08, 2012

New macaw
by: Anonymous

Please be cautioned that getting this new bird may upset your eclectus extremely. It sounds like you are quite a pair already, and by putting a new bird in the home may not solve his "companion" problems (because it sounds like he is perfectly content with YOU as his companion). He may get emotionally upset when you interact with the macaw which could trigger depression, jealousy, and may lead to behavior problems such as aggression, screaming, plucking and/or self destruction. Be advised too, that I hope your apartment is large enough to mask or hide the noise that a B&G can produce.. You say your eclectus is quiet... Well things are going to change for you!!! Expect random eruptions of screams from the macaw, it is only natural behavior. It can make a person cringe! The alternative to all this could be just the opposite.. They may love eachothers company!!! It is a gamble but if you are willing to take the risk and are ready for double trouble, go for it!!! :)

Jul 04, 2012

Thank you!
by: Ekki

Thank you for this answer. I forgot to mention (I thought it was irrelevant) that I live in my own hotel. We have a big apartment and I never even though of keeping those two birds in the same cage. I am 27 years old and my husband is 25. We have housekeeping two or three times a week and cleaning my own apartment was never a problem.
Coffee – I know it’s like a poison to parrots. We just spend time together. Then again – cheese, he will beg for it. We have a big restaurant in the hotel, so the diet of our eclectus is well balanced. During the day – if I ever go back to our apartment I usually find our bird in his cage, although his cage is open 24/7. I am sure that this story will change if we have another bird. My plan is for them to stay in their own cages during the day and in the evening – playtime. Sometimes I take the eclectus with me in the office downstairs or outside, but since we have him for two years now (he is 6y. Old) he gets scared of many people and children especially. I intend to change that with the B&G macaw. I want her to be well socialized and maybe stay in the office if we go on vacation.
My biggest problem is that our eclectus really does sleep with us very often. He has a separate pillow on the bed. I know he should not do that but he is so unhappy if we are in the room and he is in his cage closed. He calls my name, my husband’s name and his own name. I have to go to school to learn how to say no to him. I really think that with a new bird around I will be a bit stricter, because I would realize the consequences if both sleep with us for exaple. You might never believe it but this is exactly what happened to our dogs (we have two bullterriers and the male was extremely aggressive toward other dogs) - his aggression was unlocked by our behavior, spoiling him was the problem.
I don’t intend to live forever but I do intend to have children and raise them with all the animals we have. I surely hope that one of them might have a passion for parrots... I don‘t know how else to have a pet bird, since I am already over the 20 and they live more than 50 years

Jul 03, 2012

Eclectus and B&G macaw - not together
by: Tracie

You can not put these two together in the same cage and possibly they will not ever be able to even be out at the same time, sorry.

B&G macaws do not wean at 3 months, as best I understand, so you do not want to purchase from this breeder. If they will sell you this bird, unweaned, and tell you it can live with an eclectus then they just want money and probably don't have healthy birds.

Not to be the continuous bearer of bad news, but it is very dangerous for you to sleep with your bird, and hopefully you only share your coffee time with the bird and not your coffee. I can not tell you how many times I have read about people sleeping with their birds for years and then one day wake up with a dead bird because the bird got squished or suffocated.

First of all, purchase a bird YOU want to care for, clean up after etc. because they may never get along together. Even if they can't be out of their cages together, they will be keeping each other company though. But you MUST keep in mind how long these birds live. You will likely need to find someone to care for the B&G when you get too old or die, because they live so many years.

It is very hard for birds to go to new owners, so if you purchase this bird, then make sure someone young spends a lot of time with the bird over the years and is willing to put up with the mess, noise and vet expenses that this bird will have.

Don't take what I say as harsh, I think it is very sweet that you are concerned for the bird. I just don't want you to get another bird and be sorry and the bird will be sorry too, having to be re-homed.

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