Taking in my mothers Yellow-naped Amazon

[Denko]

Hello! This is my first time posting here, and I'm hoping someone can give me some tips and help. First, I suppose I should give a bit of background story;

My mom has a male yellow-naped Amazon named Shiloh that she's had since she was 16 or so, so he's at least 20~30 years old. She's told me how he used to sit on her shoulder all the time and pretty much went everywhere with her. When she had me, though, she started only keeping him in his cage and pretty much told me to never ever try to touch him, for fear he might bite me (and she has always told me he could bite my finger off). So, of course, I was fearful of him for most of my life, and never dared get too close to his cage.

Eventually, I began giving him bits of food like bread or crackers through his cage (carefully, with my moms supervision), though, and he seemed friendly towards enough. My mom still told me never to stick my finger in his cage or anything, and I listened to her - at least I did until about a month ago.

I felt bad for him since he never gets to come out of his cage anymore, so I started gradually trying to get him to warm up to me more, giving cautious pets to his cheek through the cage every now and then. He became very friendly within mere weeks, coming up to me when I walked by and pressing his head up to the bars to let me pet him, and he even stood on my fingers when I stuck my hand through the bars (though his sharp claws weren't very comfortable). Not once has he bit me (he has licked me, though, as well as what I assume is him trying to preen my hand).

When I told my mom what I'd been doing, she was pretty shocked and said it made her nervous. I assured her I was fine and that he's been nothing but friendly towards me, but she still tells me to be careful, especially when she's nearby. Even though she feeds him and cleans his cage, he's become rather hostile towards her since I was born, lunging at her when she closes the cage door after feeding or changing his water, so she's afraid he'll get too excited and bite me when she's near.

So, anyway, to my questions. I want to be able to hold him out of his cage. How should I go about doing this? As far as I know, he hasn't been freely out of his cage in years - the only exception is when we've moved, he had to be transported in a large pet carrier. He has very sharp claws, so should I get a thick glove to protect my skin? Should I try to first get him out of his cage in a secluded room? I've let my mom know I'd like to have him out of his cage, but she's still unsure about the idea. How can I convince her to let me do so? Also, in case you're wondering, I'm 18.

I have very little experience with parrots (the most I've had were a pair of budgies in elementary school, and they were pretty skittish), so any help or tips for what I should do would be great!

 

[ShellyBorg]

The first thing I would do is see if Mom will work with you about having his nails groomed. That will make holding him a lot more comfortable and depending on how long they are he may feel better also. Give him a day or so after the nail trimming , just spend time and give treats through the bars. Then I would See if he will step up with the door open. Make sure Mom is not in the room. DO NOT ALLOW HIM ON YOUR SHOULDER ! If he decides to bite your hand is much better then your face.

You are doing a great thing allowing him to be close to a human again. Poor kid was a best friend, then got locked into a cage with no understanding why. I am sure he will now be YOUR best friend. Please , if you work with him , keep it up. He does not deserve to be locked in solitude again.

 

[Denko]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'll definitely talk to my mom about getting his nails groomed tomorrow, and I'll continue to give him plenty of attention. I'm guessing I should take him to a vet or other bird care professional to have his nails trimmed?

 

[henpecked]

Hey denko, welcome to the forum. Thanks for taking an interest in how to improve Shiloh's life. We'd love to help you build a relationship with him. You could also try getting a "Pedi-safe" perch for him. It's a plastic perch with a smooth top and bottom , the sides are rough and help to wear down the points on his nails. He'll probably be scared of it at first because it doesn't sound like he gets many new things put in his cage:ie,toys. I'd put it on the outside of his cage and let him start coming out.Keep his food and water in the cage. Find a treat he really loves and only give it to him as a reward for good behavior. Don't feed it as a everyday food. You need to be incharge of handing them out. I would try and work with him everyday for maybe 10 minutes at a time, several times a day when your mother is not around. It sounds like he doesn't like your mom and might bite you when he can't reach her. Just the way they are. I would also research target or clicker training. It's a good way for you both to learn about each other and build some trust. Loads of good info in some of the older threads in this section, read around and ask questions. Sounds like you and Shiloh could be best buds, i know he'd love to have a companion like you.

