Hello, please need som advice with my very aggressive Yellow-Naped Amazon

[Filko24]

Hello, my name is Carlos and I have a 3-year-old Yellow-Naped Amazon. I live alone with a dog and a cat (I live in South America). I have had my parrot almost since she (starting to believe it is he due to the high level of aggressivity) was born, and until 6 - 8 months ago everything has been great. It first started with her ignoring when I said "step up" on the finger. When I had her free in the house it started to become a problem to grab her to put her back into her cage. She would run/fly away and try to bite as I grabbed her. She would calm down at once as soon as I had her in my hands but having to grab her by force every time I wanted her back into her cage became a negative experience. Little by little the aggressive behavior started. She would start to attack the water and food cup when I wanted to put it back into the cage and then started to bite my hand as well. Not always but randomly.

Now it is 10 times worse than before. I live in another country then my parents and they are visiting me and will stay for a couple of months. My parrot did not pay any special attention to my parents and my parents don’t really care much about parrots, so they have not been paying any special attention to her. About middle of January my parrot for some reason (hormones?) fell totally in love with my father. She goes crazy and talks saying every word she knows and screaming when ever she hears his voice or see him entering the room. From that point she has also become 100 times more aggressive towards me. Is she has see or heard my father a short time before I walk by the cage she will launch her self against it very angry trying to attack me. If she is calm and I have her in my hand and she see or hear him she will attack me and bite me like crazy. Now she walks away from me and try to bite me when ever she can. My father is now the only one that can put his hand into the cage without get bitten. He is not used to birds, barely interacts with my parrot during the day but she is crazy about him.

I have no idea what to do. By night a couple of hours before I put her to bed, she is calm and comes running when I open the cage and I can do what ever I want to her, and she will let me. Problem is that I now have cuts and wounds on both my hands from the last 10 days and I don’t longer trust her, and my body don’t want any more pain, so I do not longer pet her by night. I spend a lot of time with her and talk to her almost all the time even if she ignores me and almost don’t talk back during the 2 -3 hours, I spend alone with her during the day. Letting her fly free in the house I don’t know if that is a very good idea anymore. I feel like the time I spend with her in the room while she is free only makes thing worse since I have to grab her by force to put her back into the cage and she goes crazy and tries to bite me all she can. I must use thick kitchen gloves (only thing I have right now to protect my hands) and when I approach her to grab her this becomes a very negative moment to my parrot and probably will make her “hate me” more.

I don’t know if this behaver is because she is becoming mature and combined with being breeding season makes her even worse. I have read that they start to mature around 3 years (exactly her age) and that breeding season is between December and May. Will she be like this every year for almost 5 -6 months during breeding season? I have also read that it also takes around 2 years before they totally stop the aggressive behavior towards the owner they used to love since they mature between 3 and 5 years old. I truly don’t see how I can support this situation 5 – 6 moths every year during breeding season and having to wait 2 years before she turns back to the lovely parrot she used to be. Please every good advice to make things easier is highly appreciated.

 

[SailBoat]

Your interaction with your Yellow-Nape is near classic: What Not To Do! With great luck, Amazons will allow you to start-over and begin doing things much, if you will the right way..

Stop grabbing your Amazon!! Start developing a Trust relationship with you Amazon. Then your Amazon can trust not being Man-Handled, your Amazon will be far more open to not eating you.

Although still young, your Amazon has begun using its hard wired behavior reactions and as a result it is well worth your time to read with understanding the Thread at the top of the Amazon Forum. Understanding Amazon Body Language.

You will also find the I Love Amazon Thread that sits below the Thread mentioned above to be very helpful.

 

[Filko24]

Your interaction with your Yellow-Nape is near classic: What Not To Do! With great luck, Amazons will allow you to start-over and begin doing things much, if you will the right way..

Stop grabbing your Amazon!! Start developing a Trust relationship with you Amazon. Then your Amazon can trust not being Man-Handled, your Amazon will be far more open to not eating you.

Although still young, your Amazon has begun using its hard wired behavior reactions and as a result it is well worth your time to read with understanding the Thread at the top of the Amazon Forum. Understanding Amazon Body Language.

You will also find the I Love Amazon Thread that sits below the Thread mentioned above to be very helpful.

Hi SailBoat thank you. I will read the Threads but I will point out that for the first 2 years from she was a baby without feathers I did not grab hear. I would only offer her my finger/arm and she would step up to get in and out of the cage. I could also do it with a broom stick if she was in a high place. The grabbing started when she started to ignore the step up and I had no other option to get her back into the cage or to switch from the little cage where she sleeps to the bigger cage in the garden. If she was on the shower cabin and I wanted to put her to bed she would just go away because she was not interested in "step up".

SailBoat based on my post a couple of questions:
1) Should my father be the one to change her food and water since he is the only that can put in the hand whenever he wants? I can only do it now when she is extremely calm and that might be late at day/night and she needs fresh food and water during the day.

2) Since I believe she goes crazy because of my father due to hormones should he stay away from her as much as possible? Keeping her in a place of the house where she almost don't see and hear him and only let him change water/food if yes on question one?

