Depression

[Merlee]

I am absolutely stumped with my bird and have asked about my bird's behavior before. Can birds become depressed? I cannot believe I am asking such a question. Here is my situation.

I took in a rehomed 27-y/o YN bird almost a year ago. He was flighted and uncaged with his previous owner of over 20 years. His toys were practically nothing to speak of and his owner was ill due to problems with her lungs. So I am assuming she did a lot of sitting the past year or so.

For the past year, he has had a variety of toys consisting of plastic chains, a bell, cardboard, pizza boxes, string, calculator tape, wooden ladders, different types of wood, a swing, and foraging wheel. He has only shown interest in shredding cardboard, mouthing a string toy and unrolling one roll of calculator tape. These were in his cage and some came from his previous home. He touches nothing on his play stand but food. The play stand came with him from the previous owner. He is out of his cage for hours and I have attempted to get him interested in the toys available. Nada.

I talk and sing to him, but no reaction. I do see eyes dilating when conversing. He has never gotten excited over anything. No fanning of the tail or eyes pinning together. He has picked up new vocabulary since being here. Not much.

There are times during the day when I want to bring him out, but he shies away. Other times, he cannot wait to jump on my hand to come out. I do not force it.

I have given him baths in the shower, no reaction. I have sprayed him a few times with a water bottle. Not much interest there either. He does like bathing in a food cup on his playstand.

Does he need a shrink or am I doing something wrong? I have been wanting another bird for months, and decided today to put it off because I am not sure if this would be positive. I was hoping from his watching another bird play, he would see what he was missing. I want him to remain sweet as he is, just more reactive to what's around him.

I am having a vet come out Wednesday afternoon to check him for some nare blockage and whistling noise. I am contributing this to not having enough humidity because he has been fine and nothing has changed except the heat coming on possibly stirring up dust in the air. I could not forgive myself if I was wrong so, just to be on the safe side, she is coming out. While the vet is here I am going to have her check his CBC because this inactivity is just worrying me.

He just doesn't act like the typical amazon. No change of personality during the breeding season either. He eats pellets and vegetables just fine so I am not worried about diet.

I know this is a long post. Sorry. Is it possible to be depressed?

 

[Captsteve]

Yes they can. Remember that he depends on you for all of his stimulus. Once they become a perch potato, it's a lot of work to get them out of it.

Keep trying new things and try to find what perks his interest.

 

[Merlee]

Forgot to mention that he doesn't scream, pluck or show any signs of aggressiveness. All good things!

 

[Kalidasa]

You mentioned that he was flighted before, is he flying now?

 

[Betrisher]

I know lots will disagree with me, but I think it's far preferable for a bird to have a companion, whether it's of the same gender or not (and preferably of the same species). The reason I say this is that birds pick up from one another and will share things together that they cannot share with you. In your rescued Amazon's case, he has no reason to play, whether he's depressed or whether he just never learned.

When I brought my Galah home, he was pretty much as you describe your bird. Not fussed on much at all: not on showering or eating veggies or playing with anything aside from an ancient budgie bell. Once he'd been at our place a week or two, we noticed him noticing the Beaks doing all sorts of things. In what seemed like no time, Dom was eating pellets and veggies, playing with toys, shredding paper and cardboard and had completely forgotten about the budgie bell (which is no more with us). Eventually, Dom began to find things of his own to do: he's the greatest flinger around. Nothing is safe from being flung on the floor by Dom! He's picked up pliers and my son's straw hat and even (I hate saying this) my lower denture and flung them all on the floor. The Beaks do not fling. This is a Dominic thing he has learned since he began to play.

So, working on the monkey-see, monkey-do principle, I'd get another bird (preferably an Amazon, but not necessarily). You might find your bird will copy another parrot and even, perhaps, compete for toys and food items. Let us know how you get on with him. I have a soft spot for the poor guys who've lost track of their inner bird!

 

[Merlee]

No. He is going through his molt now. It has crossed my mind to leave him unclipped and see if he changes. I clipped him because he was new and for his own safety. My problem with leaving him unclipped is that I have an indoor dog and cat. The cat is old and does not move quick enough to be a danger. The dog has never shown an interest, but then the bird has never flown around the house either.

I am hoping the clipping is not related to the behavior. Honestly, I do not wish to live with an unclipped bird.

 

[JerseyWendy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I absolutely LOVE everything you said, Trish, and 100% agree!!!!

I truly consider myself SO blessed to have a pair of big macs that get along and a pair of Amazons that get along (neither are caged together).

My Hunter is a rather "quiet" Amazon, and after I lost my Quincy (Magna Amazon), she was most definitely depressed. When Sam arrived, and we took him out of his travel container and he made his growling sounds, Hunter took one look and then immediately perked up.

 

[Kalidasa]

Well if he was flighted for the past 20 yrs he's definately not happy about losing that. You could try another bird which is a very good idea. If if you're worried about other pets getting him then having him flighted is safer for him rather than the other way around. You could try and leave him to feather out naturally and see how it goes. I'm almost positive he will perk up if he's allowed to do what comes naturally.

 

[crimson]

I agree with Trish, another bird just might help him snap out of things.

as parront owners, we do back flips to make our birds happy, but it seems clear that he is missing, or lacking something that would stimulate him.

