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My wife and I are considering purchasing a Green Wing Macaw. We are doing the research on it now. We have a couple of questions:
1) Can the Green Wing Macaw be trained not to mess on the handler or on the furniture and carpeting? In other words, can they be housebroken?
2) Approximately what is the monthly maintenance cost of owning the macaw?

We've already seen a lot of good information in this forum.

Thanks,

Craig

Cost wise not bad, we cut and drill 2x4's in all different shapes and string on chains. Our GW poos on floor outside her front door- she isnt messy, Ive heard of poo training but never have done it- we make our play tables wide enough to catch poo. Gypsy loves to be on the play stand more than the person, guess its more stable feeling. In all seriousness our cost is about 100.00 a month but thats for 11 parrots. she loves mixed shelled nuts, little seed mix and dried fruits, loves scrambled eggs with shells 3x a week with spinach and brocoli.

Hi Yes you can potty train your bird. It works better on some birds than others . It works better to start with a young bird. Yes you can house train macaws but you have to put in alot of hard work and training.
Monthy expenses Food- I feed Pellets with seed and nuts in one bowl and fruits and vegies in another also sprouts, eggs some cheese. Alot of the vegeis come from the dinner table The other expense is toys to play and chew . Macaws chew and chew. I also make my toys, none treated wood , Fir and pine. and buy some toys online. Its hard to put a cost on it. Some months $100 other months $20. When I buy pellets , a 20 lb bag costs $50 or so and will last mons. A 20lb bag of nuts & seeds cost about the same. I feed more than one bird also . One wood toy might cost $20 and the bird will chew it up in a couple days , then again it night last a mon. To help keep the mess down outside the cage and play tree I put down plastic runnes that can keep carpets clean and can be washed off.A nother thing to think about is a air purrifier. Better to have than not.