Need some advice on my new Amazon! :)

Hi people, it's been a long while since I was active here, but I need some help with my new wonderful 10 year old red lored amazon Rocky that I just adopted after being litterly saved from living 10 years in a barbershop with lots of access to poisonus stuff. I'm lucky he hasn't been poisoned so far. He was mainly on a pure seed diet which gave me suspisions of him most likely having a fatty liver, yet he did'nt. And was also living in a cage way to small for even budgies. All though most Americans would say that it's allright for budgies and cockatiels, laws here in Sweden are very strict with how big cages they should have, and we need cages twice or even three times as big as the ones some of you carry. And I really support that law. Anyways, as soon as I bribed the owner and saved Rocky, I brought him home and he instantly converted to harrisons pellets, in which he eats with no problems.

But since he is 10 years old, and is mature, i'm wondering if his behaviours can be adjusted or if they are normal for an amazon male being in breeding season now? He will litteraly bite, or charge at anyone, man or bird if i'm nearby. He will try to chase them away from wherever/whatever i'm close to. He is tame though, and steps up alot of the times with no issues, and loves cuddling, but I'm wondering since this species is considered to be a non ''hot three'', that It would be a little milder and kinder that some of the mature blue front and double yellow heads that i've met. I was wrong! Now Rocky is bigger than most blue fronts, and yellow napes i've seen, he is 40 cm in lenght, (which to the vet is very unique and abnormal) and he weighs in at 485 grams wich was normal for his big size as well. The question is, how long will this behaviour generally last, and/or will he calm down eventually since he is 10 years old?
He isn't a very noisy parrot though, luckily he doesn't scream or screetch like most amazons do, in stead, he talks loudly 2 times a day for about 10-15 minutes. Which is acceptable and not annoying to listen to, in fact it makes me laugh all the time. And now he's learned to mimic my laugh! XD

I'd appreciate some good answers from owners experienced in amazons. Thank you!

Pair bond bird.

Sounds like a classic overbonding issue.

Once breeding season is over, socialize this bird around other people.

Right now, if the bird is in full on "protect the mate" mode, then you probably want to wait until he's calm or he'll just bite people. Let the hormones calm down, then socialize him more with strangers. That will generally reduce these behaviors.

Birdman666 said:

Pair bond bird.

Sounds like a classic overbonding issue.

Once breeding season is over, socialize this bird around other people.

Right now, if the bird is in full on "protect the mate" mode, then you probably want to wait until he's calm or he'll just bite people. Let the hormones calm down, then socialize him more with strangers. That will generally reduce these behaviors.

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Thanks, He seems to be well used to people being around him, due to him living in a barbershop where he was loose all day. in fact, it only makes him seem happier when there's more people around. But that makes his hormones go crazy as well.

I will try my best to socialize him when or IF he calms down. But I dont want him to be left alone in the cage all day as well, he can be handled, but mainly by me. He also responds very well to training and target training. How long should I wait? and what can/should I do in the meantime? This is the first time i'm handling a mature amazon male. And so far so good. I just don't want to be doing anything wrong without knowing, which is why I want your peoples help.

Well, the thing about amazons is if you want them to be handled by more than just one person, more than one person has to handle them...

That's really all there is to it.

When they get used to interacting with lots of people, and behaving in the same or similar way they behave with you, then you overcome the problem.

This is just basic step up/go down/no bite training, and then something like a game of pass the birdie...

We had a game we played down at the rescue where we sat around in a circle with birds that were being socialized, and we took turns handing the bird around to each other, loving on them, and giving them treats...

They respond to it, and after a very short time they will generally go to anyone without biting.

AWAY FROM THE TERRITORY IF THE BIRD IS TERRITORIALLY AGGRESSIVE. DO IT IN ANOTHER ROOM OUT OF SIGHT OF THE CAGE/PLAYSTAND HE'S PROTECTING.

ALSO, YOU might be the trigger. He's fine with everyone else until the favorite person comes in. Then he gets bitey...

"My person is back, not you, - her!"

Those are some of the normal dynamics of the behaviors. Find the trigger for the biting, and then focus on curing that.

If it's territory, he needs to spend more time away from the territory.

If it's a person, then other people need to handle him, possibly even away from that person.

Birdman666 said:

Well, the thing about amazons is if you want them to be handled by more than just one person, more than one person has to handle them...

That's really all there is to it.

When they get used to interacting with lots of people, and behaving in the same or similar way they behave with you, then you overcome the problem.

This is just basic step up/go down/no bite training, and then something like a game of pass the birdie...

We had a game we played down at the rescue where we sat around in a circle with birds that were being socialized, and we took turns handing the bird around to each other, loving on them, and giving them treats...

They respond to it, and after a very short time they will generally go to anyone without biting.

AWAY FROM THE TERRITORY IF THE BIRD IS TERRITORIALLY AGGRESSIVE. DO IT IN ANOTHER ROOM OUT OF SIGHT OF THE CAGE/PLAYSTAND HE'S PROTECTING.

ALSO, YOU might be the trigger. He's fine with everyone else until the favorite person comes in. Then he gets bitey...

"My person is back, not you, - her!"

Those are some of the normal dynamics of the behaviors. Find the trigger for the biting, and then focus on curing that.

If it's territory, he needs to spend more time away from the territory.

If it's a person, then other people need to handle him, possibly even away from that person.

Click to expand...

