Maturing (bullied by Amazon)

Hello, my 11 months old female CAG was jealous when our rescue Mealy Amazon moved with us 2,5 months ago. She bullied the Mealy a bit (nothing serious) but now she has been turned to coward

Her flying isn't good either, she trains it but she doesn't want to fly from living room to kitchen etc (we need to carry her)

Mealy bullies her now, nothing serious but the CAG doesn't defend herself at all, she just screams really loud and flies away. Like when we're eating our breakfast and they want to be around and eat with us but the Amazon just bullies her away (walks slowly to her with his beak open and then pecks her). He doesn't bite and the peck is just "bugger off" peck, nothing serious.

I know this is jealousy thing, but i know my mealy is a big softy so if my CAG would defend her even a little bit they would stop the bullying and it would be ok.

So my CAG is quite a baby still, when we can expect her to mature a bit? I know maturing doesn't mean she would automatically start to defend herself but it's a good probability that happens. I've had CAG for 20 years but i've never had this young, they've all been older rescues before (this one is rescue too).

I'm little bit worried about her neck feathers too, i think she gots some "baby feathers" still and it's because of that her neck feathers seem so thin(?)

These videos aren't related to this problem, just so you can guys can see her:

If you are wondering what she is "learning" it's speaking. She says few fords now (nothing clearly though) and her first word was "älä kilju" what means "dont scream" and that is what my wife says to her every time she screams.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucgXrU4zJHE"]VID 20170624 180914 - YouTube[/ame]
^ this is month ago, this is when she still defended herself and tried to bully the amazon. Amazon got that broken flying harness first and the CAG tried to take it from him.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPFIjTtrmfI"]CAG - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Zms6Ac4jM"]Elli Learning 4 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPh1kX6n4E4"]Elli Learning 3 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51dcuZ4iMFE"]Elli Learning2 - YouTube[/ame]

My Mealy is quite a beast, he's a really big boy:


I would totally understand why my young female cag would be afraid of him if she would done that from the start, but she wasn't afraid of him for 1,5 months. That pic is from the time she wasn't afraid of him and didn't allow him to bully her a bit.

It is so very hard to tell what caused the transition. The relationship between Parrots never really settles. They may come to an unwritten agreement that works for days, weeks, months and years, only to have it change quickly one day.

At this point, the power has switched to the Amazon and that is today's arrangement. With another four years of maturing, that may change. There is just no way to be sure.

Both Parrots are more than capable of causing serious injury to each other and that always needs to be keep in mind. It is safer for both Parrots to be on their own perches, this allows a safe separation and you a couple of moments to react (yes it can be that fast) if things go poorly. You will always need to watch their interactions.

Feathers: Young Parrots are known to be very hard on their feathers and it is not uncommon for a young Parrot to over preen a area as they learn the art of preen. Based on that, you just need to keep an eye of that area. On the emotional side, your CAG just lost a 'power position' and 'could' be taking the frustration out of her feathers. So, keep a close eye on that area and watch for when and how active the preening is in that area.

SailBoat said:

It is so very hard to tell what caused the transition. The relationship between Parrots never really settles. They may come to an unwritten agreement that works for days, weeks, months and years, only to have it change quickly one day.

At this point, the power has switched to the Amazon and that is today's arrangement. With another four years of maturing, that may change. There is just no way to be sure.

Both Parrots are more than capable of causing serious injury to each other and that always needs to be keep in mind. It is safer for both Parrots to be on their own perches, this allows a safe separation and you a couple of moments to react (yes it can be that fast) if things go poorly. You will always need to watch their interactions.

Feathers: Young Parrots are known to be very hard on their feathers and it is not uncommon for a young Parrot to over preen a area as they learn the art of preen. Based on that, you just need to keep an eye of that area. On the emotional side, your CAG just lost a 'power position' and 'could' be taking the frustration out of her feathers. So, keep a close eye on that area and watch for when and how active the preening is in that area.

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Thank you, as always, really good information

CAG seems to be little bit upset and frustrated, i'm currently trying to get her happy with all seed diet and new toys

I've been trying to get her off the seeds, she eats pellets and greens but she doesn't like them. I've been offering her seeds in her cage (meaning she eats them at night and morning before we wake up). Yesterday she didn't eat any pellets or greens and continued that today. So i took a step back and let her be on all seed diet for a few days (until i see she is happy again).

Over the many years we have rescued Amazons, we have found that transitioning them from an all seed diet to a healthier diet involved developing a comfort with widening their selection. We have done that by moving to a 'Human Grade' offering of a wide cross-section of seeds, grains, nuts, with freeze dried Veggies and Fruits, small pasta and other dry bits. To this mix, we would add the small version of the Human Grade Pellets that we use. With time and providing a very healthy mix (the leftovers) to the outdoor Birds, we would begin to reduce the sunflower seed and peanuts to zero. Commonly this took a year or more with some back slides from time to time.

