I was the chosen one...

[Roxy_9_2011]

I am the parront of a YN Amazon, Carlos. I will be completely honest and say I never wanted one and their beak scares the heck out of me. But God has a sense of humor and decided to have Carlos choose me over everyone else at the bird store I volunteer at. He has bonded very hard to me and I know when an Amazon picks you, they mean it. I live in an apartment, thus he is a store bird until we can get a house. I only get to see him once a week during the school year, which you would think would make him not bond with me. But no, he gets all excited on my weekly visits to him like it's Christmas Day. So there is definitely no ignoring that I am the chosen one and thus I want to make his life as happy and spoiled as possible. Also, he cuddles! I never seen an Amazon cuddle like he does. He rests his head in the crook of my neck and then I get all into his head and neck feathers. ....that's how I learned about their dust and musk smell

I posted in the general question forum about finding his import year. He was wild caught back in the day and has a government band. I have no background history on him or know how old he is. So any help with that would be AWESOME!

I am now having fun learning all about Amazons!

 

[SailBoat]

Read the first Thread in the Amazon Forum, Amazon Body Language. Read it multiple times! Lots of Amazons live in Apartments!

 

[texsize]

congratulations.
I love my YNA and we have a special bond too.
Yes be sure to read the amazon body language .
I don't want to scare you but the fact is having a special bond does not mean you are immune to a nasty bite. I have gotten many, and mostly they are MY fault, sometimes knowingly sometimes not.
texsize

 

[kozykitty]

I think we've all learned about parrot bites! I became a parrot owner in January and I continue to refer back to the body language thread. Be very observant of your bird. You will come to read him like a book! My Gloria still won't get on my hand or a stick--we'll really work on that over the summer--but she now does the happy dance when I come home so I know we're making progress!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Amazon's Rule! <right,sailboat?? > Just ask Amy.


Jim

 

[wrench13]

Every species is just a bit different, and while I like macaws, 'toos, conures, tiels, 'keets, greys and caiques, I been a amazon man from the beginning since 1980. To me, just the right combination of intelegence, goofyness, playfulness stubbornness, independence and love. Read them right, train them well, love 'em no matter what and you reap 5x what you put in and never get bitten, most times.

 

[SailBoat]

Amazons and most Amazon Owners have been working for years to create this 'belief' in the General Population that Amazons are Blood drinking, Flesh carving, screamers. Years of hard work has gone into creating this false belief.

Than Amy and Salty (OK, and yes, several others here) had to boldly show that it was all a falsehood. That Amazons are the true lovers of the Parrot World! Amazon's Rule!

I have always believed that my dear Wife has an Amazon soul, after all she has to put up with me (but that another story) all these years. But anyway, a truly lovely person. HOWEVER, piss-her-off and OMG! Just like an Amazon, know the body language and follow instructions and all will go well. Fail that and life is not going too: You can fill in your finding here!

Amazon Have More Fun! - Just to mix it up a little!

 

[Birdman666]

The "amazon crush" thing is VERY real. It's very often an "instant" thing... and it can last a lifetime if you nurture it.

This bird will behave differently with you, than with anyone else.

Picking the bird that picks you is usually the best advice you can give someone getting a bird.

My amazons are bite pressure trained. (Yes, you CAN bite pressure train an amazon, it's just harder.) They generally pinch. They generally don't draw blood. (My 43 year old LCA doesn't even pinch!) I've been meaning to do a play video with Kiwi to dispel that particular myth.

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

Thank you everyone! Carlos has pinched me many times already. (the worst bites are from lovebirds and parakeets IMO) I do have some background knowledge of Amazons thankfully from working in the bird store for years and I am a bird nerd and proud of it lol. But I will definitely check out the Amazon body language thread. My best friend also has a YN so she has been very helpful in educating me on their needs and behaviors as well. He just got tested for fatty liver disease and it's negative (yay!) He is HUGE by the way. He is one of the largest YN that have come through the store. He weighs way over the average YN weight, thus why I got him tested for fatty liver. Basically Carlos is just a huge boy. I also am learning how it's harder for him to balance his weight... I learned move a lot different with him on me compared to my conure or macaw.

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

I think we've all learned about parrot bites! I became a parrot owner in January and I continue to refer back to the body language thread. Be very observant of your bird. You will come to read him like a book! My Gloria still won't get on my hand or a stick--we'll really work on that over the summer--but she now does the happy dance when I come home so I know we're making progress!

Thankfully Carlos came perch trained. So anyone is able to get him out of the cage in the store if there is an emergency. He has pinched me many times already. But my worst bites come from small birds. I am getting used to his body language, basically he hates males.

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

The "amazon crush" thing is VERY real. It's very often an "instant" thing... and it can last a lifetime if you nurture it.

This bird will behave differently with you, than with anyone else.

Picking the bird that picks you is usually the best advice you can give someone getting a bird.

My amazons are bite pressure trained. (Yes, you CAN bite pressure train an amazon, it's just harder.) They generally pinch. They generally don't draw blood. (My 43 year old LCA doesn't even pinch!) I've been meaning to do a play video with Kiwi to dispel that particular myth.

He definitely behaves differently with me than everyone else. I know that I'll be the only one to handle him. He hates males especially. I fully support that letting the bird pick you is the best way. I try to enforce that as much as I can when I talk to new customers at our bird store.

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

Here are a couple pictures of Carlos. He is the only bird of mine that will fall asleep on me willingly. It's adorable.

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

[ame="https://youtu.be/J2cWAAZpY1I"]https://youtu.be/J2cWAAZpY1I[/ame]


Here is a video of him walking around the store.