Was lied to about the bird I bought

[veruka1973]

Hi everyone, a few months ago I bought a amazon from a lady online that claimed she had to find him a new home due to having cancer, she claimed she had been his only owner his entire life, told me he was super sweet, loved everyone, never bit and told me lengthy stories about all of the cute little things he said and did.
Long story short within a few days I could tell everything she had told me was a lie.
The sad part is she didn't have to lie to me in order to get me to buy the bird, I was not afraid of a bird I would have to work with a little bit.
I emailed her a few times and casually tried to bring it up hoping she would just kinda come clean and tell me the truth.
She didn't so I did a little research online as I had found out she ran a small time horse rescue, while I was looking for possible reviews of her rescue I found out she also had herself listed as a bird rescue on one site.
So I called the other lady listed in her ad and asked if they had any birds they had rescued, she (not knowing I had bought a bird from the other lady) Went on to tell me about 2 DYH amazons they had, she said they had been turned over to the other woman (the one I bought mine from) about 5 months ago.
I did go on to tell her that I had bought one of them from her co worker, she was in shock and had no idea.
So...I found out not only did she not own him his entire life but basically everything she told me was a lie. I emailed her again asking that she please just tell me where the birds actually came from and what his real age is. She refused.
He is not banded or tattoo'd that I can tell and it has taken quite a bit of work to get him to step up and not try to tear holes in people lol.
My main concern is how old is he really? She is never going to tell me the truth she obviously was only out to make maximum profit from the birds and nothing else.
Does anyone know if there is a way to determine age without a band? Like can a vet do a test of some sort?
Sorry for the wall of text lol.
Also I have posted locally on some bird pages hoping someone may know where he came from so I can find out more info on his history and age but so far I have had no replies.

 

[henpecked]

A laparoscopic exam might give some small clue as to the age of an amazon. However it is a surgical procedure and i wouldn't risk it just to age a bird. You could post pics but we'd still be guessing. A bird in hand i could give you a better guess. That being said, i have a 45 yr old who looks like she could be 20. It's very hard to age mature zons. BTW tattoos are usually only used to ID male/female not age. Males, right wing. Females, left wing.

 

[veruka1973]

Yeah I for sure don't want to put him through a surgical procedure, I would just really like to know his actual age, she said he was 5 to me when she was telling all of her long stories about him that were lies.
But when I asked her co worker from the rescue how old they were she said she had been told by the other woman they were 7....see she sold the other one to the co worker from the rescue.
I will try to figure out how to post a picture on here, seems I have to link it form a website I have it saved to?

 

[Allee]

I'm sorry for what you went through and I wish there was an easy way to determine a parrot's age. A lot of us have parrots whose previous owners were dishonest about our bird's histories for whatever reason. I hope you are able to find out something. I'm glad you adopted the Amazon, sounds like he needed a friend.

 

[veruka1973]

I don't know if it could be an indicator of age but his beak has a thicker upper "crust" kind of like oh hard to describe..a thicker piece of beak that goes about halfway down, it almost looks like it would peel off in a way and the bottom is nice and pointy and sharp, not overgrown though. As for feathering his head is very yellow he actually looks alot like how people describe Manga Amazons. I'll take a few pictures up close and make an attempt to post them here so you can see

 

[henpecked]

If the difference in age is between 5-7 . heck there's no way to guess any closer than that. The amount of yellow increases with age but the amount of yellow varies greatly in the same subspecies SO, it's no real help to age something like a magna DYH, a nape would be a easier because they don't have a lot of yellow unless they are very old. have you checked to see if he's chipped?? Send me some pics and i'll give it a guess. The more and the better quality , the better guess i can make.

 

[veruka1973]

 

[veruka1973]

oh wow didn't know the pic was going to be so huge lol

 

[veruka1973]

here's another (sorry they are so huge I'm not sure how to change that) he looks a bit fluffy but he is molting right now I assume thats causing the "floofies" also she was feeding him basically dollar store bird seed, I offered him pellets and he gobbled them right up as if he had been eating them his whole life, so I suspect that's what his original owner fed him.

