Help me, help my little buddy please :)

[mmande1315]

Hi everyone! I have a 7-8 old yellow napped amazon named Gizmo (I call him Momo for short, he actually calls himself Momo too haha). He is Actually my Dad's parrot. I have a little experience with parrots but not much. I had an African Grey several years back, that i had to give away when i moved cross country a few years ago. I was absolutely heartbroken but she is in a good home. I do know that personality wise parrots differ and i can definitely see that with these 2. Poor Momo has not been out of his cage in a few years unfortunately. Originially he had taken to my father and my father was the only one that could really hold him or pet him, now my father has other priorities and he doesnt pay him the attention he needs and Momo has fallen to the bottom of the list. My mother and I try to give him the attention as much as we can but he has been cage bound for so long we are afraid of taking him out of the cage. I know from experience we NEED to get him out and break him from his territorial dependence of his cage and getting his beak,nails and wings done are of the utmost importance. I have a major soft spot for parrots and Momo and i have formed a special bond with each other, even if from outside of the cage. He comes over to me and talks softly to me, preens my hairs through the bars and gets very excited whenever i come into the room. I know I read somewhere that when a parrot fans their tails feathers out and fluffs up that it may be signs of aggravation but in Momo's case when he does it seems like he does it when he is happy. He has his feathers fanned and hes is all fluffed up and rubbing his feathers on the bars for me to pet him the whole time while i am near him.
I am coming to you because i need some tips on how to get him out of his cage so I can get him to the bird store to get his grooming done. I also need some tips on how to train him to get him used to being out of his cage. He is such a sweet lovable bird, i would do anything to help him.
Any help will be useful! thank you!!!!

Amanda

 

[chika]

Aw, Poor Gizmo!
My green cheek used to be cage aggressive, but I have since fixed the problem. These are things that I have had work for me. I don't know why, but wings and nails trimmed can stop it? A breeder told me that. But you need to be able to get him out first! So what I did was move her cage. The place where the cage was could have become "hers" and when her cage moves, she's not in her territory anymore. This can be stressful on the bird, though, because they aren't big fans of change. Also, if you can, move around everything in the cage without him biting you or anything, do it. Is he on a seed diet? Actually, a lot of problems can be fixed by that. Either go to a pellet diet or make your own food with sprouts, greens, beans, and anything else you want that birds can eat. Try to open the cage door and just let him climb out himself. Let him walk around and everything, get used to it, and then ask him to step up. If he lunges at you, don't make any noise or sudden movements. Slowly move your hand away. If he grabs you and starts biting, you have to take it. Be completely still. He will soon see after this happens a few times that biting gets him nowhere and he'll stop. My bird still sometimes pretends she wants up from the top of her cage, then bites me. She'll pick her foot up, then when I'm close she lunges and won't let go. The breeder I got her from told me to use something "scary" like a book (I can even use a hair tie!) and move it close to the bird and he'll have to step up to get away. This really works for me. She forgets she wants to bite me and steps up and then she's perfectly happy. Also, you can feed him little treats to get him to like you. Once he's comfortable with you, put him a travel cage and take him to wherever you get their wings and nails clipped!
Hope I helped!

 

[suebee]

as said above, some very good suggestions,

thought the takin a bite?? i'm a coward an my approach, even with my little sene is, avoid gettin bit in the first place, i never ask nut to do anything she is un sure about, i take a turning of the head as a refusal, if she goes to bite me, as i am always aware, as she like to put in a sneaky beaky for her own entertainment at times, once i have pulled my hands away from her i turn my back to her an walk away or i frown an give her a right dirty look after the initial oww!

momo reads like he likes you and i would bet once he is out of his cage then all will be ok, an to get him in?? throw in some of his fav foods.
just some time an patiance is needed, let him come out of his cage by himself to start with, step away if needs be as mentioned by chika

fluffing canbe signs of aggravation, but can also be signs of excitement, nut only fans an waggles her tail in extreme excitement, like when i am home from work an i let her out!

 

[Conurekidd]

Amazons are very unique. Acually extreamlly unique. They need affection or they pick up bad habits and fast. I rehabilitate amazon at our rescue. And cage aggressive amazon are usally the most common. Owners would send them to the rescue for mostly because there parrot is aggressive.
I'm glad youv decided to work with him and keep him. Because changes can be made.
I'll tell you exactly what I do when we have a picky aggravated amazon.

First I isolate and praise. Lots of attention for the first few weeks. Treats and in the process usally switching them from seed to pellets.

After we get some response we attempt opening the cage to see If there comfortable with there surrounding and are willing to play. If not more time is givin.

When they come out (when time comes) we praise and offer rewards. This has always worked and they repeat coming on out now. Might be slow the first few times but this is a slow coarse. Patients is key here.

Once were at a level of excitement we attempt step up.
This might take time but sometimes works right away.
With the favored treat we already tamed a cage aggressive bird
Now we would like a hand tame bird. 'usually' there willing to do anything for this treat including stepping up. May take a few attempts but amazons are fussy. They need the time.
Once you have em steping up repeat over and over thoughout periods of weeks and soon the bond will grow strong because of the trust and "treats" hehe.
Now this is my personal method of not taming but rehabilitaing an amazon.
Could take over a year depending on the severity of the birds issue.
Some might snap right out. Just remember be patient.

 

[darkling]

Pi fluffs up whenever I scritch her head. I always thought that meant she was really enjoying herself. I don't really have any advice, just wanted to offer some encouragement and wish you luck with this! Please let us know how it all works out and good on you for trying!

 

[kitt]

Awww, poor little guy stuck in his cage...thank you for taking the time to learn how to help him......that is wonderful....
Please let us know how he does...I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.

 

[henpecked]

You've gotten some pretty good advice in what to do,but may i add one piece of advice when dealing with Amazons.Don't keep doing anything they seem to enjoy for so long that they feel the need to bite you to let you know they've had enough,avoid the bites,if you are petting the bird and he is loving it ,great ,but stop after a min or 2 and leave him wanting more of your attention,The important part is leave him wanting more from you, him looking forward to your next interaction.I also deal with lots of rescue amazons and have also run into birds where this doesn't work,these birds so crave attention that they want to bite when you try to put them down they get so excited over human interaction what it's an over load and they need to be "flooded" (I know controversial terminology ,but applies here ) with attention so that they've had enough and want to get back on their perch.Good luck and he's a lucky bird to have someone who cares, Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.I'm sure that with a little work and a lot of patience you can have a great pet.

 

[Tammy]

My Amazon puffs up his feathers & spreads his tail feathers every time he is about to talk to me. The angry fluffing looks completely different & is reserved for my mother only. I started by letting his cage open & letting him come out when he wanted to. When it was time to go back to the cage I told him he had to either let me pick him up or fly there on his own. He chose to fly back & we've gotten along great since then. I let him make the choices & I respect his decision.