New White Fronted Amazon Owner

[BIRDIGIRL]

Great to hear Mr. Biggles is eating on his own!!

Is he playing with toys, too? Or is he being vocal?

Yes he is investigating Rogers toys and this morning he gave an answeing flock call back to PeterPan and me but not as yet as vocal as I expect he will be, as I believe Amazons are supposed to be pretty vocal but so far I only heard him give about half a dozen squawks today and they really werent as loud as I expected...quiet nice sounds too...Roger used to screech hee hee this boy so far is not as loud but I do realise he is only beginning to be himself so time will tell...nice to hear him making noises

 

[Terry57]

It sounds like he is settling right in I am so thrilled that he is eating from the bowl now!
I have 4 amazons, 2 are noisy, and 2 are super quiet.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Mr Biggles is doing really well with his food bowls now...I filled his feed bowl right up to the top to entice him...he wont eat pellets so I have put him on an Amazon feed. He likes his carrot and greens but he is refusing banana and banana was the very first thing he ate from my hand...hes getting fussy..I figure maybe he was a hand tame at one time before he went into the aviary as he took to stepping up on a branch really well and it only took him a short time to master it. Hes still a bit unsure of me moving the branch with him on it but we are getting there slowly but surely. Hopefully the antibiotic will cure his infection ...he is looking better today than yesterday and has gained a little weight too as his breast bone nolonger juts out...each day this little guy comes on in leaps and bounds I am so proud of him and so honoured that he trusts me this much. He is still very fearful if I offer him my hand and arm instead of the branch but that will come with time. Hands have grabbed him and chased him from one cage to another in the recent past so all things considered Mr Biggles is playing a Blinder
[ame="https://youtu.be/q0PFcObmLYI"]Mr Biggles starting to step up day 5 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[JerseyWendy]

WOW! Just now seeing this.

IMO you're making remarkable progress with your Mr. Biggles in a short amount of time. Sweet!!!

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

WOW! Just now seeing this.

IMO you're making remarkable progress with your Mr. Biggles in a short amount of time. Sweet!!!

The progress might not be as great as it seems for unless Amazons are different to Conures Mr Biggles might not be that wild to begin with. I tamed Roger (white eyed Conure) many years ago now who was about midway through his lifespan when I got him and Roger was no where near as bidable as Mr Biggles and I cant help but get the feeling that Mr Biggles has done all this before and may have possibly been a hand reared baby before finding himself ìn an aviary of wild or semi wild Amazons which may be the reason that they didnt accept him...I really dont know I am only guessing but he is a gentle boy...however he is very frightened of hands moving near him unless they are offering food that is. His breathing is greatly improved today so full marks to my Avian Vet Nial at Animal Hospital here near me for his treatment of Mr Biggles. We go to the Hospital again on Thursday to pick up another cocktail but this time we are hopeful the respiratory infection will have clleared up and Mr Biggles will get his probiotic and a vitamin cocktail that our vet has recommended for him.

 

[Anansi]

Whether he was previously hand tame or not, considering that he has a fear of hands, is in the process of fighting an infection, and hasn't been handled in quite a while, I agree with Wendy: remarkable progress!

You're doing a great job with him. I hope you'll keep posting video updates as the bond between you deepens.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Whether he was previously hand tame or not, considering that he has a fear of hands, is in the process of fighting an infection, and hasn't been handled in quite a while, I agree with Wendy: remarkable progress!

You're doing a great job with him. I hope you'll keep posting video updates as the bond between you deepens.

Thank you for the words of encouragement...yes I hope to keep posting very short videos as it takes like forever to upload them onto youtube.

 

[MonicaMc]

His behavior could be this way because he's sick, and sick birds may be more willing to accept certain behaviors that they wouldn't normally otherwise accept.... if this is the case, then working with him the way you are helps to build that trust up. Or, maybe he was hand raised or previously tame and he remembers that, but hasn't had the greatest handling in recent years which makes him skeptical? Either way, it's good to see he's making progress!

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Yes he seems to be making progress slowly but surely both in his trusting of certain things and in his physical appearance and health. I find it so funny that a hand with a Safflour seed is not threatening at all but a hand with no seed is threatening hee hee sometimes I wonder who is training who. I spoke to a guy who has some WFA in his aviary I got his number on google and he said that the white fronted Amazon is very easy to coax to take a seed or treat from the hand and that all of his Aviary WFA will take a seed from his hand especially if it is one they really like...I cant cofirm what he said as I dont know anyone else who has them...they are not that common here(why I really dont know as they are Adorable but from what I gather they bond very much with one person which seemingly doesnt make them great family pets) But then the same could be said for many types of parrot so I really dont know why this is given as the reason they are not that popular. My Roger also ( I believe he was a white eyed conure for a few reasons apart from his colour) but his type of partot (white Eyed Conure) also is hard to find in the pet trade here and they are not reccommended I have been told as pets yet he was the most wondrful wonderful companion...I love the Amazon dearly and would not live without him now...he has won my heart but he hasnt the character and the fun in him that Roger had. I also miss Rogers little conversations...perhaps this boy will oneday mutter to me too either in Parrot or English but right now he is very quiet and hardly squawks at all only a tiny few squawks morning and evening and now and then a soft responce to me but otherwise he is quiet.
The vet has left Mr Biggles on antibiotics for a few more days at which point he will check on him again but there is a very notable improvement both in his breathing and in his condition so Im really pleased about that .

