Cookie the Blue Fronted Amazon

[Campervan12000]

Hello I am new to the forum and our family have taken ownership of a 10 plus year old bird. We were told it was female but we feel its a male. He has a large cage about 7' high x 5' x 5' and enjoys his staple food as advised by the previous 10 year owner. He was described as having a little attitude. He is talkative and a very friendly chap, but he bites, he drew blood from my finger last night. Day one of ownership.
I searched the web and saw a couple of videos identifying the 'clicker' method with a chopstick, followed by reward etc. Can you advise me, he was supposed to have been abused at a young age and had bitten the previous owner through out the 10 years. Can he be cured and can we change his ways? He will take a treat from your fingers but if you play with him through the bars he takes the opportunity to bite after a little growling. His beak seems very long at that may be causing some discomfort? I expect he is aggressive as he confidently attacks, maybe he needs to be brought down the hierarchy ladder a little in order to develop submission? Am I correct? Please help if you can, I would love to get him to enjoy the family and maybe some free roaming.
I am sure you have many questions like this, I have searched and failed to find specific advice, I would appreciate your help.
Thanks

 

[mtdoramike]

I'm taking it that this is your first bird and if I'm correct, you have also realized that an older bird that had been abused and has aggressive issues wasn't the right bird for you to start out with. You should have bit the bullit and went to a breeder and got a hand fed baby.

It is going to be almost impossible to correct these issues in such and old bird but not totally impssible. I would go through You Tube, they have very good training videos on there that can help your situation. But first and foremost, the bird is going to have to learn to TRUST you and this can't be accomplished in a day or three. It may take days, weeks months and even years to form a working bond with a bird. Amazons are some of the hardest birds to form a bond with, especially if the bird doesn't like you.

Also, if someone were p;oking fingers at me through bars, I would want to bite them too. Also, being a bird owner means putting up with the occassional bite. No matter how tame a bird is, they will bite from time to time. If nothing more than to test you.

 

[Conurekidd]

It's no where near impossible To Rehab a 10+ year amazon. Not at all.
But it will take time. Parrots don't adjust like dogs and cats. Dogs and cats are 100s of captive bred generations. Parrots just a few. So were still potential predators to them. It's not natural for gem to expect us just yet. First you have to start from scratch. And as an amazon rehabilitater this is tough for me. I couldn imagne a first bird like this. I'd have to agree that this species period is not a first time bird. But like I said you must start from scratch. Your gonna have to earn his trust before you can start any training.
Just give the space. Talk to him. Give em treats and toys and after he's responding to your voise, then you can begin to tame him. But it could take years and odds are if he wasn a big people person to begin with. He probably won't be much tame. Yea you can handle him but to acually have a cuddle bug and lover they have to have some kinda formal understaing of us from some point. Doesn't mean he won't make a great pet. Just won't be to hands on. You need to give him a lot of patience
Just don't expect a tame bird in a couple of months. Like I said this can take months

 

[merlinsmom13]

I agree don't poke your fingers thru the bars of his cage. Thats his safe place & he doesn't know you. Sit by his cage & talk to him, set up his cage where you are, pay bills, read, watch tv by the cage. Open the door when he is more comfortable, put a treat by the opening, eventually he will be comfortable coming out. (place a treat in the cage to get him back in) You are trying to establish trust, so don't do anything that makes him feel threatened. Let him go @ his pace & be patient, he could take weeks & months for him to trust you. When he feels more comfortable, work on the step up command, there are youtube videos that show how to do this. If he's been abused, he is predisposed to not trusting you, so go very slow.

The biting is a amazon trait, the communicate w/their beaks. He has got results from biting, so try to show no reaction when/if he bites. The best way to minimize biting is to avoid the bite, I mean if he bites when you put your finger in his face, DONT PUT YOUR FINGER IN HIS FACE. Learn what makes him bite & dont do it. Watch his body language, pinned eyes (dialated pupils) is a warning, raised wings & flared tail in a crouched position is a warning. Merlin twists his neck like he is going to twist his head off as a warning sometimes.

Good luck w/your new guy. I have seen "vicious" amazons turn into wonderful pets so I don't think it is impossible, just takes alot of patience.