New Yellow-Shouldered Amazon - In Love

[PCash]

alancole, Cobie is a baby yellow-shouldered. I've read that the yellow head patch on his head will get bigger as he matures. So, we'll see.

Here's a Cobie moment.

 

[PCash]

And here is another Cobie moment.

 

[PCash]

Cobie is continuing to settle in and has learned our routines now. He's doing great, more open to trying new veggies and has even practiced flying a few times.

Here's a pic of his favorite pastime, literally. My son gets out his legos and Cobie gets all animated. My son was gone most of the morning, but when he got home, Cobie got so excited. He climbed up on top of his cage, grabbed a zip tie we had up there and started growling and talking. Then we got the legos out and Cobie came down and starting bobbing his head to be picked up and carried over.

(Yes, I know the lego table is the fake wood stuff. Cobie prefers to chew on his basket and we are right here. The first sign of him chewing the table and he will be redirected, no worries.)

 

[MikeD91]

That's really cool that Cobie likes to play with your son. I'm going to see if my friend Bill likes Legos?

 

[PCash]

Both my GCCs and Cobie love legos. I think it's something about the many shapes and colors. If I snap a few pieces together in odd directions, Cobie will take them apart too. (I don't let him have the rubber tires though. I'm not sure about the safety of rubber tires, and I think he could destroy the soft tires pretty quickly. Everything else, except the very smallest pieces seem pretty indestructible for him.)

 

[PCash]

So yesterday I had a little scare. Cobie was playing fine with legos with my son and then I noticed a small pile of shaved crayons on the floor. He must have found a tiny piece in the legos (sometimes toys get mixed up around here). So far Cobie has been really good about only eating food and just shredding the other stuff, but I was afraid he might have actually liked the taste of crayons and eaten it. I called the vet right away and they told me he would be okay, since crayons are kid safe, they're generally bird safe too. Of course I'm not going to let him munch on any others, but you know, one of those live and learn moments. I was certainly ready to drop everything and head to the vets.

Every day Cobie works a little tighter into our hearts. He and my son have a great relationship. Cobie still seems a little wary of my husband, which is odd because my husband is the nicest one in our family, lol. I'm more no-nonsense, and my husband's the pushover when it comes to pets and kids. But I think Cobie can pick up on my husband's nervousness around birds. My husband talks to him and offers him treats, so slowly they're making progress.

Here's some pictures of Cobie enjoying a new toy I made for him yesterday. It was a tough call at the time, but I'm glad that instead of the rescue macaw, we found Cobie. He has been a perfect fit for our family.

 

[SailBoat]

First, Love the Pictures and Art Work!
Second, Your Vet's Clinic it likely correct. That does not mean that the next 12 to 36 hours is not going to be lay back time.

Things to expect:
1: Stool will likely be the same color as what was eaten!
2: The crayons are made of coloring and wax and are kid safe.
3: Correct me if I get this wrong; The wax 'may' form together and with luck exit as a continuous line of colored wax. Or, worst case, it could lump and not exit. That could result in limited or no passage of the stool. Which will require a trip to the Vets office for an X-ray.
4: It all passes with in 48 hours and all is well and crayons will be banded from the household.
5: Or you are the luckiest Mother in the World and your Amazon never eat the crayon.

 

[SailBoat]

Not Loving Hubby?

Hubby Rules:
1: Hubby gets to be the one that provides all of the goodies hence forward!
2: Only good things happen when Hubby is around!
3: Hubby gets to man-up a bit and expect the fact that he may just get bitten!
4: Hubby really needs to get in there and Read Out Loud to this new Family member. Have him read the Understand Amazon Body Language Thread several times and than switch over to the I Love Amazons - ... Thread! Being close by is very important as it helps greatly in developing their Relationship.

If he continues to hold to the outside of the gatherings, he may find himself on the cold outside looking in. Now there is just no fun in that, right?

 

[EllenD]

Hi PCash!!! I'm so glad to have another member here who is basically my neighbor!!!!! Finally!!! I live in State College, so I'm only about an hour and 45 minutes from you! In fact, my very best friend from high school has lived in York for about 10 years now, she and her partner built a house from scratch there about 4 or 5 years ago, and they are both teachers in the York public school system, my best friend is a high school English teacher there and loves it...They both love it, and they're raising their son their, who is now 6. So I make many, many trips back and forth to York. I also adopted my Bearded Dragon from a couple in York, I met them at the Vape Haven there and spent the day in York shopping actually. It's a cool area, lots to do...The White Rose is a cool place, I believe that's the one that has multiple different bars, like one downstairs with couches where you can smoke, but then upstairs there is a full restaurant and a sports bar on the other side? I love that place...I did a bar-tour there not that long ago, I couldn't tell you where all we went, but they were all right downtown York, except for the last place we went to dance, it was out on one of the highways, and was a blast too, big dance place with multiple bars inside...Anyway, it's a cool area you live in...

