not eating after trauma

[henry0reilly]

I got tired of having to bribe Mad Max to not bit me me while I change his water dish so I ordered some "bite proof" gloves that someone in a fb parrot group was raving about.

His perch does not keep his nails sanded down like it should and on those rare occasions when he steps onto my wife's arm, he draws blood since they are so sharp.

She got the bright idea that it would be ok to wear the gloves and wrap him in a towel to trim his nails.

He is hardly eating since then. He keeps his head tucked under his wing as if he is sleeping much of the time when he should be awake.

He has hated me with a passion almost from the beginning but I still feel sorry for him.

Any suggestions on helping him get over this? It also seems to be affecting the 'too a little bit. Last time they were out Max went home like a good boy but I had to make her go home.

 

[wrench13]

In general parrots do not like gloves. they are un-natural and if they are only used to grab your parrot, its going to destroy any trust you may have built between you/wife and Max. First suggestion is to try and set the clock back to zero, like you are first brining him home. Read up on amazon body language and the I Love Amazons thread in the subforum. Towels - make a game with them, on your bed or other safe place. Hide treats under the towel. Play peekaboo with it. When he takes a shower or bath, try gently patting him drier with a small neutral color towel.

 

[Laurasea]

There is a lot going on here.
First I suggest a visit to an avain vet specialist. Not liking you after a nail trim I
s normal, but the behavior you mention is more worrying for an illness.

All most all of my parrots would bite me if I put a hand in their cage to change the water. I simply have them out while I do cage stuff.

Think about change broken down I'm small steps, where you shape behavior, till you get the desired behavior. Page 10 of my Ornithology thread lots of links to behavior articles.

Your bird needs more time out of the cage period. If putting the bird back is an issue, use a hand held perch. Then work on taking her out and taking her back to the cage for a second then back out, rrspeat many times, till it is postive treat happiness to be moved. Abd that everytime she goes back to the cage she isn't going to beovked up for hours.

Provide more foraging. Provide stuff that can easily be destroy in miniuts. The satisfaction from that is huge.

 

[SailBoat]

So what kind of positive relationship does anyone have with this Amazon? It kind of sounds like whatever it was is going downhill.

Time to start over from step number one! And, work to develop a positive relationship with 'your' Amazon. Parrots have no natural reason to Trust Humans. As a result, you and your wife need to be providing a reason for your Amazon to Trust You. When only good things happens when Humans are around, the foundation begins!

Vantage Point:
It is Never the fault of the Amazon!
It is Always the fault of the Human!
Where you change your Vantage Point you quickly see what you are doing wrong and change it, you will be far more successful.

Basics regarding hands and gloves: As a General Statement, Parrots do not connect our hands with our heads (which they see as 'us'). Over time, they see the 'us' as our head and the tree like stuff that follows us around. Hands can look like snakes, which are natural hardwired predatory of Parrots, add gloves and the snake gets bigger.

The vast majority of cages have doors for the food water dishes to be changed from the outside which eliminates to entire issue of going into the cage to change food and water.

So, how old is your YNA Amazon and how long has he been with you???

FYI: Let your Avian Professional trim your Parrot's nails!!!

The words are not flowing this morning! So, enough for now.
So, more background from you...

 

[Flboy]

I have yet to find a FB parrot group that I trust! Too many wacko keyboard warriors! They don’t last very long here! As said, it isn’t the parrots fault!
Also read a s study this thread! It totally turned around my relationship with a parrot that ‘hated’ me! I didn’t realize I was the aggressor!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[henry0reilly]

background

We "rescued" these two 3 years ago from a home where they were never caged. We suspect they ate mostly people food at that time. Max is about 18 and Baby is 5. The remains of an African Gray were also found in the home. Their former parront finally got out of the nursing home and I'm thinking of asking her if she would like to come visit the birds. There is no question of her taking them back but I thought the birds might like to see her. Thoughts on this?

Day two that we had them I gave Max a carrot. He ate it. I offered him another one, he bit me and I yelled. It went downhill from there.

Max attached to my wife and at first she could hold him but then he would bite her in warning if I was in the same room.

They get plenty of time out of the cage to socialize with each other. Max does not fly but sometimes will wander around on the floor. Baby will sit on the back of my chair while I do things on the computer or watch tv programs.

When it's time to go back to the cages I make a big show of going to the peanut stash and most of the time they willingly head home.

What aggravates me about this whole situation is there was not really any need to trim his nails since she never holds him anymore anyway.

Baby had been plucking just a little in the middle of her chest. Today the spot is definitely bigger.

 

[Laurasea]

Thanks for the rescue!
This might help
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

 

[Ira7]

Re: background

The remains of an African Gray were also found in the home.

This isn’t the kind of information that one just casually drops.

WHAT!!!???