Madd Max [mean green sulfur crested]

[henry0reilly]

Max doesn't fly but his wings have not been clipped for years. About 16 years old, he hates me with a passion. He's extremely fond of my wife and behaved for her at first (step up on to hand, step down when told), I've posted about him before.

Today he somehow managed to climb onto the back of my chair and then onto my shoulder, at first I thought it was the cockatoo. I was pretty sure any attempt by me to remove him would have resulted in getting bitten, my wife got him to step up and then he climbed her arm leaving puncture wounds from his very long claws, as she moved him to his cage.

I feel like I might have quashed a friendly overture but I didn't want to take a chance.

 

[itzjbean]

Phew, what an experience! Glad you got away unscathed.

Is there a reason his claws are so long that they are leaving puncture wounds? When was his last trip to the vet? They do need regular trimming to maintain nails that won't inflict injury, and a vet can help you with that (he'll likely get toweled to accomplish this).

 

[lplummer52]

Yeah, Birdie gets her nails trimmed every 4 months. It's worth a trip to the vet.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL< that must have been *some* experience!

A bird that actively dislikes you suddenly just geting himself to a spot where some serious injury might have happened--
well done for all of you!


Pitty about the nails -> you wife is "holy" now?
(sorry bad parrotjoke that has been going on for years around here)


So - one of those perches to blunt the nails does not work for you?
(It made a big difference here -> I put some tug and tear toys nearby or just willowbranches and they do not need a trim! They wear the nails down all by themselves, and since there is plenty to choose from I am not forcing them to sit there.)

 

[Kiwibird]

Regardless of his intentions, you did the right thing by remaining calm and having your wife remove him from being too close to your face. As much as I love amazons as a species, they are large and aggressive enough parrots to have the potential to cause serious injuries if they bite you in the face and should be kept away from the face if you can't trust them not to attack.

That all said, it is very likely that had he wanted to attack you, he would have. Amazons are generally not the sneak up and attack from behind type. They seem to prefer to see the terror you experience as you watch them charge at you in full amazon death mode. This interaction sounds more like a bird who was simply exploring/curious or perhaps even was extending an olive branch of friendship. In the future, if he behaves in a friendly or even just non-threatening way to you, when your wife moves him she should lavish him with praise for the positive interaction with you and once he's safely away from your face, just calmly approach hands behind back and tell him 'thanks buddy, you were a real nice bird". Offer a treat if he'll take one without attacking. Basically, make it a (positive) big deal when he approaches you in a non threatening manner. Let him know you like it and more importantly, his preferred human likes the behavior too. My amazon hated me and loved my husband when we first got him. He still chose my husband as his preferred person, but with a lot of effort and a LONG time being patient, he finally decided I wasn't so bad and while I'm not his favorite, he does like me a lot It can happen!

Regarding the talons- you need to get those taken care of soon. Parrot feet are less than sanitary things and you don't want germ-y little toes giving your wife an puncture wound that becomes infected. Regardless of his, erm, 'personality' his vet should be able to safely restrain and groom him. BE VERY SPECIFIC- you do NOT want the talons clipped more than a few millimeters off the tips (i.e. leave as long as possible) or else your non-flighted bird will have troubles climbing and getting around. Short nails can even be painful and make it hard to perch. There are a lot of zealous people who like to clip them up to as close to the quick as possible. Parrots, being climbing birds, have evolved those big velociraptor-like talons for a reason! It's just the sharp points we want to remove so we can safely handle them, not cripple them by cutting off half their nail!