Might Be Adopting an Older Amazon

[ShellyL]

My oldest amazon was 35 when I got her. She's 47 now. She may still outlive me.

I've worked with LOTS of older rehome zons over the years. Regular bathing, vet care and grooming, and most of all, GETTING HANDLED AND INTERACTED WITH instead of being left to rot in a cage, will do wonders for bringing out this bird's personality.

This!!
Could not agree more. Gaining their trust followed by frequent handling and interaction is key. My Amazon was also cage bound for 25+ years and was characterized as mean when I got him 9 months ago. Now he asks to step up, wants head scritches, and recently started acting silly to get a laugh from us. He is a lot of fun. As with most Amazons, he is very excitable and that can quickly morph into aggression, so be sure to follow their lead and be attuned to their body language!

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, Jasper was cage-bound when I got her as well. Wouldn‘t come out of her cage for the first month or so. I just left the top of the cage open for her for when she finally decided to come out, and I read to her and gave her treats and whatnot to help her get used to us… and put new toys and perches in for her.


Someone got sprayed by Mommy tonight.

Just ordered her some new stuff from a baby store. Got her a macrame dangly thingy made from organic cotton rope, a cute blankie with a pastry pattern on it that she might like to snuggle, and a set of wooden sensory tumbling toys (one has a clear cover with tiny tumbling balls in it, another has a mirror, and another has wool or something in it that she won’t play with without supervision). I’m obviously gonna supervise her with them to make sure she‘s gentle with them. She’s not as destructive as the average parrot, so I’m hoping they’ll be suitable for her. If not, I can just use them with my future sugar gliders.

 

[texsize]

Err just my opinion but the fact that the cotton rope is orgaic does not make it safe.
If ingested it will still cause a blockage.

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, I know she could, in theory, ingest it. She only has it while we’re sitting with her.

Anyways, I finally found Mazuri for the kiddos, and she started eating it today. I bought her the one for large birbs. I was worried the pieces would be too big since she tends to be fussy about the size of her pellets, but she actually grabbed the biggest piece in her bowl, put it in her foot, and munched on it. The pellets seem to be crunchy, rather than hard, which she seems to enjoy. After she’s been on them for a couple of months I’ll take her to the expensive avian vet to have her nose flushed (she has rhinoliths from chronic vitamin A deficiency), and to have blood work done again.

Oh yeah, so my cousin has been staying with us during the week for almost a year now, and has been here everyday for over a week now since my parents and the dogs are on a camping trip. Well, Jasper’s decided that my cousin’s almost as amazing as my dad, and is letting her pet her and stuff. Meanwhile when I went to pet her she wouldn’t let me, then when I was baby talking her she swiped half-heartedly at my face -_-

 

[PacoBelle]

To make a long story short, an elderly couple wants to know if I'll take their 29 year old parrot. I met her tonight, and it turns out she's a 29 year old yellow shouldered Amazon, and her name's Jasper.

I've never considered an Amazon before, but she seems sweet and is definitely in need. They definitely seem to care about her, but she's been very neglected. Her feathers look quite dull, her beak's a bit overgrown and is dull and yucky looking, her feet have pressure sores, her posture is quite poor, she only has three toys (they're all really old and don't look very fun), she only has two perches (she has a big dowel perch which is causing bumble foot; and a single cement perch), she seems to be kept in a room away from her humans, and they never take her out of her cage. It's clear she doesn't receive adequate mental stimulation or exercise.

She was very quiet for the first twenty minutes or so, but she started coming out of her shell when I started complimenting her and doing baby talk. She started climbing upside down in her cage and was hanging upside down to show off for me, and she started making cute Amazon sounds at me while I was flirting with her. She also did a little dance for me, and she'd come right over to the side of the cage to mumble at me. She became really excited when I started calling her by her name. I didn't take her out or anything since we were meeting for the first time, but she seemed to like me, and she wasn't territorial.

