my beautiful boy!!

my beautiful boy, Gus...I was told he was a blue front...but someone on the site things Orange Wing...Any ideas? He is doing great...he is 10 years old...Got him a month ago...he is loving...gives great, sweet kisses...loves to be on the shoulder and we watch amazon parrot videos every night. He does not like to step up to the hand,...only his stick/perch...been bit a few times...broke skin but not bad...now he will step up if I place him on the floor...and then ask him to step up...progress for sure Will keep working with him. LOVE this bird! Does the sexy whistle, and says a phrase over and over...4 sylables...last 2 are "over here".....any other suggestions? What do you all think his breed really is? He has the blue cap, but yellow on the forehead...

That is MOST DEFINITELY an Orange Winged A very gorgeous one too!

He is beautiful boy for sure!! And nother told me that I am actually better off with an OW amazon as they are more mollow and loving...do you agree?

Thanks..RavensGryf...He is gorgeous and love him to pieces!!!

Theres no question Gus is 100% OWA OWAs are known for their sweet nature, and it sounds like you lucked out with a real sweetie pie who took to you right off Hope you'll keep us updated on Gus's progress!

Gus is such a sweetie...but I am thinking someone long ago made him afraid of the hand...he is actually miising one toe-nail completely...maybe that is why he doesn't like to step up to the hand??

Sounds like things are going well I have to move my bluefrnt around with a perch too. But hes fine once hes out [maybe a rehomed male zon thing ?}

I vote OWA. I have several. The missing toe is probably from another amazon bite. The fear of hands is from being "manhandled" forceably captured with hands. This is very common with breeder birds who are only handled when examined by the vet,moved to different cage,etc. Humans pretty much leave them alone except to grab them for some reason. So yeah they have a fear of hands , the missing toe is common with breeder birds also. just my .02 worth.

I agree with Henpecked on the missing nail being from another bird. My parents DYH and G2 don't get along (and they are not allowed to interact, but accidental meetings have occurred over the years), so now BOTH of them are one talon short of a whole set. Lucy lost her talon over 20 years ago, and it mysteriously began growing back about 3 or 4 years ago and is almost completely regenerated, which is beyond weird). Alfie's has never grown back. Maybe you'll get lucky and Gus's will start growing back at some point! Even if not, it shouldn't affect anything in his life. He can still climb, play and perch with a missing talon.

Handling with a perch is fine, but I like the bond that comes with holding on a hand (or sitting on your arm) too. As you and Gus grow more trusting of each other, I strongly suggest you start working on getting him to step up to your hand as well as the stick and then you have 2 ways to pick him up Our BFA had never been handled when we got him. We trained him to step up to a gloved hand, a bare hand and a stick (as well as towel training) and use both a bare hand and stick regularly. As long as you tell him to step up and offer something he could stand on, he'd step up to a cake platter lol.

To be perfectly honest though, he seems to PREFER a stick when it comes to me. I have really small hands and while he will step up and all, I think it's more comfortable for him to sit on a stick. Sometimes he likes to sit on my arm too, but I don't care too much for that because he digs his talons in for grip:52: I don't think a lot of people think about it, but if you have little hands and a sizable bird, that could be the reason for the stick preference.

How tall is Kiwi?

He looks like an OWA to me too...

Honestly, I never really thought there was all that much difference, behavior wise, between an OWA and a BFA. BFA's have a longer breeding season, so they can sometimes be a little more "hormonally challenged" for a longer period of time. Other than that...

They're both on the upper end of the goofy, interactive and playful zon threshhold.

