Red is really becoming one of my favorite birds ever. He is learning so fast. If you have followed his journey you will remember that he came in having lived the last 25 years on top of a cage instead of in one and had very few rules he was expected to follow. We have been concentrating on stepping up, not biting things that are not toys, and going into the cage at night. He is getting better and better at stepping up but has a ways to go still. He used to strike out at my arm as a warning when he didn't want to step up but now will usually either do it much more carefully or more often just not step up and ignore the arm. When that happens I walk away and comeback later and try again. He really want to be where ever I am so usually it doesn't many attempts to get him to step up. The other day he even asked to step up when he was on a stand he didn't like.
He also used to bite my belt and shirt and wanted to play with them like a toy. The problem lied in the fact there is flesh under the fabric that often got painfully played with as well. He has learned not to do that at all and is learning to stop something when I say NO. He is making huge progress!
The last task is getting him to go into the cage at night. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes not. My macaw guru thinks it is because the cage is not as big as it should be and that is probably true. He also just needs to learn that he is expected to go in when asked which is something he hasn't had to do for 25 years, so it is going to take some time to make it a habit.
I think that he responds better to males and will probably do better with a male adopter. He is tolerant of my 12 yr old daughter but doesn't seem to like my wife much. If on the ground he will chase her a bit and swipe at her with his beak. He will let them scratch his head sometimes but only for a second or two. Speaking of head scratches I will leave you with this video of Red practically melting while getting head scratches.
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