Amazon feather loss around eyes

[lilo]

I have had my blue fronted amazon for only a couple of weeks, and he is 3 months old. I have realised that his eyes dont look like other Amazons i have seen, and instead he doesnt have much surrounding feathers and its kind of greyish instead of white. Im not sure if this is because hes a baby or not.

Here are some pictures:

 

[Laurasea]

hello and welcome! Very pretty baby! And a little worried about you taking pictures!

I don't know the answer.
But a great tool for us humans since burds hide being sick. Is to track weights. For life. A digital kitchen scale set to grams works. You want one that will weigh to 600 grams as yiur burd won't ever be larger than that I think. As a young bird you should see slow weight gain till 2 years ish as that's when they fill out to full adult weights I think....

Anyway % of body mass weight. To track any % lost if that ever happens. Take grams lost and divide by normal weight x 100 = % lost.
3% loss go ahead and get them checked by veterinarian. 5% or more lost see a veterinarian right away, even if 0 other symptoms. Sick burds burn 2 times their normal calories, so often weight loss is first abd can be only symptoms.

This age, babies are program to try new foods. So you should be offer a bunch of different veggies, and leafy greens like romaine, Swiss shard ect, every day. I also try to get them used to 3 different pellets types so they won't ever be picky. Rare on fruits . Mango, pomegranate, cherry, plums, ( no oits) blackberry, cranberry, raspberry. Soaked and cooked legume, lentils, sprouts, cooked sweet potatoes. Get them used to everything. My burds are kept occupied at least a st an hour morning abd afternoon by their veggies. Also teach foraging.
https://threebirdsandacloud.wordpre...parrot-to-eat-vegetables-or-unfamiliar-foods/

I've never gotten into chop. Its a bit of work , sbd I just serve fresh hunks of stuff. But I keep thinking I might. This is a great chop article.
http://lovinglifefromscratch.blogspot.com/2013/07/chop-all-things-good-for-birdie.html?m=1

This us a very important time in your birdds life! Play with toys together, play foraging together, try new foods together. Guide support, socialize your burd. Be watching dont push past comfort. Extra time niw leads to confident and able to entertain themselves later. Wishing you both happy healthy actlives lives! Welcome home new little birdie!

And for medium to large burds, they need some really wide perches, often hard to come by in pet stores. It really helps prevent arthritis after in life. Make an ok sign with yiur fingers abd spread pointer and thumb apart 1 to 2 inches, you want at least one perch that big around, provide maximum support to foot. I have some that big for my much smaller burds.

Bird tricks has free foraging you tube videos this can get you started
https://birdtricksstore.com/blogs/birdtricks-blog/toys-foraging

When the Amazon people see your cute new kid I'm sure they will storm your thread with all things Amazon!
Stay active, thus us a great group of people, you learn all kinds of things you never thought of!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I love the last picture! True Amazon birdonality showing! Not sure ifits because he is still a baby. Can't recall if Amy looked like that when he was 4 months old,now 31 yrs old.
Possibly our resident amazon expert Sailboat has an idea when he see's this post.



Jim

 

[SailBoat]

IMHO, three months is barely older enough to be fully weaned and to have been on solid food for at least two weeks prior being sold.

If you are in North America, the breeder /pet shop should have provided you a Hatch Certificate that provides information on the species of your Parrot, its hatch date and contact information. With the Southern Boarder wide open, we need to be careful of black market Parrots being smuggled into North America. It would be part of your purchase package. Most breeders /pet shops want you to have your baby seen by an Avian Medical Professional with in a few weeks of bring it home to support their warranty.

So, with your Hatch Certificate in hand, set-up a New Parrot Wellness appoint with your Avian Medical Professional.

Balding around the eyes can be part of a Young Amazon's feathering. Or it could be caused by excessive moisture around that area from hand feeding, eye watering or liquids from the nasals. The last two are concerning as they commonly indicate an illness.

And, yes, weight as suggested by my good friend above is very important to monitor as part of normal care of your Parrot. My preference is first thing in the morning after the first poop and before food and water. Keep a journal with date, time and weight. Note: The larger Blue-Fronted Amazons can have weights up to and a bit beyond 600 grams.

Amazons as a species, especially the larger one's tend to fill out to Adult weight between 3 and 8 years with the largest Amazons taking a full 8 years. Commonly the longest ones being YNA, Mealy and DYH Amazons with BF Amazons being around the 5 to 8 year period. The difference with Blue-Fronted is the size difference within that family (5 different species). Hence the importances of a Hatch Certificate which defines the species of the parents.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Amazons!

 

[wrench13]

Make sure he is getting enough water, that he knows how to drink from the supply in his cage or play stand. Observe if he is rubbing the sides of his head on the cage bars, or scratching that area around the eye with his foot a lot.

And the most important rule, when ever something does not seem right with your parrot, the rule that is applicable globally no matter where you are is:
Have him see a qualified Certified Avian Vet (CAV). Not a dog and cat vet , who sees birds. Parrots are prey animals and those hide illness so they do not stick out as easy prey for predators. By the time they are actually showing signs of being sick, they are already VERY sick. As my friends above advised, weight is a great indicator of health. Babies should be weighed daily.

 

[Laurasea]

I know less about the larger species like Amazon. Sailboat is definitely the active expert here!! I've learned a lot from reading his I love Amazon thread!! I know sexual maturity is around 4-8, but I thought adult weight was reached earlier.

This is a copied post from another Amazon member.

henpecked
Parrots:
Jake YNA 1970,Kia Panama amazon1975, both i removed from nest and left siblings, Forever Home to,Stacie (YN hen),Mickie (RLA male),Blinkie (YNA hen),Kong (Panama hen),Rescue Zons;Nitro,Echo,Rocky,Rub
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: NC/FLA
Thanks: 636
Thanked 4,136 Times in 2,132 Posts
henpecked is on a distinguished road
Re: When do BFA's stop growing?
Welcome to the forum. Your choice of following Micheal is a mistake. He's not about parrot health. Only training. Unless your goal is training parrots to "perform" , throw his advice in the trash can. BFAs should be at adult weight at about 1 year of age. Males will gain about 10% body weight when mature (8-10 years) and hormonal (breeding season). Much also depends on the birds activity, flighted or not. Young birds are generally much more active and burn more calories. Healthy weight is best determined by feeling the breast area of a parrot. I free feed all of my many,many zons . Micheal knows nothing about wild parrots, many of my pet and breeder birds I removed from wild nest, after studying their habits for many years. Yes, by all means weigh your birds on a regular schedule. Weight is best control by what you feed , not how much or when.

 

[SailBoat]

henpecked, sadly has not been active for far too long and is much missed. His insights had always brought clarity to the care of Parrots and Amazon's in specific. If I recall correctly he had suffered a direct Hurricane hit on his Florida home some five years ago.

The discussion of weight and age is one that has varied over the years as the care of Parrots has changed especially their diets and sadly, the transition to flipping ever younger Parrots at ever younger ages. Ten plus years ago, it was near unheard of a Parrot being sold from a Breeder that had not fully fledged! i.e. they could fly. Today, Parrots are sold that are not even fully weened. But I digress.

The one year point is where Amazon's 'tend' to first stabilize their weight. But, it is not where their full Adult weight is obtained.