I LOVE this forum!! Thanks all...especially Kiwi and Henpecked! So, Gus loves his time on my shoulder...we watch bird vidoes on utube every evening. He loves our time together. When I come home from wqork he is as excited to see me as my little female black lab "Miss Minnesota Moose" is...kisses me to death...lol...like making out..Haha...as I have said before he will ALWAYS step up on his stick perch and the right to my shoulder. 2 days ago I started then putting him on the floor where he will readily step up on my hand!!! So some progress. If I try to approach with my hand in any other situation, he will squak and has nipped me a few times...broke skin a little but nothing terrible. So I am just taking my time and letting him grow to trust me more and more. He says a few things and hope he will learn to talk more...what he does say is quite clear...just not a lot of words. Today was a learning lesson for me, both good but scary...I always cage him when I go to work....as I have a cat and dog...well, I left one of his side doors ajar...much to my surprise he was atop his cage when I got home!!! I could see that he "escaped" from the small door and could see where he had wondered/ventured out and about by his poo trail...lol....so happy to say that he is getting so used to the other animals that no one got hurt!!! (But wont have him out when I am gone just to be sure everyone is safe)...And Henpecked...wish I lived closer..looking to adopt another wonderful bird friend!!

My o.w.a (I've only had for 8 days) steps up for the stick also,then will go to my shoulder,but lol for some reason if he is on the floor he will step on my hand also! Funny,he will also step up on my hand if my husband comes into the room,lol only cause he is still iffy of him.

Taw5106 said:

How tall is Kiwi?

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14.5" from the top of his head to tip of his tail is about the best rough measurement we've been able to get. He's not too interested in letting us use a measuring tape on him and squirms a lot to avoid it

2 days ago I started then putting him on the floor where he will readily step up on my hand!!!

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This tells me he KNOWS how to step up to a hand and TRUSTS that you won't hurt him while he's on your hand. He just CHOOSES to be stubborn when he is not in a situation where he's uncomfortable. Many amazons don't particularly like being on the floor (they are prey animals and stay up high in the trees in nature) so they'll bring out the charm for you to save their butt from being 'venerable' and 'exposed' down there:20:. When he's up on his cage, or the couch or wherever he doesn't feel so venerable and in need of help from a human, he can then be more choosy about his preferred mode of transportation and do the whole lunging and refusing to follow the step up command bit.

He doesn't sound like a "scared and tortured soul" who needs very gentle trust building, he more like a stubborn bird with a slight attitude problem who needs his ego knocked down a notch. Obviously, you don't want to be mean, but you do need to build trust while still teaching him how he needs to behave in your "flock". I personally suggest step up drills, away from his cage and comfort zone. If he's confident with a stick, start with that. Have him step down and then back up from many different places in the house (the back of chairs, the kitchen counter, the shower curtain rod, the bed, the floor ext..). This also builds a good kind of confidence and familiarizes him with his new home Be sure he is given verbal praise and a treat each time he steps up to the stick. Once he is more comfortable and confident in his new environment, then start easing him into stepping to you hand.

We used the old fashion, shameless luring technique to entice Kiwi to get on our hands:54: And he had never been handled before, so you'll have a much easier time getting Gus to try it (who already knows this drill:20. Basically, you start by placing your hand in front of the bird while offering a treat in the other hand. The treat hand should be positioned behind the "step up" hand just far enough back he has to reach over your step up hand to get the treat. When you first present the treat give the verbal "step up" command to cue him in to listen for it. When he reaches over your hand to get the treat, verbally praise him (good bird!). Once he is proficient at reaching over your hand, move the treat back so he must actually climb onto your hand to retrieve it. Again, cue him to "step up" as soon as you present the treat, and when he steps on your hand, verbally praise him. More than likely, he'll grab he treat and run back to his cage to eat it. You should allow him to do this until he has no hesitation about climbing on your hand. Once he does though, it's time to let him get on your hand and move it about 2' back from the cage before giving him the treat and allow him to eat it on your hand before setting him back down. From there, start step up drills again from all different place, only using your hand instead of a stick You can also drop the treat every time and just verbally praise (and if he likes any kind of affection, thats a good reward too, Kiwi likes giving kisses so we reward him with those). Also, don't neglect to use the stick once he steps to your hand. Use BOTH regularly. You'll appreciate him being stick trained when breeding season comes and he is in a most foul mood (and you want some distance between him and your flesh lol).

Sassy would NOT step up to anything when we got her. She was scared to death if I put a perch up to her and even worse if I put gloves on to have her step up. She acted scared of hands and everything else! Turns out she was being stubborn and just had to learn to trust me. Now she will step up to my hand/arm all the time (still scared if I try a perch or have gloves though). It's like she's a different bird. She just had to decide that she wanted to do it.