 

[henpecked]

My 1st impression is he's the age you posted earlier. i'd say 5-7 yrs old is a good guess. Of course , watching him for a while would help age him also. IMO he looks like a immmature ,but soon to mature DYH. Does appear to be male but i'm usually wrong about that. Also IMO not a magna, what does he weight ?? He a 500 gram bird? The heavy barring and darker nails ,don't seem to me to be magna features, once again,IMO. He's a great looking bird with better than average color and the good shoulders. Magna is often throw about in order to get more money when your hustling parrots for a dollar. i wont post anymore of my opinions about the "individual" you got him from. Thanks for giving an older zon a chance at a new home. Join the forum and learn about him. Read some of the older threads and ask any questions, we love to help.

 

[veruka1973]

I never have been really clear on the whole Manga thing. I have seen so many pictures and they all look different to me. By immature soon to mature what do you mean?
The lady I got him from is so unethical it blows my mind that she operates any kind of animal rescue, she said he had been sexed and was male...but ya know everything she said was a lie even the part about finding him a new home because she had cancer. Now that is a whole new level of low if you ask me.

 

[veruka1973]

Oh and as for his weight I can't say for sure but I know he is a lot lighter than my Congo Grey, he's larger than the grey but weighs less.....(CAG might be a bit tubby too lol)

 

[henpecked]

They become sexually mature at about 6-10 yrs of age. I mean he's almost mature , IMO.

 

[veruka1973]

He really likes my 14 year old son, he has had a thing for him since the night we brought him home if my son Wolfgang gets anywhere near him he starts regurging, not sure why he does that to only my son but my CAG Kooka does that if my husband holds him but not anyone else.

 

[Kiwibird]

5-7 is a pretty reasonable age range to have, given these animals have 60+ year lifespans and it is not uncommon to hear of one who was 70 or 80. The only major life change they go through is puberty, and as henpecked said, thats around 6 y/o (give or take a few, depending on the individual).

He's a pretty bird though!

One more thing, many of us who do not know the exact age of our rescue/rehome birds look at the day we brought them home as their "birthday" My bird is likely between 15-20 years old based on the info I got when I adopted him, but I'll never know for sure. He could be 40 for all I know! I was just told "around 10" so I called him 10 and count up from there (I've had him 6 years now, so I just call him 16). You could just decide to call him 7 and count up from there

 

[veruka1973]

I adore Reg for sure, but it was a surprise to find out nothing she had told me about him was true, it took a lot of work to get him to learn step-up and to not try to attack everyone within reach.
With a lot of patience and treats he has started to blossom as a social and friendly parrot, he steps up now and enjoys eating with me, and even though he regurges like a maniac when my husband is near I have learned not to sit too close to my husband when I have him out because that is the only time he will bite me, something about my husband gets him all kinds of crazy.

 

[henpecked]

Hubby is his favorite person and he's trying to drive you away. Be careful not to make it a popularity contest. Sounds like you're doing every thing right. Socialize,socialize,socialize.

 

[mh434]

Whatever else he may be, he's a spectacular, beautiful bird!!!! I suspect you're going to have a long, happy life together.

It will take time for him to get comfortable in his new home, and to cement his allegiances. My Sammy bonded to me, initially, when we first rescued him, but it has taken over a year for him to become solidly bonded & secure in his new home & with his new flock. Now, of course, he owns the place...

 

[Tosca]

I read somewhere today that it takes 4 years for a bird to be comfortable in a new environment. I wonder if this is true.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

I read somewhere today that it takes 4 years for a bird to be comfortable in a new environment. I wonder if this is true.

I can't believe that is true! I've had Zilla since Sept. 24th, so just over 3 months and she seems to be all settled in and comfy cozy like she has been here her whole life.