I don't have any personal experience handling a bird her size (well, I snuggled with an orphaned gull while taking him to a wildlife rehabilitation centre), but I gained a lot of experience handling and training aggressive birds when I adopted little Noah. He was such unbelievably violent the first few months I had him. He's a sweetheart now.

Apparently Jasper isn't loud, and she likes whistling hymns. She used to talk, but she hasn't talked for a long time now, which is sad. I don't think adopting her will change my life very much. I'll still have plenty of time to play with the birds in the aviary. When I'm not sleeping, eating, or in the aviary, I can just take her out of the cage and have her sit on me or put her on a play stand (I'll have to buy a couple). She doesn't have a history of aggression, so she should be fairly easy to handle after getting her used to being handled again. The trick will be to get Dad's chihuahua not to try to nibble on her (the dog's a freaking idiot). I'll need to train her to eat chop, sprouts, mash, and birdie bread, but she's already on pellets, which is great. I'll have to spend a lot of money getting her toys, perches, and appropriately sized pellets (I just have tiny pellets). I'd probably harness train her as well after she's all settled in. I'll probably buy a new Caitec carrier for her as well for when I need to take her to the vet, or when I want to take her on a walk or something.

So, what do you guys think? I'm seriously considering adopting her, but it's quite a big decision. My parents are a bit hesitant, but they definitely seem to pity her and aren't saying no. I'll probably visit her at least a couple more times before adopting her, and I'll see if she'll come out of the cage for me.

It's kind of funny now that I think about it, because Jasper's a few years older than me.

We got Paco at when he was 38. One family, owners passed of old age 5 years apart. I knew the realtor selling the house and the adult children were ready to consign him at a bird shop.
My Experience was with conures and cockatiels, but I couldn't leave that depressed bird to an unknown fate.

So I took him home. Cheered right up after 3 days and found out Paco was a she when she got egg bound a month or so later. Got through that with surgery and so many cuddles

She still won't play with toys and hates bells. She's very stubborn but has stopped attacking my husband and son. I have scars and nerve damage to fingers and face but I will NEVER give her up.
She used to be grateful but now she's imperious and I love her being so confident she's safe and happy. Sometimes I have to send her to birdy fat camp when we get a little too loose with the snacks, but all in all, a senior bird is a gift from God. I swear. 6 years later and it just gets better/worse depending on who in the family you ask, lol!

 

[SailBoat]

Ensure that you read the huge Sticky Thread near the top of the Amazon Forum; I Love Amazons... Target Fledging an Adult Amazon! Whether she learns to fly or not, does not matter. She needs to use those huge flight muscles to activate her Heart and Air Sacks (Flapping-In-Place). It will help greatly in adding months to her life and keep her weight under control!!

I assure you that it will continue to get better or worst every year! Older Amazons have Hearts that just keep loving ever more!!

 

[Teddscau]

Hey guys, I’m back. The little gremlin’s still struggling with ongoing health problems. So, I don’t remember if I mentioned her nostrils being plugged up and all that. Well, she had her nose flushed for the second time a month or so ago, and they analyzed the chunks that came out. It turns out they DID NOT culture it the first time, despite us asking them to and them saying they would

Anyways, turns out she had a respiratory infection that was causing the buildup. I think it’s been going on since before I adopted her, since I think her nostrils might have been clogged since I got her.

I forget the name of the bacteria, but it’s a bacteria that is a normal gut bacteria (in birds, humans, and other animals), but if they aspirate their vomit, it can cause respiratory infections that are known to be difficult to treat (in humans). The vet, however, said that it was easy to treat, which I was sceptical of, since it’s known for being antibiotic resistant in humans. I know humans and parrots are different, but, y’know.

Anyways, she took her antibiotics like a champ and…her nostrils are getting clogged again. So, it went how I expected it would. So, I guess we’ll be taking another trip to the expensive vet to have her treated again, then prescribed antibiotics AGAIN if the nose chunks are still all germy. If they are, I might ask if she could maybe try a combination of antibiotics if that’s an option. Because, if her nostrils are constantly clogged due to a respiratory infection, then she’s had this infection for over two years now, which is unacceptable.