Always remember to:
Freeze every dry Parrot food you get - minimum two weeks. Remove only what you need for a few days, leave the balance in the freezer.
Transition by adding your target dry foods and reducing the problem foods
An all Pellet diet is not always the best offering - we believe in a well mixed 'Human Grade' dry food mix with Pellets, with the Base being fresh Veggies and some fruit.

SailBoat said:

Over the many years we have rescued Amazons, we have found that transitioning them from an all seed diet to a healthier diet involved developing a comfort with widening their selection. We have done that by moving to a 'Human Grade' offering of a wide cross-section of seeds, grains, nuts, with freeze dried Veggies and Fruits, small pasta and other dry bits. To this mix, we would add the small version of the Human Grade Pellets that we use. With time and providing a very healthy mix (the leftovers) to the outdoor Birds, we would begin to reduce the sunflower seed and peanuts to zero. Commonly this took a year or more with some back slides from time to time.

Always remember to:
Freeze every dry Parrot food you get - minimum two weeks. Remove only what you need for a few days, leave the balance in the freezer.
Transition by adding your target dry foods and reducing the problem foods
An all Pellet diet is not always the best offering - we believe in a well mixed 'Human Grade' dry food mix with Pellets, with the Base being fresh Veggies and some fruit.

Click to expand...

I'm little bit worried of her now, she hasn't done a lot today + she sleeps in "night position" (head turned back, beak under the wing) at the moment (4:30PM) on her "playstand perch" and she's standing with both feet. She hasn't screamed or made any loud noises today... At morning she screamed for a while in her cage but after that nothing.

She didn't eat any pellets/fruits/greens yesterday but she did eat at evening when i put her on her cage and she did eat on morning too in her cage (seeds). She seems quite tired at the moment. Lets hope she eats a lot of seeds when she wakes up and she is starting to play and scream like a normal CAG. It's going to be a vet visit on monday if she doesn't come around today/tomorrow. She has eaten some seeds today, not much but some.. Let's hope she eats more when she wakes up.

She seems to be more alert now, went straight to eat when she woke up (after mandatory pooping and leg/wing stretching of course)

Maybe i was worried for nothing... I'm just the worrier type when it comes to my animals.

PL84 said:

She seems to be more alert now, went straight to eat when she woke up (after mandatory pooping and leg/wing stretching of course)

Maybe i was worried for nothing... I'm just the worrier type when it comes to my animals.

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I can tell you from my experience it is better to worry than to just assume everything is okay

Keep a close observation for a couple days. Anything else out of the ordinary happens I would get on to the vet ASAP

LordTriggs said:

PL84 said:

She seems to be more alert now, went straight to eat when she woke up (after mandatory pooping and leg/wing stretching of course)

Maybe i was worried for nothing... I'm just the worrier type when it comes to my animals.

Click to expand...

I can tell you from my experience it is better to worry than to just assume everything is okay

Keep a close observation for a couple days. Anything else out of the ordinary happens I would get on to the vet ASAP

Click to expand...

She has been totally normal now, still on seed diet, she screams like a normal CAG, doesn't sleep head turned on day (or with 2 legs) etc

They haven't seen vet yet (Mealy or the CAG) but the CAG is finally so used to me, handling etc so now i can get her to vet for yearly check up. I'll do this in 2 weeks (if nothing unordinary happens, then i'll visit the vet ASAP)

yes it wont hurt to go for a check-up. Will help if there is anything underlying and also good to get them used to going/seeing the vet to calm them and lastly good to get a rapport with the vet

I'm very paranoid with illness now after Rio's passing

LordTriggs said:

yes it wont hurt to go for a check-up. Will help if there is anything underlying and also good to get them used to going/seeing the vet to calm them and lastly good to get a rapport with the vet

I'm very paranoid with illness now after Rio's passing

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All my animals go to vet for check-up once in a year, both of my parrots are recently rescued so i want to wait them to get used to me etc before visiting vet with them. Elli the CAG is ready now but Åke the Mealy isn't

LordTriggs said:

yes it wont hurt to go for a check-up. Will help if there is anything underlying and also good to get them used to going/seeing the vet to calm them and lastly good to get a rapport with the vet

I'm very paranoid with illness now after Rio's passing

Click to expand...

What happened to Rio? I've had CAGs for 20 years but they were never ill, we did the yearly check ups but we didn't need to go to vet besides that (both died around 65-70 years old due "old age" ("hearth just stopped" according to vet)).