Good news and a request for information!

[Evanskiver]

The Good News!


About a month ago, my girlfriend and I walked into the local pet store and was surprised to find a White Fronted Amazon sitting in a large appropriately sized cage. The sticker price was accurate for the bird but far beyond our reach at the time.


Fast forward a month to yesterday when we again walked into the pet store to find the WFA gone from the front window along with it's cage. We were happy that the bird found a home and went on about our business. As we got to the bird area that contains finches, parakeets and the occasional conure we find our feathered friend sleeping on his food bowl as that is all he can get to. The cage was just a tiny bit longer then a Gal fish bowl and the foot hold were too small for his/her feet. There was a happy hut of sorts but was hung out of the bird reach.


The sticker price was 299.99 and again still well beyond our reach. We had the cage and supplies due to having lost a bird about 3 month prior and currently having an Alexandrine. So as we walked around and got ready to leave we decided to say goodbye to our not well taken care of friend.


When we arrived at the cage, some of the store employees were talking to it and attempting to get it to do tricks, which it did, turned around and bent to be petted. We asked about the other cage and why it had been moved and was told that the bird was dropped off along with the cage and they sold the cage. I asked if they knew the age or the health history and they did not, so with a mention that the bird needed a bigger cage, we paid for our dog food and left.


On the way out to the car my gf started asking me to go in and offer $60 that she had in cash. I did not think it was feasible and took a minute to think on the idea.

I decided that to not insult the store manager, I would offer $100 and I explained to him that without any history/age/ or guarantee they were asking way too much for the bird. I explained that I had recently lost a bird and had everything that the bird needed and could give it a good home.


With a statement that the owned would never take $200 off the bird, the manager called the owned and came back about 10 minutes later with a bewildered look on his face saying, "I cannot believe he did it, but $100 and the bird is yours!".


And this is how we got our trained WFA! We are still working on a name and have a little ways to go in bonding as the only bonding so far was his/her beak to my finger lol. However she/he seems very content in her new home and I am waiting for her to say Hello as we were told she does often.


Now for the advice!


As stated, I have an Alexandrine who is absolutely not fond of its new companion, yet. Is there a way to get them to become friendly or should we just put them in separate rooms?


I also was looking for some general advice on this breed to give it the best life possible. Do they have any special needs or like specific things? I know this research should have been done prior to purchase, but I could not pass up the opportunity to get the bird out of that condition.


Thank you for reading,


Edward

 

[IcyWolf]

Congrats on your new baby! I'm surprised as well that they took the offer but glad they did. I can't believe that they sold the poor things home! He gets dumped at a pet store full of strange people and surroundings and they sell the only thing he is familiar with. SMH, some people drive me nuts!

 

[dishgal1]

That poor thing. They sold his house? How inhumane. Thank goodness you rescued him. So happy for you and the bird.

 

[henpecked]

Hey edward, guess i could help some.First off ,thanks for giving an older bird a second chance at a happy home.Don't hesitate to ask more if i don't cover all the answers your looking for. Welcome to the forum, lots of good people here who are glad to help.WFA (White Front Amazons) are one of the calmer zons and don't talk as often as some of the others,but still a amazon thru and thru,LOL.I'd read up on things like diet,behavior and such .There are lots of good threads in this and other sections,if you can't find the answers,don't be afraid to ask.
When bringing in a new bird into your house ,you should "quaratine" them for at least 30 days away from your other birds.Coming from a pet store you don't know what they have been exposed to. Quarantine should be as far removed from the other birds as possible,including shared air and ventilation.Of course not every one has the perfect set up ,but do the best you can.A visit to your avian vet should be done early in this process.How much you want to spend on the different test is up to you but i'd ask your vet and see what he advises.At the very least get a feel for over all health and wether he's over/under weight. Zons are prone to being over weigh and suffering from things like fatty liver disease.Zons need to be on a good 70% pellet diet with lots of fresh veggies/fruits. Seeds and nuts(high fat) should be feed in moderation or as a training treat.Fatty high calorie people food should be avoided ,but many zons enjoy sharing healthy low fat people food(cooked veggies,chicken bones,rice, etc).I would leave him on whatever diet he has been on until he adjust to his new home.I would invest in a digital kitchen scale and make weighing him a weekly routine ,this well help when changing his diet and also alert you to health issues.
Other birds,zons are flock creatures but mate for life and bicker with the other members of their flock.Most pet zons are imprinted or bonded to humans and often don't do well with other birds. If he becomes aggressive to your IRN then i doubt things will ever change,so be careful to intro them slowly and in a neutral place(away from cage/perch/playground).The same is true of IRNs but they are more flock oriented and might make bird friends easier than a zon.Granted there's not much size difference between IRN/WFA but a WFA could kill your IRN very quickly.Zons are pretty easy to read so learn to "read" your zons body language and avoid trouble.If he's eyes start pinning and tail feather flare,watch out.