Oh, and I’ll probably have a nutrition panel done on her since her stupid phosphorous levels are still low. I honestly don’t know how a parrot of all creatures has low phosphorous. It’s like someone in a first world country suffering from sodium deficiency.

Ah, and the little goober’s turned into a real hormone monster. She’s been launching herself at my dad for the past few weeks, then chomping on him. Like, she’ll fly and land on him because she wants to be with him because she’s freaking infatuated with the guy but then, without provocation, starts biting the heck out of him. She’s been leaving big welts on his arms, neck, ears, and cheeks. And no, she’s only allowed on humans to get from one place to another. Anytime she lands on Dad it’s a race against time to lure her off of him with a banana, otherwise she goes feral and starts savaging him.

The one time she landed on him, crawled on his back, up towards his head and just started crunching on his ear, neck, and cheek. She wasn’t being playful. She wasn’t giving him love bites. She was stabbing him and biting down angrily. He tried to block her with his hand to protect himself, which resulted in her cutting his finger. She bit him deeper than she’s ever bitten anyone before, and blood was actually dripping from his finger. We managed to lure her off of him with banana, but that really freaked him out for a few days. The beak impressions were still on his head for the next few days.

Whenever she does this (forcing herself onto Dad, biting Dad, etc.), he reacts about as calmly as I could ask for. He tenses up a bit, but that’s typically in response to her sinking her beak into him. He rarely raises his voice, and he doesn’t flail around or shove her or anything like that. He has raised his voice at her a couple and called her a b*tch when she suddenly tore into his head, but I wouldn’t say he’s really doing any of the stereotypical things that cause birds to beat people up.

Their behaviour is very sexual in nature. Well, his behaviour towards her isn’t sexual, but that kid acts like a horny teenager around him. And it’s gotten much worse lately. Whenever he pets her head or touches her beak, she assumes the “impregnate me” position (cloaca making sucking motions and everything) and starts making these really sexually suggestive honking and squealing noises. I’ve had him quit petting her to try to get her to understand that their relationship isn’t a physical one, but now she’s even started squealing for him when he’s just calmly talking to her. It’s bad. He’s not even baby talking her, or talking to her excitedly. He’s just having a normal conversation with her and she starts squealing for him to make eggs with her.

I‘ve never had a larger bird before, and I don’t know what her life was like as a chick, let alone what her life as an adult was like, but the way she tries to “seduce” my dad is beyond what I’ve seen with any of my other birds. Like, it’s usually cute and heartwarming when you see a parrot couple or throuple, but what’s going on here is just gross. She loves Dad, but she doesn‘t try to preen him, kiss him, feed him, snuggle, or anything like that. She just asks him to touch her head (and tries to get him to touch her wings and back), and makes creepy “egg” squeals the whole time. When I go to the vet, I’m going to discuss maybe getting her on some sort of hormone treatment.

Oh, on a good note, the kid’s great at flying now. Well, maybe not great, but she’s so much better than before. When my parent’s went away for a week during December, she was flying back and forth across the house several times a day, hoping to find my dad. It was kind of annoying looking after her without the other humans, since she kept calling for Dad and wanted to know where he was. She completely ignored my effort to keep her company. Read to her, watched videos with her, talked to her…she was just antsy the whole time wanting my dad. My cousin came over a couple of times and she was very excited to see her and let her pet her head. Brat. She only glanced at me a couple of times the week my parents weren’t here >_>

 

[wrench13]

FWIW, Salty, another YSA, is having a pretty intense mating season too. Not quite as bad as your hen, but for him, bad.

Also, he had nasal infections that kept coming back too, when I first got him. I forget what antibiotic my vet gave him that finally cleared it up, but I can ask, if you like.

