I would really like to know how old my new dude is!!

[Coopertheredlored]

About two months ago I got a red lored amazon from a friends sister in law... She had bought the bird from a man with several birds he had bought from a breeder so she was told he was 10... And that is all I knew about him. A week ago I took him to a bird shop to get some advise and have them look at him and they informed me he wasn't 10!!! Is there anyway I can find out how old he is?? I am wanting to be aware of his reaching of sexual maturity.. So far he hasn't been very aggressive towards me.

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

Did the Bird Shop give any indication as to how old they thought he might be?

Did they think he was older or younger than 10?

Do you have a close up pic that we could see?

 

[Coopertheredlored]

They said he probley hasn't reach sexual maturity because he hasn't become aggressive towards me and something about his feet are still pink and not white? I can't seem to figure how to upload a pic on here cuz I'm using me phone and not a computer...

 

[wenz2712]

Can you upload a pic from your phone to your Computer? If you can do this, then the easiest way to upload a pic is either from photobucket, in which you just copy the IMG and paste it into your post or Upload to You Tube and same again. OR.. you can use the attachments which you will find down the bottom under where you are posting.

 

[Coopertheredlored]

I don't have a computer.. The only pics I have of him are on my Facebook page

 

[wenz2712]

I don't have a computer.. The only pics I have of him are on my Facebook page

Could you put a link for your Facebook Page so we can see pics of him ? Dont worry if you cant!

 

[henpecked]

About two months ago I got a red lored amazon from a friends sister in law... She had bought the bird from a man with several birds he had bought from a breeder so she was told he was 10... And that is all I knew about him. A week ago I took him to a bird shop to get some advise and have them look at him and they informed me he wasn't 10!!! Is there anyway I can find out how old he is?? I am wanting to be aware of his reaching of sexual maturity.. So far he hasn't been very aggressive towards me.

Welcome to the forum. 2 months is not that long. he may not pick you as a mate yet. IMO most 10 yr old males would have under gone the start of hormonal season if all of their basic needs are met. Most pet males start much sooner because of plenty of food,shelter,affection ,etc are generally happy. Red Lored aren't the most aggressive of zons, many are quite mild mannered. It's hard to gauge age in zons, even with experience and bird in hand. In zons over 3-5 yrs of age a lapriscopic exam is the most accurate in GUESSING age. The exam is not worth the risk for a pet bird. I'd be happy you don't see any of the harmones yet. How ever changing homes/owner is a good time for that to start. I'd would watch his fat intake, keep him flighted (if possible) and socialize him as much as possible. Who knows you may not see any harmonal aggression. If you do , we'll help you cross that bridge . The secret is socialization, and active household.

 

[Coopertheredlored]

Welcome to Facebook

Okay see if that works! I can't seem to figure anything else out so hopefully it works

 

[Kiwibird]

Hello. It's extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact age of a parrot, especially a sexually mature adult. What is for certain is that a 10 year old amazon is certainly sexually mature (they hit "puberty" around 5/6). Plus, not every adult parrot is aggressive due to hormones (some get more lovey), this is not amazon breeding season right now, and prior owners may have trained him appropriate behaviors so he is not out of control despite hormones. In the spring, you may notice subtle or extremely obvious signs of hormonal behavior for a few weeks. Some parrots do get it worse than others, but an increase in shredding, more aggressive, noisier than usual, or obvious sexual behavior all mean your bird is a healthy "teenage boy". These behaviors can be curbed by increasing the amount of shredding material, providing distractions from sexual behaviors (removing a too well loved toy, providing extra foraging, limiting daylight (waking) hours and being extra cautious regarding biting). Males tend to get it worse than females, but if you teach the bird distraction from the behaviors, most of them will mellow out after a few really nasty years (again, just like teenage boys, mean, destructive and horny for a few years lol). Our adopted male blue front is about 15 years old, and the first 4 breeding seasons, I wont lie, he was a nightmare, but we stuck with distracting him from his hormonal behaviors, and this past breeding season, he was much more relaxed. But back to the actual subject of age, and it's pretty much you will likely never know. Hormonal behavior only indicates they are an adult, and some older/mellower adults really don't display it noticeably anyways. I will say older birds (like 40,50+) have more muted colors, their nails and beaks grow faster and (for lack of better terminology) more gnarled, there are subtle differences in texture of feathers, some will have thin or bald patches that just don't grow in anymore (not related to illness or plucking), some develop cataracts, some develop arthritis....but all these things are often too subtle to notice if you haven't been around parrots of all ages for a while. If I were you, I would just assume he's around 10 and not worry too much about it. Does it really matter? A parrot of any age is capable of being trained, loved and giving love if you are willing to put in the effort to socialize him. We were told Kiwi was about 10 when we adopted him, and even if he's 20 or 30 or even older (or maybe younger), he's still a sweet little guy who's become part of our family. Best of luck with the little guy!

 

[oled]

Welcome to this forum!!

 

[Thingamagigs]

I posted the photo up for you

 

[henpecked]

Good looking zon. i say he's relatively young, he could be younger than 10, But that's probably a good guess.

 

[wenz2712]

He is beautiful, but I have no idea of his age!

 

[Karigan]

How to determine a bird's age - ParrotChronicles.com Ask A Vet

This is the only site that mentions how to age a bird, but it still leaves things vague. Basically you can only tell if a bird is really young or not. I think beyond maybe 3 years it becomes impossible to tell. RLAs mature at 3-5, so if you can find no signs of youth mentioned in the article (however scant they are) there's a good chance it's mature.

 

[Kiwibird]

What a handsome little guy he is! Looks well cared for and in good health too. Just my opinion (and lots of experience with zons), he doesn't look like a juvenile but he can't be that old either. His plumage, nails and beak are that of a bird 5-40 years old. It's just a subtle thing, but he doesn't have that "baby" look about him. He also doesn't have faded plumage, thin patches, overgrown "gnarled" nails and beak or visible eye problems older (40+) birds tend to have due to age. His head color is also still confined to just his head with a little patchy spread down his neck. With most amazons, their head colors will spread down their neck and throat as they age, and by 20-30 y/o, MOST will have rather solid head color all the way down. As I said before, you'll probably never know for sure, but it's probably safe to assume the prior owner was spot on saying he was around 10. He looks like a younger, sexually mature bird.

And as just a point of reference, if you compare (yes I know their different species, try to look beyond that) the quality of plumage, nails and beak with our roughly 15 y/o amazon, you will see a lot of similarities. If you look close at some other folks profile pics who have older birds, you will see what I'm talking about with faded plumage and variations in nails and beaks of older birds. Regardless, best of luck to you! He looks quite feisty lol.

 

[3Greenies]

Red Loreds feet are a light grey, not pink. Can you post a pic or send a pic from FB to a Friend who can upload it and create a link?

 

[Karigan]

? That bird's feet are grey.

 

[Remy]

I'm not sure how to do it, but a woman at a pet store estimated that Darcy is between 2 and 4 years old. She looked at his feet and said they are soft and without callouses yet. She also looked at his beak layers (??), and got something from that. That's all I know!

Also, I've noticed that a lot of birds' feathers get courser as they get older (at least up to a certain point), so texture can sort of be an indicator.

 

[Coopertheredlored]

Good looking zon. i say he's relatively young, he could be younger than 10, But that's probably a good guess.

Thank u for your response!

 

[Coopertheredlored]

Good looking zon. i say he's relatively young, he could be younger than 10, But that's probably a good guess.

I posted the photo up for you

Lol I don't know how u did that but thank you!! Can u tell me how to put that as my picture now?!