Preparing your home for your new pet MACAW bird

Macaws are a group of parrots that are long-tailed and often colourful. Their big size and vibrant colours make them hard to overlook. These social birds create a lot of commotion when they feel so inclined, and their clownish ways draw attention. Although their large beaks can be intimidating, a well-socialized macaw can be a friendly and affectionate companion. Companion macaws tend to have an easier life than their wild counterparts, but they miss out on the ability to scour for their food, a behaviour that comes naturally.

Before bringing in a macaw to join your family, you have to consider if you have the room, the time, the personality, and other factors. Because macaws need spacious homes and are long-lived, adding a macaw to the family needs to be thoroughly thought through.

Here is a compilation of things you should know about your MACAW home, toys and diet before bringing it home.

Your Macaw Parrot home

Your Macaw parrot cage should not feel like a prison; it should be a safe space. Although your bird should be excited to come out and spend time with you, it’s ideal for your bird to enjoy spending time in its cage. Your macaw parrot needs a cage tall enough to prevent its tail feathers from slamming on the cage bottom. This may cause the tail feathers to bend or break.

Ensure that your macaw's cage is made of proper material; it should not have flaking paint,  loose or flimsy bars, rusty spots, or weak hinges. It should never be made of wood — parrots will easily chew and damage wood, and even if they are not capable of escape, chewed wood will easily harbour bacteria and can be difficult to properly clean.

Finally, you need to get a large Macaw parrot Stand so you may need to consider available space.

Check out some  Macaw Parrot Stand and Macaw cages here.

Your Macaw toys

As intelligent birds that also thrive on fun activities designed to challenge them, Macaws are playful and love toys they can chew up, especially items made of wood. Macaw toys are very necessary if you don't want your pet screaming, biting, and exhibiting self-destructive behaviours like feather plucking.

Keep a minimum of  4–5 toys in the cage — and rotate them regularly. You need to provide toys that will encourage activities such as foraging, climbing, shredding, and foot toys to stimulate the feet. 

The cost of a stable supply of Macaw toys should be factored into the monthly pet budget.

Need Macaw toys that suit your budget? Click here

Your Macaw Diet

Macaw like other parrots has complex dietary requirements. For large parrots like macaws, seeds are mainly just junk food. A typical parrot diet (excluding the odd nectar-based diets of lories and lorikeets) should consist mainly of:

1. Seeds: Do not buy seed mixes with filler seeds such as red millet, or lots of high-fat sunflower seeds.
2. Vegetables and Fruits: Fruits should typically be fed somewhat more sparingly, as they are high in sugars
3. Nuts: Try feeding your macaw shelled nuts so that your parrot has to work somewhat for their food.

Found this helpful? Check out our treasure of Macaw and bird items here.