 

[SailBoat]

Happy to hear you have been progressing!!

A few things struck me while reading your post:

!: Southern Ontario is about the same latitude as me and that means that your Amazon should be getting at least 12 hours of sleep and possible near 14 hours. This will help greatly in settling/ easing her Hormonal response.
2: Limit fruits and sweets from her diet this time of year (during Hormonal Season - commonly mid-December thru the end of January.
3. Assure your home has a relative Humidity level between 45 and 50% (indoors) this time of year. This will ease issues with sinus congestion, which will limit bacterium build-up.
4. Re-read the Thread in the Amazon forum regarding understanding Amazon Body Language.

Sorry for jumping on your Post Al. It appears we had been Posting near the same time.

 

[ravvlet]

Oh man! I have 2+ years experience with cleaning parrot boogers. I can give you the run down on our experience.

First - apologies if you’re already doing these things; I’m about to head out to the gym and I admit I didn’t skim the full thread!

As Boats said, humidity is crucial. The first step toward healthy parrot sinuses is correct humidity. Anything over 50 can encourage mold and mildew and anything below 45 and your buddy might start having dry sinuses which can cause build up.

Amazons are very prone to rinoliths - benign build up of matter in their sinuses that can cause mouth breathing and blockages. Not sure why this is, but I believe you can research it. We went through a spat last winter where we were bringing Kirby in for a nasal flush once a month! No infection either after the first time, we cultured it a couple times. The vet gave us some tips and I incorporated a few things I’d learned from his previous vet and so far it’s been a mostly blockage free winter!

Here is what we do: first, address the infection. This is probably a “duh!” but it bears saying. Also, disinfect her cage and playstands and toys (and replace the ones that can’t be dinsinfecfed if you can). We rotate out cardboard toys after a while because there is no way to clean them; thankfully mostly they’re compostable besides the metal chain or whatever that holds them up. We use F10 SC but you can use a 1:10 bleach to water mixture. Make sure you thoroughly rinse everything!! Toys and perches that are washable (including rope) can be thrown in the dishwasher, no soap, leave drying cycle on. We then let them hang dry in his room for a few hours before putting them back in her cage.

Now they’re starting from a clean slate environmentally! Make sure also you’ve got the humidity situation under control.

The next thing the vet had us do was daily mist baths with a mix of distilled water and organic, food grade aloe. 15 part water to one part aloe. It will help with keeping their skin hydrated - dry skin flakes can get into their nostrils while they’re grooming. We have not been doing it daily anymore as his highness doesn’t like that and we’ve implemented additional measures, but it helps to start off a little aggressive and if she enjoys it then even better.

The next thing we did was sinus drops every twelve hours, using saline solution they sell at the pharmacy. Make sure it is saline and not medicated AT ALL. It will say on the package. 1-2 drops per nostril. This helps to moisten any mucus that’s in there so they can sneeze it out.

The very last thing I do - and not something I would suggest unless your vet is ok with it and shows you how to do it - is I clean out Kirby’s nostrils with very very fine disposable brush tips (the kind nail salons use; they look like miniature q tips). You can easily go too hard and cause a nose bleed so again I would hesitate to do this unless your vet is comfortable showing you how, but it’s my secret weapon on getting particularly stubborn junk out of Kirby’s nares.

Kirby has a medical condition where his choanal papillae are absent due to long term vitamin A deficiency. I don’t know if your bird has a similar condition, but that can definitely cause them to have more issues with sinuses.

I wish I had any good advice about the sexual behavior! Sammy, our female YNA, put on a pretty impressive display for our 5 year old (her favorite) but has never dive bombed anyone or laid an egg so thankfully we are not yet dealing with that. Major props to your father for being so patient.

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks for the replies, guys! My dad’s gonna get the humidifier set up for her. The humidity is definitely lower than it should be right now since it’s winter. If it isn’t too much of a hassle, I wouldn’t mind knowing what antibiotics Salty was on.

