Medicating My Macaws
Added 2025-01-12 13:16:30 +0000 UTCI want to take you through my journey of "Hey, your macaws need medicine daily!" and how I handled that news and what it looked like. This is the less than ideal situation where no prep training has been done ahead of time to make this experience easier on my birds. All I have to lean on is my relationship with them. So let me take you through how many days it took to get this to more of a voluntary experience for my birds.
I definitely plan to syringe train the rest of my flock now...
Comments
I recently ordered a box of those small syringes just to teach my foster caregivers (parrot rescue) how to syringe train! I was in a similar situation with my mini macaw Lucy a year or so ago; fortunately she loves to train and is an expert at targeting! I did use the syringe as the target, with a click and a small treat when she touched it. Then we practiced holding the syringe in her beak a little longer while I dispensed (watered down) juice. She doesn't like getting medicine but she will target and I can still get it in her with just a couple of squirts and treats. Part of the trick is making sure your bird is not going to shake its head or move while you are dispensing, which is probably why in the beginning you were kind of holding your other hand near the back of their head. Are your birds used to that motion for other things? I wonder if getting comfortable just with that motion (hand to the back of head and stabilizing any motion) would be something to train in the more "difficult" birds. Lucy was pretty easy, but I know I have given up the training with some other birds because they were not immediately receptive (naughty trainer! I need to get back to it!).
Julie K
2025-01-18 19:17:51 +0000 UTCI've used watered down organic applesauce or fruit juice!
Julie K
2025-01-18 19:08:19 +0000 UTCI'd put nut butter on the end of it to get a bird to make initial contact and then I would fill it with a little juice or even water.
BirdTricks
2025-01-13 17:13:19 +0000 UTCI wish I had something like this before I had to medicate my lovebird
FayK
2025-01-13 15:30:07 +0000 UTCWhat do you suggest to put in a syringe for training on this ahead of time? My B&G had to do a round of antibiotics this fall & I used a small bite of bread to hide it in. Not the most optimal of plans. Hope the boys are okay & the meds are helping! 💛
KayLa Forret-Munoz
2025-01-13 02:48:59 +0000 UTCHelps to have your compounding pharmacy flavor the meds! This reminds me to syringe train our other birds!! Love the targeting with the syringe ideas Our green cheek gets 2 heart Rx twice daily but I had to figure out a system my husband could repeat without handling our little guy. I use your ground flax idea but grind it with a little walnut and almond (both heart healthy) to a paste consistency. I dispense both meds on a tiny nut paste "cookie". The medicated cookie goes on top of SF for breakfast and among pellets for dinner.
Laura Charon
2025-01-12 22:11:08 +0000 UTCYou could definitely start with something yummy for syringe training. I think juice or nut butter on the end even would work great.
BirdTricks
2025-01-12 20:20:02 +0000 UTCJust getting him to touch and engage with the syringe is set up one so you could do this by putting a little nut butter on the end of it.
BirdTricks
2025-01-12 20:19:00 +0000 UTCI definitely think using water or juice or even putting nut butter on the end of it to initially get that first touch would be great ways to entice a bird into making contact.
BirdTricks
2025-01-12 20:18:20 +0000 UTCAwesome video. Do you think this is something as trainers We should work with ahead of time and not have medicine of course in the syringe but maybe some juice or something that they would enjoy for training this as a trick? Also when we target train they’re supposed to touch the end of the stick. Is that something we use also to our advantage of training for medication? Maybe using a syringe as a target stick so they get used to the look of it? Again awesome videos cause it’s not always something we think about.
Melissa-Shawn Atkinson
2025-01-12 20:11:29 +0000 UTCOk this video is falling at the right time! My vet has suggested giving anti inflammatory to my galah for his arthritis…… he is still not much handle able….. will start with something yummy in the seringue…… what is step one? I don’t have to do the anti inflammatory until he is train to take meds, so I can take all the steps necessary……
Geneviève Bénard
2025-01-12 19:07:00 +0000 UTCFirst off, I just want to say that you did so amazing! I still years later struggle on days. My grey is similar to Tusa and my ekkie is very similar to Comet as to how they are with me and the syringe. I'm so glad you show your mistakes and the whole progression as I know this can help so many who are not prepared to do this. This was so awesome to watch, you're doing so great! 🥰
Jodi
2025-01-12 16:22:18 +0000 UTCI trained syringe with apple juice then water. I wonder if you could target with a syringe and shape it from there? What are they medicated for?
Li
2025-01-12 15:11:47 +0000 UTCThis is an excellent video! I will now start to work on this :-) thank you
Michelle
2025-01-12 14:15:48 +0000 UTCThank you so much for this video.
S Harrell
2025-01-12 13:25:01 +0000 UTC