If you do ever need a Certified Avian Vet for anything serious, hopefully not but if you do, my CAV here is absolutely amazing, he's been a CAV in State College for 25 years, and he's fantastic...It sounds like your vet is an "Exotics Vet", which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all, but they don't have any extra education/training in Avian Medicine, so things like the blood-draw, those are the things they don't know and aren't comfortable...My CAV takes blood on my guys at every Wellness-Exam, and he just holds them in a towel, draws the blood right from their neck, and that's it. No drama, no screaming, the whole thing takes a minute, and certainly no sedation or anesthesia needed for a blood-draw...Just something to keep in mind...I am glad to hear that your vet actually drew blood and took cultures though, that's a lot more than most Exotics Vets do, so they sound like they'll be great for normal things and simple illnesses, but if you ever have any serious illnesses or injuries, hopefully not, just know that Dr. Newlander in State College is fantastic.

****Regarding the Crayon, Sailboat is absolutely correct in that you are going to want to watch Cobie very carefully for the next week to make sure he passes the wax and does not become at all sick from it, not because Crayons are "toxic" or will poison him or make him sick in that sense, but because it's very possible that the wax will stay solid and not melt, and could cause a blockage, mainly I'd worry about it happening in his Crop first, and then throughout the rest of his GI Tract, but mainly his Crop worries me with wax. Just because something is "Kid-Safe", well, that simply means that it's not going to be "toxic" and cause poisoning to your bird. Unfortunately when birds eat things like wax, wood chips/splinters, metal bits, pieces of fabric (even very tiny bits of fabric/material), pieces of thread, etc., all of this stuff collects in their Crops, sometimes it stays there for months and months to years, and builds-up, until it finally causes a blockage. So that's what you have to worry about with Crayon wax, depending on how much he actually swallowed, and whether it all gathered together in his Crop and then got stuck together to form one big piece of wax.

I'd be watching him closely this next week for lethargy (not playing normally or moving around as much as normally), sleeping more than normal especially during the day, his feathers being "fluffed-up" a lot of the time, ANY vomiting at all, any trouble passing droppings, if he starts biting/picking at the feathers around his vent or tail, or if you see him constantly trying to adjust his crop (which is totally normal for them to do occasionally, but I'm talking about if he starts trying to adjust his crop and doesn't stop, he just keeps doing it like something is stuck in his throat)...Or if you see him at all breathing oddly, or you hear him wheezing, rasping, or any "whistling" or "squeaking" when he breathes. You should actually see the wax pass in his droppings, as Sailboat mentioned, so don't be alarmed if his droppings in the next day or two are oddly-colored or very thick/chunky...I don't know how much he actually ate, hopefully not enough to cause any type of blockage, hopefully it will pass right through...

Cobie is definitely adorable, and I'm so glad you got him from Todd Marcus!!! I have recommended both Todd's store and then another similar bird store who breeds in-house in NJ several times on this forum! There are literally no bird stores in Pennsylvania who breed their own birds in-house and are reputable, and I've been to both stores in NJ several times and was totally impressed with their operations! Such a great store and great employees at Todd's store! They really care about their birds, both their babies and their breeders...And thank God you didn't buy a bird from "Ana's"
or "Lily's" Parrots (both the same company)!!! Ana is in Scranton and Lily is in Hazelton, and they are both the same company, and they are not at all bird breeder as they portray themselves, but rather bird "Brokers" who buy baby birds from any and all possible places they can find them, everywhere from bird-mills to private-breeders who just breed and breed and breed their birds to death, to mass breeders in states like Florida, where they are like assembly lines that continually breed hundreds of thousands of baby birds and then ship them to the Brokers who pretend to be breeders...That's what "Ana and Lily" do. So you definitely went to the right place with Todd's store. I actually wanted to get my Senegal from either Todd or the other similar store in NJ (the name is escaping me right now, but very similar place), but they had no Poicephalus babies at all, and were not going to breed their Senegals again until the following year, so I ended up driving to North Carolina to pick my baby up! Well worth the drive though...

Anyway, welcome to our community, and please ask any and all questions!

 

[PCash]

Alrighty, I'll be poop-watching. (Is that a hobby?) I was already checking his poops everyday just to make sure he was healthy, but I'll keep an eye out to see if any crayon comes through. Cobie's been acting normally today and I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. I'll take note if I notice anything out of the ordinary that is crop/stool related or activity related I'll call the vet.

