Possible new addition

[antman747]

An acquaintance of mine is rehoming a female double yellowhead of his. I am seriously contemplating rescuing her.
She is currently in an outdoor setup a relatively big cage and other birds with cages nearby. She was hand raised, but is a little hand frightened right now. When I met her she definitely did the glad to see you tail fan out and talking up a storm.

Heres the bad:

She is on a sunflower seed only diet. I can see she has malnutrition issues. She is 3 years old.


My experience level is I currently have a 2 yo eclectus male that is awesome! I got him at 3 months and he was parrot raised and pretty dam wild when I got him. He is now the sweetest bird ever and he is trick trained and eats a balanced diet of fruits veggies and just a few TOPS pellets. forages etc.

In your guys opinion, is this bird a lost cause?

I am thinking with a diet change over time and training she could be an excellent pet. Also this would be my first Amazon. I have only dealt with Eclectus and African greys before. Thanks for any opinions.

Anthony

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

As a DYH slave, I can attest that they are stubborn, willful, loud (when they feel like it), loving, cute, chatty, bitey, growly, and aggressive. They are clumsy clowns one minutes, then sweety-pies the next. They will attack a toy they hate (or love) with reckless abndon, then cutely stick one foot up to be picked up. They are maddeningly complex, with great days followed by not so great days, clingy days, followed with "get the hell away from me" days. They will charge and attack the cat that dares to sit on your lap, will ride around on the back of a dog, then bite its ears to thank it for its trouble. It will sniff out the weaker members of your family, and will clearly establish that it sets the rule with these people.

I love mine to bits for all of the above reasons.

If she was hand raised, I think she should likely come back to an owner over time - it just may take some patience as she was hands off for a while. At one time she will have been given the opportunity to bond with someone, and should hopefully do so again.

If you read the thread about Amazon body language at the top of the Amazon forum, it describes the multiple stages of Amazon. Of note, the birds are easy to read, and let you know when you should or should not be doing something, making it easier for the new owner to recondition the bird at the bird's pace. Amazons are also considered to be wonderfully resilient, and able to adapt to changes in its living arrangement. Considering I live in a chaotic, pet-filled home, Monty adapted to his new surroundings fantastically quick, and has now himself become a part of the noise and bustle.

After attempting to rescue a large white 'Too, I also learned that an Amazon's size is manageable. If Monty decides to get a bit more aggressive than I like, I am able to manhandle him to his cage, or grab his beak to settle him down. Yes, he has had his moments where he has taken a chunk out of everyone, but even the bites are manageable. Plus, he has taken especially well to bite pressure training.

As you have experience with a grey and eclectus (two birds we looked at before getting Monty) you should be physically comfortable with a bird the size of a DYH. And generally speaking, Amazons are one of the lower-maintenance big birds; not prone to plucking, happy playing by itself with toys, and often happy just to hang out with (and not necessarily interact) with you.

Amazons are also voracious eaters. Yes, they will eat sunflowers, peanuts, and almonds until they explode. No, they should not be allowed to do this. But Monty takes to virtually anything put in front of him - legumes, pasta, bread, steak, pork chops, chicken, vegetables, fruit, pretty much anything I am eating. And he likes his pellets and seed too.

Lost cause? Not at all. Certainly not every rescue bird can be rescued. But a young Amazon with an experienced owner who has experience taming and caring for reportedly more "difficult" birds? Sounds like a pretty good starting point.

 

[Birdman666]

NO SUCH THING AS A LOST CAUSE... IN MY OPINION.

Some just take more work than others. That's all! ALL LIVING THINGS RESPOND TO LOVE, ATTENTION, KINDNESS, AND PROPER CARE...

 

[antman747]

Bite pressure training. I have trained my eclectus to be gentle. In fact he never bites now. What I do is only reward (food praise) when he touches gentle. Rough touches get no prize.Also I handle him gentle and he seems to match that energy.

Would you elaborate on bite pressure training for an Amazon?