One of the most helpful things i can tell you is,Amazon need a strong,outgoing,confident but affectionate leader. They need boundaries ,so don't be afraid to show them the new rules of your flock.Be the leader, don't let them run things or chaos will result.

Didn't mean to write a book, sorry.Hope some of that helps and read up in some of the older threads here.Once again ,welcome to the forum and hope to see you around.BTW we love vids and pics ,so please share.Good Luck ,capt and Jake the YN

 

[Evanskiver]

Thank you very much for the help. I can tell we are already doing it wrong. I will be moving the Amazon into my bed room for the time being so that he gets time to adjust.

The food that was being fed at the pet store appeared to be nothing more then wild bird seed. I have given it some parrot food that I give my Alex and he seems to eat it but I plan on stopping by the store tonight and picking up some more fresh vegi/fruit for them both. Is frozen fruit ok or should it always be fresh?

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum and thankyou for rescuing him and bringing him to a Happy Home

 

[henpecked]

I feed fresh,some dehydrated/dried. Some people buy frozen veggies and feed them warm ,but much of the nutritional value is lost in cooking,and cooked foods spoil much quicker.

 

[Evanskiver]

Thanks for the info, I just got back from lunch with a good assorment of fresh fruit and some dried mango. The mango has suger on them, should I wash them off before giving them to my birds?

Also, when we get our Amazon, her talons are terribly long. I had a problem with my Alexandrines talon and was able to correct it with a sand paper like plastic perch. Is this an acceptible means of fixing this problem?

 

[henpecked]

Sweeten fruit is a no-no.I'd get a vet to do a short clip on the nails . If they are very long they may need to be cut in stages to prevent bleeding, Maybe a month between clips. If you use sandpaper perches you need to monitor the pads of their feet for sores caused by excessive ware. In istead of sndpaper perches i'd suggest some thing like the "pedi-perches" from Drs Foster and Smith to maintain their nails. Only one perch of that type should be used ,the bird need to be able to use other perches if the pedi-perch (or other type) is bothering their feet.

 

[Evanskiver]

Well day 1 is going rough. This one is going to be a handful. I feel terrible for her right now, her talons are so long they curl and touch the bottom of her feet. I have an appointment for Sat, but I feel terrible that I cannot do better. So far today I have 1 bite, lots and lots of lunges, and she likes to play the "pet me!" to get my hand close to bite lol. A long road ahead but I am looking for a positive outcome. I may make a blog about this, if anyone thinks that it would be read. Maybe other potential owners will see what it takes to raise a bird...

Ok so that is how far I got before my fire alarm went off. Luckily we got the fire out but our stove/microwave/ paint job is toast, no really, black charred toast. We also were lucky enough to have our alex outside in her cage and was able to get our amazon out safely. What a day. These are the days you just have to laugh away and be happy you made it through.

But as I was saying before, I feel that it is going to take a lot of work with the Amazon but I look forward to the end result.

 

[lizardsmells]

Yikes! I'm glad the whole place didn't burn down!

Thank you for taking in an older bird! Thank you thank you thank you! If you click on my username you can get to my blog. I blogged a lot when I brought Kazi home. (Life got kind of nuts and I slacked off a bit though.) I was just learning too (still am), but some of that info may be helpful for you. I say make the blog. When I was researching amazons before I brought Kazi home I ate up any blogs I could find with amazon stories in them, especially rescued amazon stories.

Congrats! I swear amazons are just the neatest birds. Crystal clear signals, which is great, once you can learn to read them

 

[Evanskiver]

I know the story sounds crazy so attached is a photo of us cleaning after removing the stove and microwave.

