Does anyone have tame Amazon pairs?

[ceegull]

Just asking because I could not find anything on the subject except that these birds are real picky and might turn on the human. Can it be done? Do they have to be bought in together as babies or an introduction when the birds are mature can work?

 

[JerseyWendy]

When you say 'pairs' are you talking about breeding pairs, or folks who share their home with both a male and a female?

I truly hope our 'henpecked' chimes in, he knows his zons (and all about breeding them).

I DO share my home with both a male (almost 4) and a female (almost 17). They are caged separately, however, they are allowed to hang out together when they are out of the cage, and they get along splendidly. I must say that my male's attitude 'can' become quite unpleasant towards me when he's with my hen, and I look at him the wrong way. :54:

Pet Amazons 'usually' make poor breeders.

 

[Kiwibird]

As Wendy said, it depends on your definition of a "pair". I think you will find many people have a male and female amazon "pair" that are bonded or buddy birds but don't mate.

My mom has such a pair of amazons, inseparably bonded for around 40 years (have never mated). Both like and are friendly towards humans (the female is actually very affectionate to family members she knows/trusts and the male is very social and will even let strangers hold him) but they are a bonded pair first and foremost. It would be cruel to ever split them up and I think they need each other far more than they need humans. They were introduced as a juvenile (male) and mature adult (female). I suppose you might find the 'odd' breeder pair who are also friendly towards humans, but I wouldn't hedge my bets on it. Most breeder birds are interested in their mate and only seek/tolerate minimal human interaction.

As for a bird 'turning', that is a behavioral issue that can be corrected. Amazons do have a 'love at first sight' thing, and yes, they will sometimes fall madly in love with a human/other bird/object and will develop a possessive/defensive disposition over that person/bird. While you can't force a parrot to love you most, you can definitely take steps to properly socialize them. A lot of amazon aggression problems/horror stories are actually a lack of proper training and socialization, not an 'unfixable' trait.

 

[henpecked]

Yes , i have several breeder pairs. The wild caught OWAs are the only pair i would consider "tame". They love to come out and climb all over me. I can handle them when they are together. However, if they have a nest box or babies you better keep away. They would attack me in that situation. Why do you ask? Ex-pet breeder pair are usually unhandlable and often vicious.

 

[ceegull]

I mean as pets, can we keep a male and female bonded pair. Sharing the same cage with free roam in a house.

 

[ceegull]

Are amazons really picky when choosing a partner, I mean more picky when speaking about parrots in general? Or are they better when introduced as babies?

 

[Kiwibird]

So long as they are properly trained and socialized, there should be no problem keeping a male and female. Amazons *can* be picky about whom they like, but in general well socialized zons will get along with other well socialized zons in shared areas (there is, of course, always a possibility they'll hate each other, they are intelligent beings with their own prerogative in life. They also tend to be a tad defensive/territorial about their cage which is where shared areas come into play). Zons are known for being very choosy about parrots of other species they'll tolerate and which humans they love and hate (and gender of human they prefer, though again, proper training and socialization can mitigate this). Actually, I found it quite interesting when several years ago we introduced my amazon to my moms amazons (after numerous times "meeting" while caged and seeing no hostility). My moms 2 bonded amazons immediately welcomed my boy and didn't even bat an eyelid about him hanging out with them on their shared play area! These were 2 birds who had not been introduced to a "new" amazon (or any other bird for that matter besides a cockatoo who's been around them forever they both dislike) in 40 or so years and my amazon may have never seen another amazon in his life. My moms zons would have immediately chased off the cockatoo if he came onto their turf, but they actually seemed to recognize Kiwi as their own kind and welcomed him (this was, of course, a CLOSELY monitored meeting).

Larger pet parrots should NOT share a cage, but provided they get along, they can definitely interact outside the cage. Unless you WANT to breed them (and you don't, you want pets and they can't be both), amazons appreciate their own space even if they enjoy companionship in shared spaces. Keep in mind, unlike most pets, amazons take 4-6 years to hit puberty and will likely not try to breed for a few seasons after they become sexually mature. If you get babies/juveniles they can go years and years seemingly with no, ahem, frisky business going on because they aren't mature birds driven to reproduce yet (even though they are full size). Best to keep them in separate cages from the get go! And once they are mature, you do need to keep a close eye on them during the mating season to make sure they don't start nesting or mating. Getting them as babies is not a requirement, but IF they dislike each other babies might be easier to mitigate that in than older, set in their ways birds.

 

[ceegull]

Thanks kiwibird - "Larger pet parrots should NOT share a cage, but provided they get along, they can definitely interact outside the cage. Unless you WANT to breed them (and you don't, you want pets and they can't be both)" - thats what I wanted to know.

 

[Aquila]

My pair aren't particularly friendly with me, they're more scared and defensive, but it's possible they were tame at some point because they take treats from me by hand no problem. If I wanted to tame them, I'd separate them entirely and work with them individually, but in larger birds it tends to cause a lot of anxiety when you separate an established pair.

Any bird can be trained with enough time and effort (I'm working on my conure pair that's slowly coming around to me though they can't be handled right now.)