Gus The Red Lored Amazon, how long do I have with him?

RedLoredAmazon

New member
Feb 27, 2019
2
0
Northern California
Parrots
Gus, hatched in the early 1974! Red Lored Amazon and two male Budgies.
In September 2018, I adopted a 44 year old Red Lored Amazon which we don't know much about. Vet said he looked good, but eluded to the fact that they only live around 40-45 years. I just want to know if anyone has an older Amazon. Everything I've seen has given me a wide range of lifespans. Thanks in advance!:green1::green1::green1:
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
Welcome to you and Gus! One never knows how long we have with a bird, so make each day count!!

My first, an Amazon named "Gonzo", is likely almost 40 and doing well. I've had him 34 years and he was likely a young adult at time of purchase. Age can be difficult to assess, but arthritis can affect older birds.

Is the vet an "avian certified" or equivalent? It might be helpful to do some basic blood analysis to identify areas of potential concern.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
How long will my older Amazon live is a very difficult question because it depends on what kind of life your Amazon has lived. And, what steps you take now to work at expending its life.
Scott's recommendation above is excellent as a full blood screen, which includes a detailed look at the chemistry of the Heart and Liver are very important markers.
Diet is of major importance with older Amazons. See the Amazon Forum and the Thread in light blue at or near the top. That Thread with the Title: I Love Amazons -... contains a segment regarding Amazon Diet. Amazon's should be on a low fat and low protein diet. Tons of fresh veggies. Please read that entire Thread!
Flight (active use of wings) whether flapping in place or actual flight are very important to the health of the Amazons Heart, Air Sacks and flight muscles.
Weight is also important as a overly-heavy Amazon puts additional stress on its heart. Stop! Never withdraw food from an Amazon without the involvement of your Avian Vet! Note: A flighted Amazon will be heavier than a perch potato Amazon as muscles are heavier than fat. A qualified Avian Vet will know by the feel of the Amazon's chest as to whether your have a flier or not.
I hope that this provides a base point to start from!
Your healthy Amazon could live another twenty years!!!

Enjoy, after all, Amazon have more Fun!
 
Last edited:

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Welcome to the community! And congrats on adopting your new baby!

As already mentioned above by both Scott and Sailboat, it's very hard to say how long an Amazon will live...Something that you wrote in your initial post above is very true and the reason why it's difficult to answer this question, and something that you need to take to heart, and that is that you "have read many different lifespans for Amazons"...

That's exactly true, that when you look-up the lifespan of an Amazon the numbers are all over the place, but what you need to understand is the reason why that is...It's not simply because people are "guessing' or just throwing out age ranges, it's because the "average" lifespan of an pet/captive Amazon Parrot is impossible to put into an accurate range due to the very serious effect that their health has on their lifespan...And while this is true of all parrot species, the lifespan of pet Amazons is so varied because of just how much they are effected by health issues, specifically THEIR DIETS.

***Amazons, regardless of the species, are very susceptible to obesity and specifically the collection of fat in their Livers, Kidneys, and around their Hearts. Amazons develop Lipomas and Granulomas (tumors that are made of nothing but fat-cells and fat-cells with scar-tissue) all over their bodies at a rate that is higher than all other parrot species combined. And when it comes to Amazons, even if you don't see visible fat or your bird is not visibly overweight or even overweight on the scale, it's still likely that they have large accumulations of fat in and around their Livers, Kidneys, and Heart...And this is typically due to them eating a regular, daily diet that includes a "staple" food that is a seed-mix that is high in fat and low in protein instead of a "staple" of a low-fat, high-protein avian pellet, along with fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens every single day.

SO, as Sailboat and Scott both mentioned above, the best thing you can do to make your Amazon's lifespan not only as long as it can be, but also as healthy and happy as can be and of a high-quality, is to take him to either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet, and not just an "Exotics" Vet who "sees birds' as well as all other types of animals, and have full, routine Blood-Work done on him at least once a year, and maybe at his current age twice a year would be better. That way you will be able to monitor the overall health and function of his Liver, his Kidneys, his Heart, and his Lungs, as well as his nutritional health, AND you will be able to get a pretty accurate overall "age" of his body this way as well...And with an Amazon at his age, I would also highly recommend that you have an X-Ray done at least once a year as well, in order to not only catch any growths/masses that may be forming, but even more-so to see the overall size of his Liver and Heart and the amount of fat that is in them/surrounding them. And X-Ray once a year will also show the health of his Respiratory System, including his Air-Sacs...