If you decide to get another bird, why not take him along and let him choose the bird?...providing your ok with it too

 

[riaria]

No. He is going through his molt now. It has crossed my mind to leave him unclipped and see if he changes. I clipped him because he was new and for his own safety. My problem with leaving him unclipped is that I have an indoor dog and cat. The cat is old and does not move quick enough to be a danger. The dog has never shown an interest, but then the bird has never flown around the house either.

I am hoping the clipping is not related to the behavior. Honestly, I do not wish to live with an unclipped bird.

If he's used to being flighted and he's now not only in a new unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, but also suddenly unable to fly - no wonder he's depressed. It's also much much safer for him to be flighted, ESPECIALLY if you've got a cat and a dog. How is he going to escape the predators if he falls to the floor and is unable to get away?

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't want a flighted pet, why on earth would you get a bird?!?

 

[riaria]

(I think any animal can get depressed, to be honest)

 

[Betrisher]

Duh! I missed the bit about 'flighted and uncaged' and then 'clipped'. I'd say that's your problem right there! Wouldn't you be a bit flat if your arms were suddenly removed?

Clipping or not clipping is a very personal choice and I'm not about to get into a discussion on which is right. However, if you're wondering why your bird's personality changed, I think the clipping is what did it. He was flighted for twenty years? And now he's not? Hmmm... Yep, I reckon that'll be the problem.

I've no idea how you'd overcome it: perhaps another bird; perhaps allowing his flights to regrow... It may have been that this bird's life was based on his ability to fly to the things he enjoyed playing with. Now, he can't do that and doesn't know what to do.

I hope you'll keep us updated with your progress - I know how sad a bird can get when its world is turned upside-down and I hope yours comes to find the fun in life again! Best of luck with him!

 

[Merlee]

Another piece of information I left out was that he was the only bird in the previous owner's home. From what I remember, he was with her for the majority of his life from a very young age.

It's possible that all these things contributed to his current personality. When I went to get him, I was not able to observe him at all because I was on the road for 13 hours and was eager to leave because it was an uncomfortable situation from the start. The owner was in poor health and crying because she had to give him up for multiple reasons. I really didn't have a choice about taking him because if I had not, the owner would have been put in a medical facility and she was hurting financially and could lose her house because she was behind in her mortgage payments.

My husband said I should be happy for who Rudy is because he could have been the bird from hell and go read about other people's birds who are aggressive. Of course, my husband is correct, but knowing how other people's birds are acting is why I am concerned.

 

[Merlee]

No. He is going through his molt now. It has crossed my mind to leave him unclipped and see if he changes. I clipped him because he was new and for his own safety. My problem with leaving him unclipped is that I have an indoor dog and cat. The cat is old and does not move quick enough to be a danger. The dog has never shown an interest, but then the bird has never flown around the house either.

I am hoping the clipping is not related to the behavior. Honestly, I do not wish to live with an unclipped bird.

If he's used to being flighted and he's now not only in a new unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, but also suddenly unable to fly - no wonder he's depressed. It's also much much safer for him to be flighted, ESPECIALLY if you've got a cat and a dog. How is he going to escape the predators if he falls to the floor and is unable to get away?

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't want a flighted pet, why on earth would you get a bird?!?

I have a 12 y/o macaw whom I have had since he was 4 months old. He has been clipped since we have had him and he's acting like a normal bird. He's energetic and always into something. Go figure?

 

[riaria]

If he's used to being flighted and he's now not only in a new unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, but also suddenly unable to fly - no wonder he's depressed. It's also much much safer for him to be flighted, ESPECIALLY if you've got a cat and a dog. How is he going to escape the predators if he falls to the floor and is unable to get away?

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't want a flighted pet, why on earth would you get a bird?!?

I have a 12 y/o macaw whom I have had since he was 4 months old. He has been clipped since we have had him and he's acting like a normal bird. He's energetic and always into something. Go figure?

Being clipped is pretty much all your macaw knows (and I doubt he'd had a chance to perfect his flying at 4 months old) - but your amazon has been flighted for the most part of his life, not to mention uncaged. Then you clip his wings and stick him in a cage - can't you see how that might be relevant to his behaviour?

 

[riaria]

(I didn't say that all clipped birds automatically get depressed; however unnatural I think wing clipping is, I'm sure there are a lot of birds out there that are perfectly happy despite their handicap. But for your amazon, clipping his wings is like you taking a human that's used to walking around and then bind them to a wheelchair and expect them to be happy about the change...)

 

[Mayden]

Completely agree with Riaria on this. Some birds are fine clipped, not disputing that.

But for long time fliers - clipping can be a real cruelty and that should be considered before clipping a long term flighted bird.

New home, new person, clipping and then introducing a cage when he has been cage free. It's a lot of 'new' and restriction on his life. I'd probably be very depressed too.

 

[SandyBee]

With Bosley who is an older amazon as well he doesn't really play much on his own. He loves playing with someone though. We have a felt ball he loves to attack. That's how amazons play, attack and destroy. I also take him in the kitchen when I'm prepping food or cleaning up etc , I hang with him doing many chores like fold laundry etc. I play music,you tube vids, he likes cartoons.I bring Bosley out to the park and pet store. Maybe try expanding his world.

 

[Caesar]

Yeah I tend to agree with Ricia on this one, Sorry.
Don't take it at all personal
take care and hope everything works out for you guys

 

[getwozzy]

I agree- he's depressed because he lost his person of 20 some years, went to a new home with new everything and also went from uncaged and flighted to caged and clipped.

Does he happen to be harness trained? Maybe if you took him out and about (if it's not cold out) he would have some fun that way. Or try some trick training?