3) How do I give her free time outside the cage if the only way to get her back in is by grabbing her since she will not step up on the arm/stick and only run away/bite arm/stick or fly high?

It is not that she will never step up, she will not step up when she is some place high or have a feeling she will be put back into the cage or now that she is aggressive most of the time due to puberty and breeding season..... I have to let her be in the cage all the time, have her free in a room all the time (not an option) or let free for a couple of hours each day and grab her at the end to get her back unless you have a great idea. Thank you. Of course anyone with good tips can answer as well

 

[Birdgirl24]

instead of grabbing her you could train her to make a slight recall so instead of you grabbing her she's coming to you for a treat I used to do that with my birds it worked like a charm

 

[Laurasea]

Hi,
I'm looking for some links with ideas and help. There was one thread I put a bunch in.

It is possible to teach hands off return to cage, I've done this with budgies and quakers. They got the hang of it pretty quickly, but the first few times it takes a lot of patience and fooling around. Use the same phrase, have them watch you put the highest value treat in cage first, then I kind if herded them and praised like crazy every step they took towards cage, and lots if praise and even more treats once they went in.

Foraging is a great way to enteract and can be hands off but done together.

Target training is very helpful. But training sessions should be short like no more than 5 reps try and end in success, then give a break and work on it again later. The first step is to just to teach to touch the chop stick nice. Its important to take the time to teach this before going on to anything else. I like butd tricks video because they show and allow failure, they show adapting. In the beginning this burd didn't even to want the person to come close. So at first they has to reward just coming close, before even doing the target stick.

And this was good because the girl gets frustrated and makes common mistakes,

Target training is about shaping behavior in small steps. And postive reinforcement. Helps build trust for both of you, and postive associations.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Even after 32 years I can't and wont even TRY to grab my Amazon,I use what I call his carry-me-around perch which he readily steps on to then transfer him to either my hand or arm or his playpen,even back into his house. Sounds like your Dad might be his "person"..that happens for whatever reason. Your Amazon is still young,and can learn,they are very smart creatures. Also remember "It Is Never The Amazon's Fault"!

Jim

 

[SailBoat]

At three years of age, your Y-N Amazon would be just in the early stages of the chemical rush of Hormonal Season. That said, you would only see what is called Hormonal reaction from time to time. Your Amazon's reaction is at very specific times - hence more likely behavioral.

We have a Double-Yellow headed Amazon who is 23 years of age and like your Yellow-Nape Amazon is a member of the 'Hot-Three' Amazons with Blue-Fronted Amazon being the third in the group. As a result it becomes very important to develop a Trusting Bond with Your Y-N Amazon soon, as the 5-year point is the assured entrance into Full-On Hormonal Reaction for a young Amazon.

Regarding your Father feeding your Amazon. Not recommended as with you being the odd-one out, it would not be wise to remove yourself from being the one to provide the 'Goodies' and ever more remove yourself from any importance what so ever.

If your Amazon is stored in some room away from the center of activities, why would you except that your Amazon would want to be put in the backroom and not stay where the activity (Humans) is? Move you Amazon into the center of the action. Place the food inside the cage and use the cage side access to clean and fill the food and water dishes. You will very quickly see your Amazon move in and out of the cage to eat.

FYI: Read the recommend Threads sooner, not later as you really need to be working on 'Re-Developing' your Trust Bond with your Amazon. Try sitting next to your Amazon and reading those Threads out loud in a relaxed voice and you work to 'Re-Develop' your Amazons comfort with you.

When your Amazon allows a step-up, that should be rewarded verbally. Remember that you just showing-up and demanding a Step-Up does not work well, as I commonly start from the other side of the room or before I even enter the room with announcements that its time to return to the cage and its is time for a step-up. If you get a total rejection. back several steps away and walk slower to your Amazon asking for a step-up.

FYI: Unlike cats and dogs, you are not the leader of your Amazon's pack. At most you are a member and with luck an equal.

 

[texsize]

When I have an angry yellow nape I have found 2 methods work best.

As has already been mentioned, a transfer perch.

Another way is with a towel.
Not to wrap her up in.
But when I dangle a towel in front of my YNA he will grab for it every time.
Then I carry him around hanging from the bottom of the towel and put him down (on his back) and he will disengage from the towel.

 

[Filko24]

Thank you very much all of you for great information and tips. I have been changing the food and water taking my time and reading its body language to make sure it is at the right moment I’m doing it. You are right, she has become afraid of my hands for grabbing her by force so many times. Only time she let me do whatever I want to her are the 15 - 20 minutes I take her out of the cage and cuddle with her before putting her to bed since she knows it’s a safe moment. I have learned a lot the last couple of days, and I’m filled with hope that I can re-gain her trust. Again, thank you all.

 

[Filko24]

Hi, I have learned now not to grab my parrot, but is it okey to hold her in my hands once she comes by herself and step up? I have a small (not that small) cage to use inside the house and a big cage in the garden. I really don't want to just have her sitting on my finger/arm/ transfer perch walking 20 meter under open sky to get from the small to the big cage......

 

[Laurasea]

oh lordy definitely don't risk an open walk transfer !

Find a small travel cage to use. No escapes please!