I've had my DYH for about 10 years, yet I never really learned much about him except for some basic research on safety/health issues like diet, disease, etc. I figure it's never too late to get more involved on the behavioral side.
Background: Montoya is a DYH, sex unknown, about 15-18 years old. I am his third owner, but my dad was the previous owner, so I knew the bird casually for several years before taking him in. There are no other birds in the house. His wings have never been clipped (I am opposed to it). Since I got him, I switched him from seed to a pellet diet, curtailed the junk human-food snacks, and moved him into a much larger cage with thicker perches. He was never a distressed or ailing bird, but physically he is clearly much healthier than he ever has been. Now it's time to get down to business with behavioral issues...
Behavior/Personality: Until reading this and some other parrot/Amazon sites recently, I really had no idea that Amazons had such a reputation for volatility. I've seen mood swings from time to time, and he definitely does not like female humans. But since I'm not a female human, it never concerned me. Montoya came from a noisy home when he lived with my dad. It was the kind of place where people yell a conversation across the house rather than walk into the same room to talk normally. As a result, he developed an undesirable vocabulary of yells/shouts and would issue them at an undesirable volume. It has taken years for me to extinguish most of that, although he still has a couple of loud calls that are more like standard dawn/dusk flock behavior. I am a quiet & nocturnal person and I like a quiet house, so I am pretty strict with him about acceptable calls and volume level. His cage gets covered up when things cross the line. I believe what he needs now is more interaction time each day and some proper training techniques. There is also the problem of increased hormonal behavior in the past 2 years.
My questions:
1. How applicable is (behavioral) information written about other parrot species to Amazons? What about other Amazon types to the DYH? A lot of my internet searches turn up articles written about cockatoos, Greys, etc., so I don't know if the info is reliable with respect to my Amazon.
2. Where can I find good info on training my bird to be more comfortable with being touched and taken away from his cage? He will let me scratch his head, grab his beak with my fingers, and play "footsie" with my fingers and his feet, but back and belly are generally off limits unless he is very sleepy. He steps up just fine, yet he is apprehensive about riding on my shoulder, and he gets nervous if I carry him across the room from the cage. Leaving the room with him usually results in an attempt to fly back to the cage. He's definitely a homebody; sometimes I will put him on top of the cage, and he will climb back in and close the door behind himself! Should I rearrange the cage contents more often?
3. Should I do anything about his persistent humping of his toys? Perhaps this is related to the desire to stay near the cage. Would replacing the toys stress him out if he had some weird attachment to them?
4. What is a healthy treat that I can give him as a training aid? He loves seeds and nuts, but they take too much time to eat. Is there some sort of quick-consumption treat that will get him back to a ready state for another lesson? I thought about sunflower seeds, but aren't they unhealthy?
Background: Montoya is a DYH, sex unknown, about 15-18 years old. I am his third owner, but my dad was the previous owner, so I knew the bird casually for several years before taking him in. There are no other birds in the house. His wings have never been clipped (I am opposed to it). Since I got him, I switched him from seed to a pellet diet, curtailed the junk human-food snacks, and moved him into a much larger cage with thicker perches. He was never a distressed or ailing bird, but physically he is clearly much healthier than he ever has been. Now it's time to get down to business with behavioral issues...
Behavior/Personality: Until reading this and some other parrot/Amazon sites recently, I really had no idea that Amazons had such a reputation for volatility. I've seen mood swings from time to time, and he definitely does not like female humans. But since I'm not a female human, it never concerned me. Montoya came from a noisy home when he lived with my dad. It was the kind of place where people yell a conversation across the house rather than walk into the same room to talk normally. As a result, he developed an undesirable vocabulary of yells/shouts and would issue them at an undesirable volume. It has taken years for me to extinguish most of that, although he still has a couple of loud calls that are more like standard dawn/dusk flock behavior. I am a quiet & nocturnal person and I like a quiet house, so I am pretty strict with him about acceptable calls and volume level. His cage gets covered up when things cross the line. I believe what he needs now is more interaction time each day and some proper training techniques. There is also the problem of increased hormonal behavior in the past 2 years.
My questions:
1. How applicable is (behavioral) information written about other parrot species to Amazons? What about other Amazon types to the DYH? A lot of my internet searches turn up articles written about cockatoos, Greys, etc., so I don't know if the info is reliable with respect to my Amazon.
2. Where can I find good info on training my bird to be more comfortable with being touched and taken away from his cage? He will let me scratch his head, grab his beak with my fingers, and play "footsie" with my fingers and his feet, but back and belly are generally off limits unless he is very sleepy. He steps up just fine, yet he is apprehensive about riding on my shoulder, and he gets nervous if I carry him across the room from the cage. Leaving the room with him usually results in an attempt to fly back to the cage. He's definitely a homebody; sometimes I will put him on top of the cage, and he will climb back in and close the door behind himself! Should I rearrange the cage contents more often?
3. Should I do anything about his persistent humping of his toys? Perhaps this is related to the desire to stay near the cage. Would replacing the toys stress him out if he had some weird attachment to them?
4. What is a healthy treat that I can give him as a training aid? He loves seeds and nuts, but they take too much time to eat. Is there some sort of quick-consumption treat that will get him back to a ready state for another lesson? I thought about sunflower seeds, but aren't they unhealthy?
can make a bond, good luck!! :41:
