Help w/ Quality of Life for Macaw Who Can’t Fly
Hi guys, this may be a tough post to offer insight on, but I ask that you read the whole post and try to understand where I’m coming from in this.
My dad adopted our blue and gold, Teddy, when he was in his late 20s. I don’t know where he was at as far as research, but from what he told me it was much harder for him to do research at the time and the pet store he got her from did not provide adequate info about how to care for her. Teddy had several incidents as a baby where she landed on a house cactus while flying and stopped flying as a result. She has not flown in my lifetime and I believe not since she was a baby (she is in her late 30s now).
My dad has done what vets have told him as far as diet, she gets mixed seed and some peanuts, we give her some of our food here and there when she asks, but I have grown more and more upset with the way she seems to be doing and maybe has always been doing. I worry as a child and teen I just didn’t realize how bad it was for her. She has a cage that is definitely not large enough for her, and does not get enrichment. Her entire belly is bare because she plucks her feathers.
I don’t know what to do. I want to provide enrichment and have urged my parents to get her a larger cage, to provide wall perches she can climb around on, to add fresh fruit to her diet, etc.. But I am moving back to college soon and I won’t be living with my family forever as it is. It makes me so sad to see her like this and I know she deserves better even if she has been with me my entire life. I would try to interact with her more but I was never taught how to handle her, she only lets my dad touch her.
I honestly do think that rehoming would be the best move at this point but she is bonded to my dad, and I don’t even know how to broach the subject. I don’t know how he would react. Is there any way I can offer simple enrichment or find inexpensive options for making her cage more exciting? Are there affordable places to get cages? I just want her to have the life she deserves. She looks so sad.
I understand this post will likely receive judgment and I am not happy with the way my dad has cared for her throughout the years, so I understand frustration and anger at this. Please just know I am trying to do what I can at this point, as an adult, to make some positive changes for her. Even if you think the only reasonable choice is rehoming, I can accept that. But I would really appreciate advice to improve the current situation, if you have any. Thank you, and sorry for the ramble.