Amazing! Thank you! This is exactly the kind of information I need. I was thining about doing just this. Briging a few local bird loving friends over and training him to be handled by more than me should cure this problem. The problem isn't that he hates everyone else but me, but that he's a little unpredicable with his warning signs. He can step up unto another unknown persons hand, arm, but then out of nowhere when the person makes some form of movement, he will bite him, and then make funny sounds. I don't react to these bites, but normal people do. So I'm thinking about bringing some experienced bird owners home a couple of times will help solve this issue if we can train together. Everything else is just fine with this wonderful clown, he can only become better. Also he prefers men over women. This I think is normal? He accepts women, but likes men more. Especially men with beards somehow haha. I think I should grow me one now huh?

Thanks for the ideas btw! If there is anything else I should keep in mind please dont hesitate to let me know. I'm all about knowing as much as a man can.

I think not reacting to bites makes it worse.

You need to react to the bites to communicate to the bird that you don't like that, and that it hurts. A stern no biting, with a dirty look...

Could this be displacement biting? Walking past some sort of object that the bird doesn't like, for example?

Or with amazons, sometimes it's an over stimulation thing. They get worked up and start playing...

and how do amazons play with their toys? That's right! They attack them!

Have you read the amazon body language post?

Birdman666 said:

I think not reacting to bites makes it worse.

You need to react to the bites to communicate to the bird that you don't like that, and that it hurts. A stern no biting, with a dirty look...

Could this be displacement biting? Walking past some sort of object that the bird doesn't like, for example?

Or with amazons, sometimes it's an over stimulation thing. They get worked up and start playing...

and how do amazons play with their toys? That's right! They attack them!

Have you read the amazon body language post?

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, i've read that post and im aware of the warning signs. Reason why/how i've avoided getting bit so far. I dont know. I think reacting to the bites depends on the bird really, my Blue Front Kiki used to bite me alot, just because she wanted to. Now that I did'nt react to that, she litteraly stopped biting at all, and she never bites again. But With rocky, I found that if he wants to bite, (which I can tell beforehand) I just shake my hand a little to make him kind of almost lose balance, that way he understands that whenever I try to bite him, I will lose balance a little. And at the same time I'm encouraging the fact that he doesn't bite, with treats and I train him when he's calmed down, and isn't acting all hormonal. Which is usually in the middle of the day. But I like you'r advice and I know every bird owner does things differently, because after all. Not all parrots if ANY are exactly the same.

Yeah.

Rule number one is get to know YOUR bird.

One size does not fit all.

Even if there are some predominant traits of the species, it doesn't mean they all act that way. It's just generally what you expect to happen.

Birdman666 said:

Yeah.

Rule number one is get to know YOUR bird.

One size does not fit all.

Even if there are some predominant traits of the species, it doesn't mean they all act that way. It's just generally what you expect to happen.

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Oh and I forgot. Rocky also tends to regurgitate for me sometimes when he's a little hyped. Is that ok? or bad? People tend to have mixed opinions about that and I'm not really sure what to do.

To me, it's a birdie I love you thing, and it's a natural behavior. You're probably not going to be successful training them out of it. And a zon can sometimes get "hurt feelings" if you reject him...

I don't encourage it, but I don't discourage it either.

And yeah, I get puked on several times a day, particularly by the macaws. Both of them do this AT LEAST once a day.

You've gotten good advice so far. The importantthing to remeber about socializing him, others need to handle him when you aren't around. It's obvious that he is bonded with you and will attack others to keep rhem away from you. You need to be out of sight or the others will get bit.

Considering he was stuck in a barbers all his life on seed only diet he sure looks good his feathers so nice and shiney he's a good looking bird

henpecked said:

You've gotten good advice so far. The importantthing to remeber about socializing him, others need to handle him when you aren't around. It's obvious that he is bonded with you and will attack others to keep rhem away from you. You need to be out of sight or the others will get bit.

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Understood. I'm going to try that out. I now know what to do! Thank you all for the help!

KevH said:

Considering he was stuck in a barbers all his life on seed only diet he sure looks good his feathers so nice and shiney he's a good looking bird

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I know right? It's insane how he could manage to eat seeds his whole life, have acess to lots of poisonous items a.s.o yet his feathers are still in great condition, and he's managed not getting sick or anything. Amazing! and thank you!

Amazons are hardy. Ten years is not long enough to completely ruin a bird's liver. A little aloe detox, and a new diet, and this bird will be fine.

There are toxic things in every environment these days, even your home, probably. Having toxic things present doesn't automatically equate to toxic exposure. He's healthy and fine. That's what matters.

He is a very beautiful bird.



I've got one of those too! Though mine would be "the older woman" to your bird...

Birdman666 said:

Amazons are hardy. Ten years is not long enough to completely ruin a bird's liver. A little aloe detox, and a new diet, and this bird will be fine.

There are toxic things in every environment these days, even your home, probably. Having toxic things present doesn't automatically equate to toxic exposure. He's healthy and fine. That's what matters.

He is a very beautiful bird.



I've got one of those too! Though mine would be "the older woman" to your bird...

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Thank you. It differs from amazon to amazon, i've seen people rescuing 5 year olds and even younger that was fed seeds their whole lifes and had a fatty liver because of it. Now there is a difference between him having them present there, where he was chewing on and playing with constantly, like tiny hair spray cans, perfumes, nail polish sticks a.s.o and he was even found chewing on hair lots of times. But compared to that place, my ''toxic'' stuff is well hidden in my private room where he will unfortunately never be in. (too many expensive things in there that can be ruined in the span of 30 minutes lol.) I'm really happy that he is fine and healthy! and your lady is beautiful as well!