Amazons are extremely prone to something called "Sternal Lift", which is when their Keel Bone (the long, bony plate that covers their entire chest and upper abdomen and is that boney edge you can feel when you run your finger down the middle of their chest/belly) is actually moved upward and outward due to their Liver being enlarged due to fat-accumulation...And once the Keel Bone is lifted upward and outward, what happens is that ALL of the internal organs in the abdomen are also shifted out of their normal positions, the positions they need to be in to function normally. This can result in health issues from the small and more of a pain in the butt than anything else, such as them constantly pooping on the feathers surrounding their vents and on their tails and their bellies, to the extremely serious and life-threatening, such as their Heart and Lungs suddenly not being covered or protected by the Keel Bone, and having nothing at all covering them but skin and muscle, which puts them at severe risk of physical damage/bruising/puncture of their Heart and Lungs. (Imagine if your Sternum and Ribcage was shifted from it's normal position and suddenly your Heart and Lungs were not covered by any bones at all, but rather not covered by anything but skin and your Pectoral muscles. One wrong fall onto something or running into something, like a tree branch or a piece of furniture, and you could puncture your Heart or your Lungs, or your Spleen, which easily causes people and animals to bleed to death quickly when it's just bruised slightly due to how vascular the Spleen is)...Amazons are also extremely prone to Thyroid and other Endocrine System diseases and illnesses due to their propensity for being overweight, having high blood-sugar, high cholesterol, etc.

So the bottom-line is #1)Making sure that you are feeding your Amazon a high-protein, low-fat, low-sodium, low-sugar diet, as well as giving them as much exercise as you can every single day, and #2)Monitoring their health closely and on a regular-basis, especially when they reach the age of 30+, by having regular, routine Blood-Work done at least once a year, every 6 months is much better once they reach 35+ years-old, and also having a regular, plain-film X-Ray done once a year so that you can stay right on top of what is going on with their health and within their body, and catching things as early as possible...

***You're Amazon is already 44 years old and you've only owned him for about the last 5-6 months, so you obviously are not the person or people who may have fed him a high-fat, high-sugar, high-sodium diet throughout his life, nor did you limit his exercise and also his daily mental-stimulation, which is also extremely important to his overall-health (boredom can cause such an intelligent bird an enormous amount of stress)...I don't know what your bird's weight is or what his normal, daily diet is either...He might have been cared for very well during his lifetime, fed a low-fat, high-protein diet and given tons of exercise and mental-stimulation every single day...I don't know, and you might not know either. So all that YOU CAN DO at this point is to make sure that you are feeding him a proper, healthy diet, getting him lots and lots of exercise every single day, and making sure that he's getting lots of mental-stimulation and using his brain rather than just sitting inside a cage every day, all day long, and becoming bored and stressed. And we can help you with that by making suggestions to you about his daily diet, his cage set-up as far as it's size, the number of toys and more-importantly the TYPES of toys he has, whether or not he has any Active-Foraging activities to do every day, whether or not he's getting enough out-of-cage-time every day, as well as direct-interaction with you and the others in your "Flock".

***What is your bird's regular, daily diet ("staple" food and other foods he gets throughout the day)? What types of treats does he get, and how many each day? What types of "people-food" does he get, and how much per day? How many hours a day does he get outside of his cage every day? Does he have any Active-Foraging activities that he can do inside and/of outside of his cage? Is he flighted, or are his wings clipped?
 

Birdman666

Well-known member
Sep 18, 2013
9,904
258
San Antonio, TX
Parrots
Presently have six Greenwing Macaw (17 yo), Red Fronted Macaw (12 yo), Red Lored Amazon (17 y.o.), Lilac Crowned Amazon (about 43 y.o.) and a Congo African Grey (11 y.o.)
Panama Amazon (1 Y.O.)
Depends on how they are fed....

Most problems come from improper diet...

My oldest bird is 43 now. Going strong. Doesn't look a day over 20...

I have a friend who has her grandmother's DYH. Grandma got the bird when she was 12... the bird was fed nothing but fresh foods.., and is still alive and kicking at 96!!!

SO... YEAH... 40's is middle age if they haven't had a seed diet that destroys their liver.
 

Rival_of_the_Rickeybird

Well-known member
2x Parrot of the Month 🏆
Jul 31, 2016
1,367
1,863
Ohio
Parrots
None. My wife has one too many. Kidding!
Yep to all the above.
The wife's Patagonian is 35, despite an official expectancy of 30, and his doctor says he's good for many more. Oh joy (kidding). I think that advances in husbandry and medicine are really extending their lives.
My advice? Get on his good side. lol
 

GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,045
8,742
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
There ya go!

If you need some vet links...

Most of us swear by our avian vets in the event of health concerns. I don't know where you are, but here are some links. I only have USA info...
Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

9lhIlM0.jpg
International contacts are there, too.
 

Most Reactions

Top