 

[Denko]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'll definitely look into the pedi-safe perch. It's true he doesn't get that many new toys (my mom never gets anything that he could get his foot/neck caught in or anything, so she avoids anything with rings and things like that), but he does get wooden chew toys every now and then. Right now he only has two large wooden perches in his cage.

What do you recommend I use as a treat? My mom is in charge of his food, so I'll have to ask what exactly is in his normal food, but I do know he likes bananas (both dried chips and normal banana slices).

I've read about clicker training, and I actually think my mom has an old clicker somewhere, so I'll have to ask her about that.

And I'll be sure to look around and read up on more things as well, and I'll try to keep you guys updated on my progress with him!

 

[Pajarita]

I agree with Henpecked 100%. Pedi-perch, putting a perch outside the cage and letting him out and training with target and clicker - and you can start doing that before you start letting him out, he is ripe for it, the poor thing.

Thank you so very much for taking pity on the poor fellow. I am sure he will respond to your kindness as a lonely life in a cage is sheer torture to parrots but don't expect an instant miracle. I don't mean to offend or be rude but he has gotten the short end of the stick for a long time and his feelings toward people might not be the best right now.

 

[Merlee]

Denko, welcome to the forum. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you? You seem pretty mature.

In addition to getting the nails trimmed, you may consider getting his wings trimmed as well. This way he will become dependent on you to get around and you will not have to worry about him flying around and possibly injuring himself when you let him out of his cage. In the future, if you wish, you can allow the feathers to grow back, but for training, it may be easier to be clipped.

 

[Denko]

Pajarita; I wouldn't exactly say he's lonely. He's in an area that we regularly walk by (and lately he's had his cage moved into my room every now and then), and gets talked to quite a bit, he just never gets any physical contact. He's really chattery, and often mimics cat meows or door squeaks, and I used to sit by him and copy the noises he made and we'd just make weird noises at each other for several minutes.

Still, he is probably starved for physical attention. So far he's been quite eager to let me pet him, and nuzzles my hand through the bars.

Merlee; I'm 18 years old.

My mom has had his wings trimmed before, but she said that it made him depressed, so I'm not sure if that would be a good idea. Are there any alternatives to having his wings clipped?

 

[Kalidasa]

He most likely has atrophy of his flight muscles and probably can't fly very well anyway, so clipping may not be necessary. Also, I agree with a comment above about working with him when mom isn't around. Her fearful nervousness will immediately be picked up by the bird, which in turn will make him very nervous. He's your bird now.

 

[kq_fan]

Welcome to the forum!! Im glad that bird gets to come out and get the attention he needs!! Good luck!

 

[SandyBee]

Hi Denko
Thanks for taking an interest and wanting to give your moms bird a better life.
So far your doing all the right things, talking to him and small interactions If you want to progress more with him take it slow. Learn about amazon body language, the best thing about Amazon's is they almost always give very clear and visual cues to their moods and intentions. Always be very careful and never let a bird around your face that you haven't made a bond with and even then its not a good idea. Establishing trust through training and treats is the first step. If you believe that you can open the cage door and let him come out, let him come to you on his own terms. You need a strategy to get him back in. Look at different techniques such as treats in cage etc. In case of emergency learn about how to towel a bird.Only use that.method if all other options are exhausted.
Clipping wings can be helpful so the bird doesn't flee but also takes their independance and choice away, its a personal choice that must be based on safety of human and bird and comfort level.
Start building the bond slowly and as you see how he behaves and reacts your path will become clearer.

 

[Pajarita]

I agree that, after so many years in a cage, most likely, he won't be able to fly much so clipping is unnecessary at this point in time (not that I ever consider clipping a necessity!)

Make no mistake, he is lonely. Seeing people pass by with no physical interaction is terrible for parrots. They are very physical animals, especially when it comes to affection. When you observe mated pairs of amazons in the wild, you see that they always stay within a few feet of one another and stop to touch every few minutes.

 

[Denko]

Sorry for the kind of late reply, here's a bit of an update on how he's doing;

Right now I'll have to wait to have his claws trimmed, since we're tight on money and also have to take care of a couple kittens we recently got to help with a mouse problem. I'm still interacting with him daily, though, and he's been very friendly so far. He's pushes his face up against the bars, closes his eyes and fluffs up his head and neck feathers when I give him pets and scratches, and I've been giving him little treats every now and then, too.

