Adopted a mealy Amazon

[hollandgirl4]

Hi everyone.
I’ve owned cockatiels for about 5 years and someone my partner works with asked if I’d be able to take on his Dad’s parrot as he is very ill and in and out of hospital a lot and was unable to look after him anymore.
I was apprehensive as I’d never owned a parrot before, only my tiels, but didn’t want to think of him not having a loving home, so I agreed.
I got him on Tuesday, his name is George and I’ve been told he’s around 10 years old.
I was told he was going through a bad molt, but hadn’t expected to see what I did when I went to see him for the first time. My Tiel’s have never molted like this and their feathers never look this scruffy, they just lose a few feathers (maybe they’ve never molted properly?)
I’ve put pictures of George up, i’m Just after some advice please of whether you think it is a molt he’s going through. I’ve been spraying him twice a day which he LOVES and does a little twirl for me and hangs himself upside down and opens up his wings for me to spray.
Another thing, I’m aware that he is probably lacking lots of nutrients from his diet as his beak looks very cracked and his feathers look very dull (although I’m not sure if that could be due to a molt).
Since getting him on Tuesday, I’ve been giving him fruit to eat- he’s on an all seed diet currently and I’ve noticed he picks out the sunflower seeds to eat which I’m aware are the fattiest seeds. I’d like to switch to an all pellet diet in time, but want him to get used to me first. He loves fruit and veg and has eaten most of the bowl that I have given him daily which is awesome!
Another thing- his nails are so long! They’re curling round but luckily curling away from his feet. It causes him problems as he climbs on his bars as they get stuck, I know that they will need clipping but at the moment he not tame at all and, although he doesn’t mind me putting my hand in the cage to change his water and will tolerate me sitting next to him whilst he is eating inside his cage, if I go anywhere near to touch him, he gets very aggressive. So any tips of the best way to tame him would be lovely?! I’ve bought those special perches for him that are supposed to help their beaks and claws, so hoping they might help a bit.
I’ve also posted a picture of his poo (sorry!) but I’ve noticed today when I got home from work that there is LOADS of liquid- this hasn’t been this bad until today (obviously only had him since Tuesday). I’ve sprayed him ALOT and he has preened all of the water off him and he’s been eating apple, strawberries, grapes and bell pepper so don’t know if that could lead to there being more liquid?
Sorry for all of the questions, but as a new amazon owner, I just want to get a little advice from all of you parrot lovers.
I’m already in love with him and really hope I’m able to tame him!
Ps- sorry for the very long post.

 

[SailBoat]

Welcome to Parrot Forums!
And, the Wonderful World of Amazons!

Please visit the top of the Amazon Forum and read the two highlighted Threads. Start with Understanding Amazon Body Language as this will provide you the basics regarding interacting with your Amazon! Your Amazon, being an Adult will have likely combined several of the basics plus added a few of his own. Sit next to him and read out loud in a soft voice. You will note that Amazons Love to be read to!

The other 'huge' Thread titled: I Love Amazons - ... is a document provided to support your Loving and Living with Amazons (a the vast majority of other Parrots). Within this huge Thread are many segments. I recommend that you search the index for the segment that address Diet and Start There.
IMHO, I am not an all pellet diet type of person. I believe that Amazons need a large cross-section of Veggies (chop) with a limited amount of fruits (target lower sugar values). Regarding seed diets; they are by no means the same. At this point, you should target a mixed and widely varied combination of Seeds (greatly limiting Sunflower Seed), Grains, Nuts (greatly limiting peanuts) with a mixture of freeze dried Veggies and some fruits (freeze dried fruits tend to enhance sugar contain), and small bits of pellets. We commonly buy and sort out what we wish to limit!

George is a bit on the rough side in appearance and likely in serious need of diet upgrade. And as soon as everyone is a bit comfortable more out of cage time as he has the look of being cage bound. Now, this year in the Great White North has really required our Parrots to have far more body and downy feathers than normal, so depending on your location a heavy mold is very possible.
I have rehomed my fair share of Amazons and either take them directly to an Avian Vet on my way home or within the first week. George is in need of a serious (but professional) nail clipping as well as a New Parrot Physical Examination with blood testing and stool testing.
Regarding his stool, backing off a bit on the high water content fruits may help, but should be check by your Avian Profession.

FYI: With time his Bill will improve greatly.

