Juanito is a blue-and-gold macaw (Ara ararauna), that was rescued from animal trafficking. My dad threatened the traffickers and took him for us to take care of him for a while on 23/12/2024.

It was a surprise for everyone to have to take care of such a small macaw, it was just a chick, so it needed a lot of attention from us. I was usually in charge of feeding him, it was such an unpleasant feeling to insert my finger with mushy food into his throat but it was necessary because he still didn't have the strength to chew the food, nor was I a macaw to vomit food into his mouth like his mother! Anyways, his favorite foods are bread and bananas!

Juanito has learned to walk very quickly! When I walk away from him every time I leave him on the grass, he tries to follow me. I don't want to fool myself into thinking that he believes I'm his mommy..but it seems that way! I also always make sure that he doesn't bend his legs in a weird way when he sits down because he ends up adopting a bad posture. I also helped him sunbathe from time to time.

I said that we had to take care of Juanito for a while, since he is my dad's pet and since we live in an apartment it is not the best habitat for a macaw, we had to say goodbye to Juanito on 7/01/2025. Even though it was for a short period of time, it was a lot of fun taking care of him on this vacation and I hope that in the future when I see him again, he will be a big, feathered and beautiful macaw! We love you Juanito.

Juanito is currently living with his new family! and he is all chubby! (I'll add a picture when I get one). They changed his name to "Green", I don't like that name at all so he'll always be Juanito for me. He lives in a big house with two macaws, one blue and one red. It was surprising to me that the macaws are very caring and take in babies they don't recognize as their own, unlike other animals, in fact the adult blue macaw acts like Juanito's mom! I love knowing that Juanito will be in good hands.