 

[texsize]

I keep reading on the forum that zon's are the come back kings. He/she is young but be prepaired for multiple vet visits till you get him on the road to good health.
I would love to have him.
Texsize

 

[Flboy]

Please, yes! Also, get on your a acquaintance about the other birds!! What part of the world?

 

[antman747]

Hawaii. I can't judge the owner. He isn't going to dedicate the time. He is rehoming all his birds. She seems like the sweetest so I am doing the best I can to help the situation. She is beautiful, but yea I see a lot of work going into this. I have to get her dewormed too. First thing is a visit to the vet. Any other suggestions? I assume I have to quarantine her from my current bird.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

I agree with Birdman no bird is a lost cause and I do hope you get her and give her a chance if you have the time to offer her ...it will take time and patience but she could also surprise you and it could happen faster than you think...however be prepared for the long haul...yes you will have to quarentine her ....I do hope this works out

 

[Taw5106]

Not a lost cause. I got Buddy, my GCA, also known as a Mexican Redhead a little over two years ago after his owners passed. They were elderly and in poor health. I actually picked him up from the police station due to the circumstances. The police couldn't tell us what kind of parrot he was, I knew nothing about amazons, only tiels and budgies. I think that was a good thing because as Husband and I researched Buddy, we learned a lot about him that I think would make people think twice about just because they don't want to deal with them. He's bonded with me and I can do pretty much anything I want to him. He's a clown but has earned the name Bipolar Buddy from Husband and family because as ScooterMcTavish shared they can change moods quick. In fact Husband says Buddy changes moods 8 times in 30 seconds, lol!!!!

I also have a female Ekkie Venus, and a new addition Buzz, a Congo African Gray. Buddy is always up for a shower and hangs with me, preens me, will steal my food with no fear, he's my happy clown. When we got him he was on a seed diet, so was my Ekkie. All three are on food diets now. Buddy is 26 yo, and I learned that he had seed AND ate Mac and cheese daily, that's what his previous Mom ate daily. She was so tiny and frail so she had Mac and cheese daily but she would share it with Buddy. We aren't Mac and cheese eaters but eat it on occasion so Buddy gets a teaspoon full, but switching them all to real food was challenging but I did it. Anansi taught me to mince those necessary vitamin rich foods so it sticks to food they like. Best trick ever for me switching them over and getting those foods they don't like into them.

If you got good vibes and body language from him, invest the time and patience ( and I mean be pppaaatttiiieeennnttt ), I think you will pleasantly surprised at the relationship you can have together. Keep us posted!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

Bite pressure training. I have trained my eclectus to be gentle. In fact he never bites now. What I do is only reward (food praise) when he touches gentle. Rough touches get no prize.Also I handle him gentle and he seems to match that energy.

Would you elaborate on bite pressure training for an Amazon?

Playing with Monty usually ends with him gnawing on some appendage - Amazons play rough. Our breeder has remarked how he sees two of them playing and is surprised blood doesn't go flying regularly.

So when he gets excited playing, he can bite too hard. At first a loud "Hey" was followed with a time out in his cage. He now knows that when he hears "Hey" to ease up, or he gets a time out. Most of the time this works.

When he is especially excited and I can see he's careening towards overload, I will sometimes grab his beak and gently rub it, as this seems to calm him down. If that doesn't work and he keeps chomping, then it is time out.

All family members do this consistently with him, and he is about 95% reliable now. The other 5%, well, he still gets time outs.

 

[antman747]

95% is awesome. I wonder if the other 5% he wants cage time?

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

Nah, when he wants to go back to his cage, he just goes back. The 5% is just when he's so overloaded that nothing will calm him back down.

Amazons are pretty good at letting you know what they want.

 

[antman747]

Sounds like a great pet.

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

Yes and no. They're not for everyone. You need to comfortable with a good sized beak on an occasionally aggressive bird, and you need to be willing as an owner to understand the bird sets the rules of engagement.

As "pets" go, he's actually pretty lousy compared to a cat or dog. I think of him as more as "His Lordship" and less as a pet.