how bad is the sexual maturity with amazons?

[LakeDesire]

Greetings! I've posted on a few other threads questions I have about rehoming a bird from Craigslist and amazons are one type of bird I have been looking at. The one big concern I've read about is amazons become aggressive when they sexually mature. Is this manageable for bird owners with moderate experience, or really as terrible as some people say?

(I've been considering adopting a 7 year old YCA and am concerned she hasn't sexually matured yet.)

 

[henpecked]

Hey desire, welcome to the forum. At age 7 she is border line mature. males tend to be effected more with aggressive issue at maturity than hens. The best cure is early socialization where they are exposed to lots of people and aren;t the "one person" bird that many zons are famous for. Of course with a rehomed bird ,that is out of your hands at this point. Could it still be a good family pet ? Yes but i would pick a rehomed bird who "picks you". Visit lots of birds and find one who will allow many different people to handle it and shows a lot of interest in you. When you bring it home it may have some issues with changing enviroment but the bird is basically well socialized, it should adjust fairly quickly. Aggression issues caused by hormonal changes during breeding season are usually short lived and don;t carry over for as many years with a well socialized bird.Of course when bring home a mature rehome and change his "flock" that;s your big chance to socialize them better with help from all of your family members.When ever they start to adjust and show interest in one person that one person should back off a bit and let someone else step up and fill that niche for awhile. I would say that if the bird your interested in seems to accept you, then with the help you can find here, you can work though many aggression issues. Hormonal aggression issue can be minimized with diet and environmental changes. Socialization is however the real key. Birds that mate for life tend to form strong bonds with their owners ,which makes them so great as pets, but nature teaches them to defend that mate when in breeding season, your challenge is to over come that natural instinct with good socialization, I have several rehomes who were mature when they came to live with us but have learned to be very comfortable with many people and don;t have biting or aggression issues with most people. There are no guarantees but with a handlable bird , your chances should be good. IMO more will depend on your dedication than the birds nature.

 

[LakeDesire]

Thank you!

Overall, how would you rate the challenge level of rehoming moderately well-socialized amazons, compared to other parrots? I only have experience with conures, and I am very confident with them, but I am a bit intimidated with a bigger bird who may have more complex/foreign emotional needs (and a bigger beak!).

I am also the only person with bird experience in my household. My partner and my nanday get along great but I am training him as much as I train her!

Would you say it is more challenging to rehome a bird before or after she's matured? (The other person with an amazon we've been talking to has a 15 year old BFA who is a one-person bird.)

Visiting a few birds a few times before adopting will be a bit challenging because the birds are several hours from our house.

 

[Alisana]

+1 for above.

Even if the Amazon is aggressive during "mating season", it can be managed. I've read that you can give hormone (?) injections to help calm them down or lower the aggression levels (I think they do this particularly with females who are laying way too many eggs), otherwise, you can find ways to live with and watch for warning signs. (Head low, tail flared, swaying side to side, eye pinning)

A friend of mine, the Amazon is bonded with her partner, so she is the number one target in the house - she basically tries not to 'stir' the amazon (e.g., not kissing/touching her partner in sight of the amazon), and keeping a pillow near by to protect her face. (Basically a shield, NOT for hitting the bird, I must stress this)

Different amazons can have different periods of being hormonal - some last for only a week, others can last upwards to around three months. Really depends on the individual. But as henpecked has said - socialisation is the key.

 

[LakeDesire]

Thanks for more details! Another concern is that I still have housemates (my partner and I own our house but rent two rooms to students) who are good with my nanday but don't always follow my positive reinforcement rules--mostly they acknowledge her when she screams, which I ignore. Is a good idea to wait until we don't have any "untrained" humans around who might unintentionally reward naughty behavior?

 

[Birdlover11]

You don't have to wait for that one. If you want A amazon right now you have to stress to your room mates how important positive reinforcement is. If they rewrd bad behavior like screaming from an amazon by looking at it and talking to it you'll have a very rude bird. So in conclusion from this confusing answer, no you don't have to wait until you don't have any " untrained human" around, you could just stress, stress and just stress how important not rewarding bad behavior is, maybe you cold give them an article to read on this or give them some examples on what bad behavior is .An amazon can get very out of control without training and reinforcement .hope it helped

 

[LakeDesire]

Thanks! They are very eager to learn and like birds, just are a bit unexperienced. They do read any articles and watch videos I send them, they just aren't as strict as me.

 

[LakeDesire]

What are your favorite resources on proper socializing?

 

[henpecked]

This forum ,read though some older post or looking the the social group "bonding with your amazon" ( click community on blue bar on home page,drop down ,click social groups and look for "bonding with amazons" ) Of course post questions here or there and we'll be glad to help. I really have never used any other source other than a life time of growing up with zons. Maybe some of the others will have some suggestions. Generally my comments come from experience.