The kid’s a night owl and often insists on sleeping outside her cage at night (which she’s not allowed to do since she often randomly falls while sleeping), but we’ve been slowly getting her to sleep a bit earlier at night (or at least get her to go back in her cage).

As for how clean we keep things…we aren’t as diligent as some people. However, every 1.5–2 weeks, we disinfect her cage, perches, balconies, stands, etc. Her toys probably aren’t disinfefted as often as they should, though. She gets fresh RO water 2–5 times a day (her Mazuri pellets turn her water rancid if it’s not changed frequently).

The kid is good about letting me bathe her, so I’ll try to bathe her more frequently as well. Wonder if I’ll be able to find some food grade aloe at the health food store.

As for picking her nose, I think I’ll leave that to the vet. My dad sucks at restraining her, and he’s too blind and uncoordinated to clean her nose instead. She currently has a hemp seed stuck right at the entrance of one of her nostrils that she for some reason hasn’t tried to remove yet. My dad keeps clipping his nails down to the quick, so we have not yet attempted to peel it off of her nose.

I discovered the Lafeber YouTube channel has a bunch of great webinars on it, several of which concerning hormonal issues. I sent them to my dad to watch. Hopefully it’ll have some good info. I’m currently watching one on respiratory disease.

My cousin gave us all a really bad cold, so we won’t be getting her to the vet anytime soon. I haven’t been falling asleep until noon because my congestion’s so bad.

 

[ravvlet]

Oh no! We just had the cold kick our butts for what feels like the millionth time this winter. Haha, it’s funny when they get stuff stuck in there and just ignore it, isn’t it? Drives me nuts.

I am really lucky that Kirby is tolerant of most of this nonsense. I totally understand not wanting to try it for fear of making things worse!

 

[wrench13]

I will ask my Vet in the AM for you.

 

[SailBoat]

Sorry you have the current Common Cold, its a pain but work to keep your sinuses open to keep it out of your lungs.

It is possible you have a 'flock night guard!' An individual that sleeps light to keep watch. Our Julio, is one of those Parrots and one of the telltale signs is when they sleep, they sleep deeply to a point of loosing their grip and falling-off their perch. It become very important with this group to allow them to nap during the day. This will help keep their Hormonal Flow to a minimum.

 

[HeatherG]

Your parrot must feel pretty ok even with the infection if she’s that “romantic” to your dad. If changing diet and daylight hours and how you all pet this bird doesn’t work, perhaps Lupron is the best way to calm down the hormones. It turned things around for my Lucy when she got eggy.

About cleaning the environment: You CAN bake wood rope and cardboard toys in the oven under 200. I have been known to rinse or brush off soil and bake the toys for a couple of hours. I generally bake wood perched if I wash them because I don’t like them sitting wet under my birds feet.

If you bake too hot you will get scorch marks. But there can’t be any plastic or wood laminate or other glue or plastic related stuff if you bake toys. Stay well under 451 F to ovoid burning.

I would send smooches to your bird but…in this case they’d be misinterpreted. I had a young female white capped Pionus who did this and would stick her tail in my face while honking and “winking”. It was an issue to be sure; very disruptive, and very LOUD. Good luck.

 

[Kel31787]

I would do it. My cockatoos have always been rescues. My lesser sulphur was born in 86 (same age as me ) and she died last year. My goffins is 13 and was surrendered by An elderly couple and they told me she probably won’t be good With kids. They also said she’s hyperactive (which is still true) but she loves my kids and bonded with my 9 year old best. Moral of story : Take a chance never know how it’ll pan out

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, it turned out my cousin gave us Covid. We had it for a month. I couldn’t sleep at night because my breathing was so bad, then I‘d sleep 14 hours during the day. It was horrible.

Anyways, she’s full of energy now. She flies back and forth 20+ feet from her cage to the family room, several times a day. She’s been very clingy, and often refuses to be in a different room from us, so she’ll follow us back and forth from her cage and the family room. The past few weeks she’s been landing on all of us, several times a day. Her temper was quite bad, so she was biting a lot, especially my dad.