Again Welcome to the Wonderful World of Amazons!

NOTE: You have a Very Special Amazon! But more on that later.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL-> feeding lots of veg and fruit will give you bird watery stools because the food contains so much liquid. So that is a normal reaction especially in a seed-only bird.


Try to give him lots of veg and be sparingly with the fruit.
(Fruit contains a lot of sugar and will get him fattened up just as fast as the sunflowerseeds will -> lots of energy not going anywhere.)


Try to get him to a certified avain vet as soon as possible.
No worries about the tameness they can handle him!
(Are you in NL ? -just going by your name/ we have a few really good ones and depending where you live I know at least one who will even make housecalls.)


Mealys have the reputation of being the easiest amazons there are, so you are lucky.
(Al will tell you more I am sure, I do not have amazon-expertise)


He does not look his best at the moment, but that is okay...you can work on that (well, to be honest: you already are!)


there is lots of reading here/
you may start with
http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/65119-i-love-amazons-going-journey.html
and http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/54250-amazon-body-language.html
of course.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
is always fun and helpfull

and if you are still nog overfed with information and need more 'to do with the bird' material:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

to get a nice flockmate.


(I know- those were given before, but sometimes clicking links is so much easier )

 

[texsize]

I can’t think of much to add to the above posts.
I would put an avian vet visit high on the priority list.

PS Cockatiels Are Parrots To.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you and yours!

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed.
Congrats on adopting this guy. Mealy Amazons have the reputation of gentle giants and amazons in general are the come-back kids of parrot-dom. You have received excellent advice above, a lot of reading assignments too. Read both threads outloud to your George, in a friendly voice. The only thing I will add is cage. He is the largest of the Amazona and needs a cage befitting his size. George should be able to spread his wings out completely and even take short flying hops inside his cage. Loose the dowel perches, and try to replace them with natural wood branches, that have varied diameters and textures.

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to the Community!!

First of all, just as an FYI and to protect the egos of your other birds, Cockatiels are Parrots too!!! Budgies, Cockatiels, Parrotlets, etc....all species of Parrots...So you do have Parrot experience after all!!

I love the Mealy Amazons, they're a loving, smaller Amazon species that are usually pretty even-tempered...George does look pretty rough...That isn't him "molting", that's some Feather-Destructive Behavior from George, definitely not natural molting...Probably due to the fact he hasn't been given much attention lately due to his owner's illness, he may not have been allowed out of his cage for quite a while, he has probably just been having someone put food and water in every day and that's it for quite a while, and when you have a bird with the intelligence of a 3-4 year-old human child and they become bored to tears and lonely like that, they start to find things to do on their own...You need to get George to a Certified Avian Vet (we can help you find the closest one to you if need be), because he needs to have a Fecal done, along with full routine Blood-Work to make sure he's not deficient in anything, and isn't dealing with any Yeast or Bacterial infections, etc. I'm sure he's okay in-general health-wise, but he's just got some anxiety/behavioral issues due to what he's been through lately, which is to be expected.

***As stated above, lay off feeding him the Fruit...It's no better for him than the seed-mix, as it's loaded with natural sugars which turn into fat and are stored in the same places the fat from the Sunflower-Seeds are...Fresh Fruit should be an occasional treat that they get 2-3 times a week at most...He needs lots and lots of fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens every single day...And as far as his daily staple-diet, a seed-mix isn't necessarily a horrible thing for a pet parrot, but it needs to be a low-fat seed-mix with No Sunflower Seeds, No Nuts/Peanuts, and No Dried Corn pieces/kernels of any kind in it, and that is high in protein and extremely varied in it's ingredients...So instead of trying to just switch him over to pellets right now while he's already going through major life-changes that are stressful, what you should do is switch him to a high-quality, low-fat, varied Seed-Mix that contains none of the above items; great options that are sold at Petco/Petsmart are Higgins Vita-Seed California-Blend, Tropimix, and Higgins Safflower Gold...That way he'll eat the new, lower-fat, higher protein Seed-Mix right away, and then sometime in the future once he settles-in and adjusts, and is less stressed and anxious, then you can start a gradual-transition over to a Natural-flavored pellet with a little of the healthy Seed-Mix as well every day as his staples (FYI, fruit-flavored pellets aren't any better than the seed-mix he's eating due to the sugars/carbs, so it needs to be a Natural-flavored pellet to make it worth-while)...And make sure he's getting lots of fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens every day in addition to his healthier Seed-Mix, and also make sure he has BOTH a Cuttlebone and an Avian Mineral-Block in his cage to fill-in some of his lacking nutrients and help his beak a bit...

