Taking in my mothers Yellow-naped Amazon

[henpecked]

Congrats Denko, your making progress. Let us know if you have any questions or need help. We love to hear he's getting attention and having a relationship with you. Thanks for the update.

 

[melibelly]

You can try having him step up on a stick before trying your finger it does wonders when your bird is grumpy/nervus about you. Keep it up though eventually your birdie will bond more with you!

 

[Karigan]

Target training is a great bonding experience too. Just get a chopstick or something similar and have him touch it with his beak and when he does, give him a treat. Before long he'll be running all over the cage chasing the stick for treats. It's basic training for birds, kind of like teaching a dog to sit.

 

[Denko]

Posting a little update!

I haven't gotten the perch to help groom his claws yet, but I've continued giving him attention and stuff. I've also started changing his food and water instead of my mom, and he doesn't mind at all. I mentioned how he lunges at her when she changes his food/water. He did that when she was closing the cage after changing them, but he's hasn't done anything like that since I've started doing it.

I also started opening his cage and giving him attention instead of just sticking my hand in through the bars. He was cautious at first so I let him come to my hand at the opened door, and then just pet him and gave him attention.

After a few days of that I let him climb out onto the top of his cage for a little bit and let him just kinda hang out for about 30 minutes or so, making sure to keep an eye on him so he didn't try to fly off or something. After that I tried to get him to stand on my hand, but I had a little trouble at first. Eventually he walked onto the cage door to move closer to me and then tried to get onto my arm, and I let him. He was pretty calm and seemed to like it.

I tried not to let him move up my arm to my shoulder, but he somehow ended up getting there anyway. I was worried he might bite my ear so I covered my ear with my other hand, but he just stood there and made the little noises he usually makes. I tried to keep my face turned away just in case and he started chewing on a couple strands of my hair. I didn't really mind but I pulled my hair to the other side of my head so he wouldn't get tangled in it or something (I have really long hair; I should probably tie it up next time I let him out). After that he just sat there contently on my shoulder for a bit before I had to put him back.

Putting him back in the cage was a little difficult, but I eventually got him to hop off my shoulder onto the inside of his cage and close the door. I'll have to work on getting him to step on and off of me better.

Though I do still plan to get that perch for him, his claws weren't nearly as painful on my arm as they were on my hand when I was sticking in through the bars, so that's good I suppose.

Oh, also, his cage is really old - I'm pretty sure he's had it since my mom got him, so I've considered a new cage for him, too. Especially since just the other day one of the wheels on his cage fell off (we were able to put it back on, but that just shows how old it is). Obviously I'd need to save up for it, but I had some questions. Do you guys have any recommendations for cages? How easily do parrots switch to a new cage? I was looking at some and I thought this one looked nice, what do you guys think?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

You sound like your doing so well with him !!! [Keep it up ] I think the cage is a palace [im sure he would love it ]

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm not a fan of corner cages (they only fit in the corner! they have two trays that can make cleaning more difficult - harder to place papers in the bottom for cleaning, some corner cages have "V" shaped wires....), but that aside, that's a good cage!

Otherwise, I'd recommend something like a 32 x 23 or larger cage, dome-top, playtop or flat top.

Main thing with cages is that if you do buy him a new one, you'll probably need to set the cage up next to his old one, place new and old things into the new cage, then *allow* him to choose to be in the larger cage. Moving him directly into the new cage without him learning to adjust to it may cause more harm than good. It really depends on how comfortable he is with changes.


Sounds like the two of you had a good day! I think that's awesome!!! And I hope the two of you can continue to bond!

 

[ShellyBorg]

You are doing a great job! Sounds like a happier bird already!

 

[Pajarita]

Great job! And do let him 'play' with your hair. This is called allo-preening and it's an excellent bonding behavior!

As to the cage, I'm with Monica, I don't like corner cages either. I like the plain, rectangular ones with a flat top. Why don't you look in CL? You can find cages in very good condition for a fraction of the price you would pay for a new one.

 

[ShellyBorg]

CL is the best place to find cages. I have found almost new ones at a 3rd of what they would cost new or less!

 

[jugoya]

Whenever I'm pondering new cages for my birds.. I think about temporary solutions that will work until I have the funding for a new one. My choice for such an idea all depends on the type of bird I have.. and the beak size. Can they chew through normal cage bars?

What size is his current cage?
'

 

[gizzygirl]

What is CL?

 

[ShellyBorg]

Sorry Craigslist. It is a free internet sell site that covers the world.