I will certainly look at your blog. Our zon has had some interesting behaviours and my fingers would love to avoid getting bitten lol.

 

[Evanskiver]

I could use a bit of help in figuring out what the bird is needing. Last night after everything calmed down, I moved Tyrael (The Alex), out of the room with the Zon. About 5 minutes later I myself exited the room and the Zon started screaming very loudly and non stop. Even after entering the room the Zon continued. Is this normal for a Zon? Apparently after I went into the room with her this morning, and then left for work she started screaming again and has been all day. Is this behaviour from being at a pet store for 3 months? Is she needing a companion? She did not do this while Tyrael was in the room. Also, she has a tendancy to lay with her chest on the ground and kind of puff out her wings, is this a warning or a gesture to be petted?

 

[lizardsmells]

I'm not 100% sure on the second one, but it sounds like female mating behavior to me. If Tyrael kept her calm is there any reason he can't stay in there?

Screaming after lights out is not normal 'zon behavior. Amazons seem to tend toward reflecting the noise levels in the house. When it's quiet around here, Kazi's quiet, but turn on some music or a loud movie or a vacuum cleaner (who am I kidding? I never turn that thing on.) and he's just as loud as any Amazon ever could be.

If I'm wrong and she's not screaming after lights out, then it may be that she doesn't like being separated from you guys. Parrots don't care much for isolation, silent isolation is worse for them. Maybe try some soft music or some bland tv for her?

 

[wenz2712]

I have an Amazon and she always screams when I leave the room! While I am within her sight she is as quiet as a Mouse... so, i'm thinking he is doing this as he wants you to be with him.

When Codie first started screaming, Henpecked advised me to just totally ignore her, and when she didn't scream to give her a treat! which I did for quite a few months and I must admit, by doing this, she does not do it as often now she has come to realise that screaming does not get her any attention at all!

 

[Evanskiver]

I have a lot to learn I guess. Tyrael is seeming much easier to train than the Zon will be. I am getting an idea she is not a fan of men. Apparently my gf put her finger down and the zon stepped up and then flew to her shoulder . I will have to sway her with more treats lol.

I am not sure this matters or not, but it was daylight at the time and we were just leaving the room. As for Tyrael staying in there? I was told that they should be serperated for about 30 days or so before a big introduction. Tyrael is none to please about our new Zon and when we let her out, which we stopped quickly, she would immediatly fly to the zons cage and stare at her. Our first episode was a big lesson learned and we had both cages open and tyrael flew over and attacked the zon but no hits actually occured between the two just a lot of misses lol.

I hope she will like me : /

 

[lizardsmells]

If you're the one who'll be taking care of your new girl then she'll learn to like you at the very least. Your GF may be her favorite person (for now, they do change their minds sometimes!) but she won't hate the person caring for her, either

For at least the next two weeks you guys are going to be getting to know one another and it's going to be rocky. It'll probably get a little rockier after she starts to settle in and starts pushing her boundaries, but be consistent and firm and you should do fine. Amazons can be pushy pushy birds, don't let her get away with it. Kazi walks all over my husband because he lets himself be bullied. I had to tell him the other night not to take any crap or he'd be running from Kazi forever.

Oh, and one final word, she may bite. A lot. I'm not sure how she ended up in a pet store but chances are it was due to undesirable behavior which is bound to come out as soon as she feels comfortable. That undesirable behavior may have been biting. Kazi seemed to have that issue, so my hands and arms are pretty scarred up. Some of those bites were pretty horrible, to be honest. BUT, with that said, as our trust has grown and I have learned better how to read his body language, his bites have grown less frequent and he rarely punctures the skin now when he does bite and when he does, it's a very light wound. Most of the time he remembers himself and either stops himself or doesn't bite with much force. So hang in there, if you can persevere you'll end up with a fabulous companion

 

[Evanskiver]

Is there a good way to get an idea how old he/she is?

 

[lizardsmells]

You have to cut them in half and count the rings.

I really don't know if there's a way to tell. I know that sometimes the appearance and state of their feet can indicate whether it's a very young or older bird, but even that's not certain.

 

[henpecked]

Is there a good way to get an idea how old he/she is?

Very hard to guess age of zons, not sure which species, sub species you have,but show us some good pics of head and nape, i'll give it a guess. PS include some pics of lower legs where feathers end.