Macaw jealousy how to cope?

I recently adopted a 20 year old female scarlet macaw. She has been with a single female owner for the last 10years. My husband brought her home thinking she would be his primary responsibility. Much to our surprise she fell in love with me. I enjoy her attention and affection. My husband is sad that the bird prefers me and admits he's jealous. Whenever he handles her he get bit badly. I recommended that he just leave her be but he insists that she will get used to him. I think this is stressing her out. How do I convince him to give her space. Or is he right. She looks to me to ';rescue'; her if he is carrying her. She seems angry with me too after he interacts with her. What should I do?Macaw jealousy how to cope?
Most parrots prefer one person. That is fine, as they are intelligent creatures who actually do have an opinion on who the like. However, if more than that one person will permenantly be living in the same house as that bird (such as your hubby), they need to at least be able to handle her in case of emergency, and the bird should really be used to them enough to play and interact with them to a degree (what if your on a trip, and he's at home alone with the parrot? she can't stay in her cage the whole time).





When me and my fiancee initially adopted our 10 year old amazon, he was suppose to be my bird. He fell in love with Joe! Now we did give him some time to adjust to his new home, but eventually, we started getting him used to the idea I wasn't going to hurt him, and that I could be fun too.





The first thing we did was step-up drills. Most older parrots do not like this, but it gets them used to coming up on your husbands hand from any location (any 20 year old bird should know the ';step up'; command). Start out AWAY from her cage at first, you can pick her up out of her cage, but put her somewhere unfimiliar (like the back of a chair). Have your husband pick her up, set her back down, and offer a small treat and a verbal ';good girl!';. This is something that must be repeated over and over until the parrot gets the picture, she must step up to both of you on command. You can do away with the treats after time, and just use the verbal praise, and eventually work your way back to her cage (she needs to come out of the cage to your husband too).





The second thing we did with our amazon, was have Joe do the things he doesn't enjoy (covering the cage at night, putting him up after playtime ect...), and I did the things he did enjoy, changing his food, giving him a bath, bringing him to the table to eat with us, introducing him to new toys and games ect.... You should try that technique too, do the things she doesn't enjoy, and have your husband do the things she does. As strange as it may be at first, parrots love eating with their ';flock'; (aka you and your husband), so some nights bring her to the table for dinner. Food is a great way to communicate with a parrot, so have your husband give her food off of his plate (she will be thinking ';gee, this guy isn't so bad, he's sharing his dinner with me';). Set her on a t-perch, so that she has a place to stand comfortably, doesn't poo on your table, and it'll catch her food mess (parrots are messy eaters, through no fault of their own). Parrots will eat most everything you do, and it is healthier for them to do so. Avoid avocado, chocolate, alcohol, coffee and rhbarb as these are al toxic to parrots. Otherwise, feed away (she will have her favorites, which you'll learn in time, don't be afraid to try fruits and veggies of ll kinds, beans, bread even meat. Parrots are omnivors).





Good luck with your new baby. Give her time to adjust to you guys, and I'm sure both of you will be able to fully enjoy her company in time!Macaw jealousy how to cope?
I agree with playto, I have an umbrella cockatoo that is jealous of everyone that comes near me, even the dogs. When one of the dogs kisses me the bird has to come over and kiss me. But he will tolerate others holding him. I have socialized him with everyone that comes into the house.


If your husband can start to feed and water the bird everyday and give special treats only from him the bird will learn that he isn't gonna hurt him. The bird will not probably love him the way that he loves you but at least there will be some attention from the bird to your husband. good Luck
Scarlet Macaws tend to be one person birds. Since she had a female owner for the last 10 years, it is not surprising that she latched on to you.


Your hubby needs to give her some space. Perhaps in time she may (or may not) warm up to him. He needs to be patient let the bird set the pace.
Give it some time and tell your husband not to push her. My husband and I have Cockatoo and she bonded with me first. Now she loves both of us but at different times of the day.. She is my bird in the morning until about 2pm and then she starts getting nippy with me. After 2pm she is all my hubby's..
You will be able to do nothing. Birds are like that. They have fantastic memories and wonderful personalities. They make choices and decisions. The best you can do is try and train the bird to tolerate your husband. He may get used to him but the bird will likely never give him the affection to the same degree as shown to you.





It could be that your bird was trapped by a man and it remembers not to trust men. A man may have handled it badly. This becomes a psychological issue for a parrot. A good trainer may be able to teach the bird not to bite but affection is another thing entirely.





I had a bird once that hated my brother. As soon as my brother walked into a room the bird would try to attack him. This happened to about 1 in 10,000 people. The bird, a double yellow-head, was fantastic with me. It was great with kids, dogs, and tolerated it's owner (a female), but for some reason it went on attack mode whenever it caught sight of my brother. This never changed. And the bird was completely fine in crowds of people. Perhaps it was a smell or a body shape or something, but the bird knew and understood that there was one sort of person that she did not like.





Parrots are highly intelligent so work is possible. But imagine if someone tried to convince you not to love your husband. It's really not much different with a parrot.