JennyHavoc
New member
Hi all!
I'm hoping to get some advice on how to interpret/handle some behavioral issues. My boyfriend has a blue-fronted Amazon named Maxine, and a lovebird named Sunnybird. I'm planning to move in with him, and wanted to keep this as stress-free as possible on Maxine, and address some of her other issues as well. I apologize if this gets long, but I suppose the more info the better.
First of all, we are pretty sure she comes from an unstable past. He has had her for 2.5 years. He got her from a privately-owned zoo he worked at, where she was kept in an aviary with 30 other birds, and dive-bombed/attacked every keeper that came in there. The zoo had her for a few years and I believe had gotten her from a private owner who apparently had only had her a couple years as well. Nobody knows how old she is or her history beyond that.
It took him all of 2 years to get her to stop biting (now she just flips her head up and warns him with her beak open), and to step up, which only happens half the time he asks her to.
Then I showed up. For the first 2 months, she hated me - if he left me alone to leave in the morning, she'd wait for me to walk down the hall and lunge at me full-force, would hunch down on her perch and prepare for flight at me, etc. I ended up giving her a piece of pizza crust one night, and from there on, she was reasonably friendly.
Now after 4 months, she has bonded with me it seems - she gets obnoxious if I don't say hi to her when I come in, will let me scratch her and work on her pinfeathers, and when placed on the floor between us, she will look from me to him to me, and then run over and climb up onto my leg. I am wondering if this doesn't mean she simply prefers women for some reason, since it took me only 4 months and him 2 years.
Now, the issues:
1) She is still a bit "bipolar" - some days she will still lunge at me and make it hard to walk past the cage without getting bitten, then be adorable and sweet the next day. Is this normal Amazon behavior and what can I do about it, if anything? She definitely does not exhibit this with him - it's a steady "I don't *like* you but I'll be tolerable". She swings from the extremes for me.
2) She hates, hates, hates the lovebird. He was another rescue case and it had been suggested to boyfriend that she might bond with Sunnybird. Nope; she lunges at him, especially if he starts screeching, while he is in love with her and follows her everywhere. Would moving Sunnybird's cage away from hers or getting him a lovebird mate help the overall situation?
3) I have a cat. The cat has never been around birds. The birds have never been around cats. We can either try to acclimate them to each other, or put the birds in their own bedroom. Maxine's cage is in the living room and she is used to being around during dinner, TV watching, computer-ing, etc. I'm afraid it would upset her to be relegated to one little room with limited interaction, but I don't want to have her or my cat be injured. The cat is an indoor cat, and usually more afraid of things than confrontational. Does anyone have suggestions on this situation?
4) Also, I'm much more social than boyfriend; I tend to have friends and family over often, while he NEVER does, so Maxine is not used to people coming and going. Do I need to limit the influx of new people coming over for a while or anything?
Currently, I do make a point to greet her when I walk in, and offer her a scratch as well. She shares my (healthy) food, often straight from a plate on the table, and we bring her down to sit on the couch a lot. I always say goodbye to her, too. I'm not sure if there's any other behavior I can make routine for her to help with all this.
Thanks everyone for reading and any advice! I've grown pretty attached to Maxine and would like to make her as happy as possible; she's much more enjoyable then!
I'm hoping to get some advice on how to interpret/handle some behavioral issues. My boyfriend has a blue-fronted Amazon named Maxine, and a lovebird named Sunnybird. I'm planning to move in with him, and wanted to keep this as stress-free as possible on Maxine, and address some of her other issues as well. I apologize if this gets long, but I suppose the more info the better.
First of all, we are pretty sure she comes from an unstable past. He has had her for 2.5 years. He got her from a privately-owned zoo he worked at, where she was kept in an aviary with 30 other birds, and dive-bombed/attacked every keeper that came in there. The zoo had her for a few years and I believe had gotten her from a private owner who apparently had only had her a couple years as well. Nobody knows how old she is or her history beyond that.
It took him all of 2 years to get her to stop biting (now she just flips her head up and warns him with her beak open), and to step up, which only happens half the time he asks her to.
Then I showed up. For the first 2 months, she hated me - if he left me alone to leave in the morning, she'd wait for me to walk down the hall and lunge at me full-force, would hunch down on her perch and prepare for flight at me, etc. I ended up giving her a piece of pizza crust one night, and from there on, she was reasonably friendly.
Now after 4 months, she has bonded with me it seems - she gets obnoxious if I don't say hi to her when I come in, will let me scratch her and work on her pinfeathers, and when placed on the floor between us, she will look from me to him to me, and then run over and climb up onto my leg. I am wondering if this doesn't mean she simply prefers women for some reason, since it took me only 4 months and him 2 years.
Now, the issues:
1) She is still a bit "bipolar" - some days she will still lunge at me and make it hard to walk past the cage without getting bitten, then be adorable and sweet the next day. Is this normal Amazon behavior and what can I do about it, if anything? She definitely does not exhibit this with him - it's a steady "I don't *like* you but I'll be tolerable". She swings from the extremes for me.
2) She hates, hates, hates the lovebird. He was another rescue case and it had been suggested to boyfriend that she might bond with Sunnybird. Nope; she lunges at him, especially if he starts screeching, while he is in love with her and follows her everywhere. Would moving Sunnybird's cage away from hers or getting him a lovebird mate help the overall situation?
3) I have a cat. The cat has never been around birds. The birds have never been around cats. We can either try to acclimate them to each other, or put the birds in their own bedroom. Maxine's cage is in the living room and she is used to being around during dinner, TV watching, computer-ing, etc. I'm afraid it would upset her to be relegated to one little room with limited interaction, but I don't want to have her or my cat be injured. The cat is an indoor cat, and usually more afraid of things than confrontational. Does anyone have suggestions on this situation?
4) Also, I'm much more social than boyfriend; I tend to have friends and family over often, while he NEVER does, so Maxine is not used to people coming and going. Do I need to limit the influx of new people coming over for a while or anything?
Currently, I do make a point to greet her when I walk in, and offer her a scratch as well. She shares my (healthy) food, often straight from a plate on the table, and we bring her down to sit on the couch a lot. I always say goodbye to her, too. I'm not sure if there's any other behavior I can make routine for her to help with all this.
Thanks everyone for reading and any advice! I've grown pretty attached to Maxine and would like to make her as happy as possible; she's much more enjoyable then!