As far as my hubby getting used to Cobie and vice versa. Hubby gives Cobie a pistachio when he gets home from work and talks to him for a little. He isn't really interested in making fast friends with Cobie, but he does find him interesting and actually likes him better than my two conures. Cobie is more laid back, lol. I've noticed the yellow feathers on Cobie's head fluff up just a smidge when he seems unsure about something. At least I think that's what it is. It's different than his relaxed fluffing. The feathers on his head raise just a little sometimes when my husband comes over. But other than that, I don't see any signs of fear or aggression.

I had heard good things about Todd Marcus and visited several times when I was in Philly visiting my family. The day we got Cobie, we handled a number of birds (including a baby hyacinth that wouldn't go back on the perch after I picked it up, lol - I wasn't gonna buy it, I just thought it was super cool to get to hold one, and then the baby didn't want to go back. Ever "wrestled with a hyacinth, lol), but Cobie was a sweetheart. I wouldn't say he necessarily picked us, but he wasn't fearful or aggressive and I fell in love with him and my son did too.

We used to live in State College when my husband was going to school. York was an adjustment, but we've fallen in love with it.

I do have a highly recommended avian vet that's not as far as State College. I couldn't get Cobie in there (in the store's alloted time) when we first got him, but I know he's available if I need him. The vet we have right now though works with all types of animals but also works closely with a bird rescue and was recommended to me by a bird club. If we need bloodwork done again at some point though, I think I'll try to have the other vet do it since sedation is not good for Cobie. But, for somebody local for regular stuff and what not I feel satisfied with him. I like having two options and the local vet was very helpful and willing to work with me. I don't do so well with vets that talk down to you or don't talk at all.

Anyway, thanks for being there guys! Cobie is so sweet and playful and cuddly. He doesn't really talk much, but once in awhile he'll babble. He said something that sounded like "hello" a few times and made a kissing noise at me once. Been trying to get him to do that. And he loves to babble when the TV's on. When he gets talkative, I'll holler a few times and he'll holler louder with me. It's kinda like "Okay, let's be noisy for a few minutes." Cobie will stop then and look at me as if I've lost my mind. But you know, I have, so it's all good.

 

[wrench13]

Hi hi hi! I see that Cobie is working his way into the hearts of your family. I watched your video, and I was struck by how similar Cobie and Salty play with things. I will take a sizeable bet that Cobie learns to talk, this species is really under rated for talking ability. Salty chatters on frequently. Right now he is saying "Your a good boy" , so dont worry on that point. I ill suggest that you and Cobie watch some parrot videos on Youtube, that is where Salty picks up most of his words and phrases. He will also develope his laughs, copying yours and others, andwill use them appropriately. Cobies coloring will change , esp on his head, as he getss older. Salty is 3-1/2 and his changed so much from his juvenile coloring. Say good by to the blue on his neck and head, but the yellow will get larger . Pic below.

I swear these parrots are the perfect family parrot. As you are seeing, they will accept most family members and not really have a 'favorite'. And they are SO SMART. Salty knows at least 30 tricks, which we practice every evening. Link to our Salty Parrot Tricks is below. Everything from stacking cups, to putting colored riings on the correct posts, to pulling the Kings out of a deck of cards. Smart, very smart.

LOVE the cartoons !!

 

[PCash]

This is funny. So after I posted that he wasn't really talking, Cobie decided to start. ... He's reaching over and giving me kisses (like the noisy kisses). I know that's not techically talking, but he's copying an action and a sound that I've been doing with him. He started saying "hi" too. It's a little garbled still, but he's clearly copying what I say. He also said something that I swear was "cracker". My husband said that word to him a few times when we first brought him home, but we haven't said it since, but it was pretty clear this time. I wonder what else he's going to pick up. In any case, it just makes me laugh. He waits til I tell all of you that he's not really saying anything and then he starts.

To be honest, I don't really care whether he talks or not. I got him for his personality and just because I wanted to share life with a special bird. But the talking thing is sure fun.

 

[Luciana]

Hello PCash and wrench13!

I'm following this thread very closely, as in a few weeks I'll be welcoming my own YSA! It was hatched on Oct 30 and, of course, I can hardly weight!!! It is now with a highly respected breeder, who says he might sell the parrot to me at the 7th or 8th week - is that normal?