She’s getting better the past couple of weeks about biting. She still bites a ton when she’s on you, but she’s holding back and isn’t causing as much blood and bruises. A few days ago she decided to go on Mom while she was on the couch, and she snuggled right up to her, pressing her body against Mom’s cheek. She even had Mom pet her head. I think she said Jasper snuggled with her for a good 20 minutes. She’s never snuggled with anyone before, not even Dad. However, she ended up getting kicked off of her after she stabbed Mom’s cheeks (she bled).

The past week she’s gotten so much better about biting. You can really tell she’s trying to stop herself when she gets moody while she’s on your arm. Again, we don’t ask her to go on us. She just got way better at flying suddenly, and ends up launching herself at you like a homing missile.

She’s also a lot more engaged with her surroundings. She’s curious about everything around her now, and watches us and looks out the window. When we’re in the kitchen, she’s started landing on us to watch us put away the dishes, groceries, etc. We’ve had to start closing her curtain so she doesn’t go on us when we’re trying to cook.

We’re unfortunately going to be leaving on vacation for a few weeks starting April 2, so she’s going to be staying at a pet shop. I know, I hate it too. We would take her with us, but since she’s CITES Appendix I, I don’t want her potentially being confiscated at the border. I’m definitely worried about her getting exposed to germs at the pet shop. The place she’s staying has several resident parrots, and she’ll get to see lots of people. I’ll be taking her for a full work up a week or two after we return (blood, fecal, etc.) to make sure she didn’t contract anything. And I’ll take her for more full exams after that.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Ooooohhh. Bringing tears to my eyes. I say go for it.

Please help this poor bird! God knows how long she's been living this miserable existence. I hope the elderly couple is willing to finance a vet visit to get her on the road to a healthy future. Are you financially able to provide for her? She's 29 and you me mentioned she's a few years older than you are, but then you mention your parents as though you're dependent on them, which is fine, but if so, will your parents be willing to pay for the necessary vet care this poor bird needs?

 

[Teddscau]

Please help this poor bird! God knows how long she's been living this miserable existence. I hope the elderly couple is willing to finance a vet visit to get her on the road to a healthy future. Are you financially able to provide for her? She's 29 and you me mentioned she's a few years older than you are, but then you mention your parents as though you're dependent on them, which is fine, but if so, will your parents be willing to pay for the necessary vet care this poor bird needs?

I actually adopted her a few years back. She’s doing much better since I’ve adopted her. She needed to go on several different medications to get her feeling better, along with a new brand of pellets (Mazuri). She barely moved before, and she wasn’t interested in surroundings. Now that she’s perked up this last month, she’s become a real handful. We’re still trying to get her sinuses and phosphorous deficiency corrected, but (healthwise) beyond that, she’s a brand new bird.

 

[Teddscau]

I haven’t been on in a while, but I thought I’d post an update. Jasper had bloodwork done last week, and was diagnosed with kidney disease. We took her in three days in a row for subcutaneous fluids to see if that would improve her uric acid in her blood, but it ended up going up a bit. She started on Alugel today, and I started giving her low protein meals (she’s still on her Mazuri pellets). I’m also going to pick up flaxseed oil to sprinkle on her fresh food. I checked the bottle we already had and it tasted nasty, so I’m definitely not gonna risk it.

I know humans with kidney disease are supposed to be on low phosphorus and low potassium diets as well, but her potassium is on the low end of normal, and she’s been suffering from phosphorus deficiency since I adopted her, so I’m going to keep giving her foods with phosphorus and potassium unless the vet or her bloodwork suggests otherwise.

Oh, right, and she’s been having issues with her past few moults, so she’s been grounded for quite a while. We’re working on teaching her to go on the portable stand, but amazons seem to be stubborn little goobers.

As always, she’s taking her medicine on banana really well.