 

[bug_n_flock]

Oh wow THANK YOU FOR TAKING HIM ONN!!


What do you mean by aggression? The female blue front I adopted had a reputation for being "big mean green agressive growley bird", but she was SWEEEETER than pie. She just postured with her beak and growled when people came near her, but she only bit me 3 or 4 times(all understandable times) and NOBODY else in the time I had her(RIP, she was quite old and passed from a stroke).



I agree that you should take your new friend to a CAV pretty much immediately.

 

[texsize]

I would have to agree with EllenD.
That doesn't look like any kind of molting I have ever seen from my Amazons and I have been keeping amazons since 1985.

It's very rare for amazons to pluck(for the lack of a better word) there feathers.
Cockatoos---yes
African Grey yes
Macaws ----yes.

It looks like it's an early case and hopefully you caught it early enough that the habit has not set in.

 

[EllenD]

I would have to agree with EllenD.
That doesn't look like any kind of molting I have ever seen from my Amazons and I have been keeping amazons since 1985.

It's very rare for amazons to pluck(for the lack of a better word) there feathers.
Cockatoos---yes
African Grey yes
Macaws ----yes.

It looks like it's an early case and hopefully you caught it early enough that the habit has not set in.

I agree totally about Amazons in-general not being pluckers, even under bad situations...However, I've seen a few that were almost plucked completely bald except for their heads/faces that have taken to the Rescue, just like you usually see a CAG or a Cockatoo species (they look really, really bizarre too, I guess because we don't see it often)...I don't know or remember their specific situations/backgrounds before being brought-in to the Rescue, but I'm willing to be they were probably locked inside their cages 24/7 with nothing to do and with no one paying a bit of attention to them for sometimes years...This is REALLY COMMON for a lot of the parrots who are brought into the Rescue due to their owners either being seriously ill for a good amount of time, or because their owners were elderly and went into a nursing-home, and they were taken into the homes of relative of their owner, and they didn't really want them or know that they had to have attention...I think a lot of people who have never had a parrot/bird before think that they are the same as having a pet hamster or a fish aquarium, they're to look at but not touch or pay any attention to...

 

[SailBoat]

Again Welcome to the Wonderful World of Amazons!

There is not a better way of entering this World than at very near, if not at the top of the Amazon Family than with one of its Largest Members, a Mealy!
Mealy's are 'rare' in the Companion Parrot Community with pockets near the few Breeders in North America. So, you have a Big, Rare Amazon. Normally, their weight ranges from 500 to 700 grams, but are capably of up to 1000 grams.

Note: I would recommend that you obtain a letter from George's family providing Species (Mealy), age (10), dates they obtained, etc... and the transfer of ownership to you. Amazons as a Species are now Classified as Endangered by CITES. With Mealy's being considered rare in North America, IMHO providing a copy of that documentation to your Avian Professional will be helpful in the future. I would also recommend that you consider having George DNA sexed and insert a Micro Chip for identification, more on that later.

There are two primary groups of Mealy's: Northern Mealy (Central America) and Southern Mealy (South America). There is discussion that this family includes a third member, but I do not recall the name at this moment.

Mealy's are considered the Gentle Giants of the Amazon Family. Highly social and a want to be part of their family. But, they are large can be be capable of being loud, commonly in the morning and in the evening or if they believe they are being left out of a family gathering.

Interaction:
Consider that your Amazon has lost his family and is in a new World surrounded by individuals that he does not know. He is Fearful! Move at his speed and remember that he has no good reason to trust these new Humans. So provide him the time he needs and work at building trust.
It does help to change your Vantage Point when attempting to understand your Amazon. Try this Vantage Point:
It is never the Fault of the Amazon!
It is always the Fault of the Human!
When working from this vantage point, you will more quickly determine what you are doing wrong and correct it.
Also, expectations do not exist! Its all at his rate.
Try opening his cage and placing a chair near by while you are reading to him.

If you read back into the Amazon Forum you will come across a phase that is commonly used: Owned By An Amazon! As one does not own an Amazon.
Enjoy!