Amazon biting when out of cage

[Joe2001]

Hey everyone!

I have had my amazon for 6 months now, he's about 8 years old and I had him off my grandfather who was a parrot breeder but is now too ill to look after him. The Amazon is called Rio and I have known him since he was very young but didn't see him consistently so I never managed to build up a relationship with him until about 1.5 years ago. He seems happy when I enter the room and always tilts his head down for a stroke when I am near to his cage and I can stroke him anywhere on his face (crown, cheek, beak) without him retaliating, he will often hold my finger through the cage as well but after 10-15 seconds tries to bite it. This however changes when I let him out of his cage. as soon as I do this he becomes more aggressive, his back feathers fan out and his eyes become pinned whilst making warning sounds. He often sits on top of the cage or on the window sill keeping an eye on me. This mood does change when I show him a treat like cashew nuts, he instantly climbs to the top of the cage and will happily take them from my hand. If i ever try to stroke him when out of the cage, he shows the usual warning signs and i back off. I am aware that this behavior is common but i would like some help to try and rectify this behavior if possible!

Thanks for your help!

Joe

 

[EllenD]

A lot of this is going to depend on how he was raised for his first 8 years of life, and the interaction that your Grandfather had with him on a daily basis...was he let out of his cage every day, did your Grandfather interact with him a lot, etc...

You mentioned that your Grandfather was a "breeder"...Was this Amazon a part of one of his breeding-pairs?

 

[Joe2001]

Hi,

Unfortunately my grandfather did not tend to spend much time with Rio due to his illnesses. He was from a breeding pair my grandad had for about 20 years.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[SailBoat]

Lets get a bit of knowledge and background into place regarding Amazons. Please take a look at this current Thread: I Love Amazons - Starting a New Journey!

You will note that the second Post references two Sticky Threads in the Amazon Forums. I recommend that you start with the Thread regarding Understanding Amazon Body Language as it will provide you their Base Body Language. I would recommend that you set a chair along side your Amazons cage and read that Thread out loud in a comfortable voice to your Amazon. You will likely need to do this for several times a day over several days until you know Amazon Body Language like its your first Language. Once you have the basics in place, you will begin noticing other signs that your specific Amazons uses for other things.

These two Threads will get you started!

Remember, it is NEVER the fault of the Amazon! It is ALWAYS the fault of the Human!

 

[EllenD]

Hi,

Unfortunately my grandfather did not tend to spend much time with Rio due to his illnesses. He was from a breeding pair my grandad had for about 20 years.

Thanks,

Joe

Well there's your answer...He was used as a "breeder-bird" and was closely bonded to another Amazon, and unfortunately most breeder-pairs are not really "pets", or considered so, because they are closely bonded to another bird rather than being closely bonded to a human or humans. So this in and of itself usually creates a bird who is not "tame" and does not interact well with humans...combine that with your grandfather being ill and not able to spend much time with the bird and you've got the reasons why he is the way he is (not that your grandfather would have been able to interact very closely with him even if he could or wanted to, as again, most birds that are a part of a breeding-pair are not tame and want nothing to do with people, as they are closely bonded to another bird)...So he's also lost his mate that he was closely bonded to and was breeding with for many years, which can create an entire other type of stress and anxiety for the bird.

This all being said, it's not impossible to tame a wild bird or a bird that was only used as a breeder-bird and not interacted with at all, but it's going to take a huge, daily commitment from you. You'll have to commit to spending at least an hour or more a day to just training/taming him, every single day, and you'll need to realize that this process is a marathon, not a sprint, and it could take months if not years to accomplish your goal. But it can be done...

I'd start by making sure that his main-cage is located in the "main room" of your home, the room where the "action" is in your house, the room where you and all of the other people in the house spend most of their time. Usually this is the living room, family room, den, etc. where people watch TV, read, play video games, etc. This will put your bird with people most of the day/night, and even if they aren't directly interacting with the bird, they are still in the same room with him, near him, and he can always see them, hear them, have them constantly walking past his cage, etc. This will get him feeling comfortable with constantly being around people all the time. I'm going to assume that since he was a breeder-bird, that his cage in your grandfather's home was most likely located in a room that was used as the "bird room" or the "breeder's room", so he's most likely not ever even spent much time at all around people even indirectly. This is step one, and step two is you starting his taming/training where you interact with him directly for an hour or more every day.