Right now his cage is in my room with me and he's been pretty calm. He likes listening to music and trying to sing/whistle along sometimes, so I've been playing a few songs on my computer without the headphones plugged in and he seems to like it.

Also, I asked my mom about how he'd do with a perch that would help dull his nails down and she said his feet are too sensitive for that, so I guess that's out of the question.

 

[Hayden1987]

Hi Denko, i have been following your post with great interest, imo you are definitely taking all the right steps im improving the birds wellbeing.
Anyway.. i hope your mum isnt confusing the perch being recommended with one of those sand covered perches..
I do have a couple of questions..
Is your mum happy about whats happening with her yellow nape?
And do you think she would give the bird to you?
I think its great you are doing what you can.. but working with someone elses bird can somtime be a pain in the bum.. and can also cause jelousy and conflict between people
I have been in the same situation and it really was annoying when you know what needs to be done but cant without the owners consent.

Please keep posting

 

[Denko]

Hayden1987;

She said a perch for dulling claws wouldn't be good because even when he just stands on the side of his water and food bowls for long his feet can get a little red, so she doesn't want something to irritate his feet too much.

She certainly isn't against me getting close to him. She's pretty much already said with how friendly he's been to me, he might as well be mine now. I think she has grown apart from him since she had me. Being a single mother of an only child, she's always been pretty protective of me, so of course she was afraid of him biting or hurting me when I was younger, and she probably chose to take care of me instead of give him attention when she had to choose between us.

That's not to say she doesn't still love him - I'm sure she does. Heck, she even has a tattoo of one of his feathers. But they definitely aren't as close as when they were before I was born, based on the stories she's told me about him. He was practically her baby, sitting on her shoulder everywhere she went, and she once nursed him back to health when someone put something bad in his food dish at the pet store he was at where she worked at the time (I think the poor conditions at the store were one of the reasons she decided to buy him in the first place).

But anyway, she's probably happy that he's getting more attention now, so I'm sure there won't be any problems with me working with him.

 

[henpecked]

tell your mother that lots of people(who have amazons) recommend these perches. If they caused "bumble foot" we would know. Things have change in the last few years and we;ve learned much about parrot care. BTW the perches are cheaper than having someone trim his nails. Can mom join the forum too?

 

[Denko]

I'll let her know about the perch as soon as I can, and having her check out the forums is a good idea too! I'll give her a link to it when I can so she can check it out.

 

[MonicaMc]

I think the particular perches some people are talking about are the ones in the following link... they are smooth on two sides (for feet) and rough on two sides (for nails).

Sweet Feet & Beak Safety Pumice Perch Medium - PEDICURE PERCHES by MY SAFE BIRD STORE


I'll probably be investing in one the next time I get paid! (which will be this week!) I have a little conure and her nails are like needles! I actually have scratch marks from her that have bled because I wore tank tops rather than a regular T-Shirt! And she'd sit on my shoulder... None of my other birds from budgies and cockatiels on up to two conures larger than her have ever really bothered me with their nails! I don't groom their nails at all! But hers? Owie wowie!!! LOL

 

[Pajarita]

I use them for my birds (as well are tree branches) and they have never caused any damage to their feet (I never did like the idea of them perching on a rigid, raspy surface and I don't know who came up with the 'brilliant' idea of the sand or concrete perches). Only one problem with them, they are made of soft plastic and the birds chew them so you have to replace them when this happens but, on the other hand, they are very easy to clean!

 

[Denko]

Thanks for the link! My mom seemed interested in it, so until I can get that perch, I'll just keep giving him attention and scratches through the bars. I'll probably hold off on letting him stand on my fingers too much, though, since my hand has gotten a couple small scratches from letting him.

Today I was trying to teach him a song tune, and though he tried to mimic me, he hasn't quite got it down yet. He really likes whistling and "dancing", I suppose you'd call it. He looks up and sways his head and body side to side every time he sings.

Anyway, I think I'm doing pretty good with getting him comfortable with me! I'll keep you guys updated as I keep it up.