I had a YSA for 29 years, and he was the sunshine of our lives. I took care of him as a teenager, and I regret allowing him to eat so much sunflower seeds, and so little fruits (I should have insisted more).Anyway, with this parrot I want to do everything right, and I enjoy immensely to hear your stories and daydream about my own when my YSA is ready for adoption.

 

[SailBoat]

Hello PCash and wrench13!

I'm following this thread very closely, as in a few weeks I'll be welcoming my own YSA! It was hatched on Oct 30 and, of course, I can hardly weight!!! It is now with a highly respected breeder, who says he might sell the parrot to me at the 7th or 8th week - is that normal?

I had a YSA for 29 years, and he was the sunshine of our lives. I took care of him as a teenager, and I regret allowing him to eat so much sunflower seeds, and so little fruits (I should have insisted more).Anyway, with this parrot I want to do everything right, and I enjoy immensely to hear your stories and daydream about my own when my YSA is ready for adoption.

You should consider starting your own Thread. That way, responses from members will be targeted toward your questions and not someone else's.
Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Amazons.

 

[Laurasea]

Hello PCash and wrench13!

I'm following this thread very closely, as in a few weeks I'll be welcoming my own YSA! It was hatched on Oct 30 and, of course, I can hardly weight!!! It is now with a highly respected breeder, who says he might sell the parrot to me at the 7th or 8th week - is that normal?

I had a YSA for 29 years, and he was the sunshine of our lives. I took care of him as a teenager, and I regret allowing him to eat so much sunflower seeds, and so little fruits (I should have insisted more).Anyway, with this parrot I want to do everything right, and I enjoy immensely to hear your stories and daydream about my own when my YSA is ready for adoption.

You should consider starting your own Thread. That way, responses from members will be targeted toward your questions and not someone else's.
Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Amazons.

Yes, and so we can tell you Veggies!!! Veggies! Only a little fruit.

 

[wrench13]

PC- 10-11 weeks is too short. 12 to 14 wouldbe much better.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL, now one of the mods will have to nip-and-tuck and make this in a separate thread.

 

[Luciana]

Thanks, you're right, I will soon open a thread or search previous msgs to find my answers.

(totally don't mean to hijack your thread, from which I'm learning so much!)

Aim really was just to congratulate Sailboat and Wrench13 for their sweethearts and tell them right away I'm kind of stalking Salty and Cobie, from a distance, a big distance (I'm in Brazil).

 

[PCash]

Big steps! Cobie took his first trip outside with his aviator harness today. I had planned on waiting until next spring, but the weather was so warm and pleasant today that I attempted it. We had been working with training him to accept the harness already. Lots of treats and similar steps to clicker training (I just didn't use an actual clicker). Today, we took the head loop on and off a few times INSIDE before I put it all the way on and slid his wings through. I can tell he's not fond of the head loop, but he didn't panic and as soon as the harness was on, we went outside and he enjoyed looking around. He noticed a vulture flying very high up and gave his little warning chirp to let me know it was there. He did the same for a helicopter. Don't worry, we had several of us there, and my big black standard poodle and my son running around like an crazy person. A vulture doesn't kill birds, and I doubt a hawk would have wanted to attempt coming in either, but I kept a vigilant eye out. Cobie handled it all like a champ!



Wrench13, I'm looking forward to seeing how Cobie's coloring expands. I'm trying to take lots of pictures too so when he changes I can look back at them.



No worries, Luciana! Best of wishes for you and your new YSA. I bought Cobie when he was five months old and he did splendidly with transitioning to our home and bonding with us. His personality has really blossomed once he settled in. Looking back, I've realized that the move to our home was more scary and intimidating for him than I realized. I'm glad he was as old as he was as I think that helped. He also was socialized at the bird store where he was raised. Lots of new people, sounds, etc. So I didn't have to worry as much about early socialization (which of course we are continuing since we got him).


Blessings all!

 

[PCash]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Cobie did his first "therapy" this weekend. My sister asked me to take pictures of her family to send to extended family at Christmas. Three of the girls were cheerful and did great. The fourth was having a really hard time. She's more sensitive and likes to dance to the beat of her own drum. Pictures were definitely not in line with her plans. I knew she liked my birds, so I got Cobie down from his perch and promised she could hold him and even get a picture with him if she could be calm and cheerful, because "we wouldn't want to upset Cobie." It worked like a charm. I was a little worried that Cobie wouldn't go for it, but he totally did. I could tell he was a little unsure, but he didn't freak out and didn't bite or anything. He was calm, gentle and everything that one would want from a pet bird. It's so cool to be able to share him with others.



(Don't worry i had Cobie's safety in mind too. The little girl had handled parrots before and knew how to be calm and gentle with them and I was right there the entire time.)