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Mr Biggles is off his antibiotics as of today and is taking his probiotic and also his multivitamin. Hes a new boy this week all well and interested in everything. He doesnt like strangers and wont even take a treat from my hand while he can see them however if they stand a bit behind me he will then accept a treat from my hand when I offer it .I tried getting my niece to offer him a treat but he was not happy about her aproaching his cage at all. He doesnt like cats and hes not sure about dogs though they dont cause him to panic like a cat but thats okay as PeterPan doesnt like the cats or dogs either though both PeterPan and Mr Biggles can now bark hee hee I havent brought his cage into the same room as PeterPan yet but soon now I will place the cages side by side...perhaps in another week or 10 days if he keeps well now that he is off the meds...after that I imagine I shall soon here Mr Biggles learning some of PeterPans words as he is already attempting hello but hasnt quite mastered it yet
He is stepping up very well onto a little piece of apple tree branch for me and although he still doesnt like it moving while he is perched he does now wait on the branch long enough for me to move him about 3 to four inches but once he gets his treat he then hurries back to his own perch. He is still scared of hands but has grown more tolerant of my hands being close to him with no seeds or treats in them however if I get too close he backs away waits for me to withdraw my hands from the cage and then returns to his favoured position on the perch...he perches a lot in the identical self same spot as Roger used to choose.

 

[Anansi]

I'm so glad to hear that Mr. Biggles has shown such improvement! And now that he's better, you're getting a look at his true personality with all the curiosity and such.

While your relationship with him will never be the same as yours with Roger, given time it might grow into something as good. Different, but as good.

One thing, though. You mention bringing the cages side by side in another 10 days, but don't forget that there's also still the matter of quarantine. You don't want to rush QT, as doing so could potentially endanger Peter Pan.

Granted, even the current QT you have is not true quarantine. For that you'd need separate air systems and such, but it cuts down on the possibility of disease transmission nonetheless.

Just wanted to put that out there.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

I'm so glad to hear that Mr. Biggles has shown such improvement! And now that he's better, you're getting a look at his true personality with all the curiosity and such.

While your relationship with him will never be the same as yours with Roger, given time it might grow into something as good. Different, but as good.

One thing, though. You mention bringing the cages side by side in another 10 days, but don't forget that there's also still the matter of quarantine. You don't want to rush QT, as doing so could potentially endanger Peter Pan.

Granted, even the current QT you have is not true quarantine. For that you'd need separate air systems and such, but it cuts down on the possibility of disease transmission nonetheless.

Just wanted to put that out there.

Thank you but I wont be placing them side by side until my vet says its okay...I hadnt asked him about that as yet but had sort of presumed that after a week or ten days off his meds that the vet once I asked him would say it should be okay (obviously from your comment this is not the case )but I wont be placing them side by side until all is well and safe to do so. PeterPan hopefully will not catch what Mr Biggles had...they are a bit of distance away from each other with a couple of doors between them but they can hear each other plus PeterPan is young and strong and has a good immune system and was not run down like Mr Biggles was so hopefully she will continnue to stay healthy and not catch the infection Mr Biggles had

 

[Anansi]

Actually, the QT would be necessary even if Mr. Biggles had come to your home in seeming top health. The reason for the QT is that there are avian diseases that have an incubation period during which the infected bird seems healthy. Symptoms don't always show right away.

So whenever adding a new bird to an existing flock, it is always a good idea to quarantine for around 3 months.

Of course, if you knew the prior owner and the bird was their only bird... and never left their house... and the owner never came into contact with other people's birds... and you knew him/her well enough to trust that information... then QT would not really be necessary. But otherwise...

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Mr Biggles is at last becoming a little more vocal especially in the mornings and evenings. I try to encourage him as I love hearing him. We are not making any speedy progress on the stepping up but he remains on the branch for longer now than he did at first and very slowly I can move him perched on it about half way to the cage door and then he gets his treat...hes not completely comfortable on that moving branch that my hand holds but he will tolerate it momentarily for his treat... he did something really wonderful this morning...he allowed me to stroke his beak...he bowed his head like he wanted a scritch but he pulled away when I reached out to offer him one however he repeated the invitation and I was permitted to stroke his beak a couple of times...a little later he allowed me to stroke his beak again but then that was it for the rest of the day...I was told to go away the next time I tried it and he turned his back to me. Funny little man is Mr Biggles. I think he is training me well hee hee

 

[Anansi]

Keep working on him! Baby steps, right? But you'll get there.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Keep working on him! Baby steps, right? But you'll get there.

Yes Im taking it very very slowly...sometimes hes more responsive than others but thats his personality coming out. He is very capable of telling me through his body language whether he is interested in what Im doing or not and I go with the flow...if he likes something I do I will repeat it but then he can change his mind about what he likes too at different parts of the day...even though he is fully well now he still likes to be hand fed the odd treat and takes his water by preference from a spoon that I hold for him to drink from than from his wster bowl. As I say he is training me well hee hee He does not like anyone else near his cage though. I cant do a whole lot about that ...socialisation will be a problem..he hates the vet snd the vet nurse and anyone else he has met including members of my family.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Progress with Mr Biggles is very slow so Ive not had much to report...as you all know Mr Biggles was beginning to step up on a stick/perch that I held in my hand, however moving the perch while he was on it proved difficult, added to the fact that he has a fear of leaving his cage...well today we finally got him to stay on the perch as I moved him outside the door of the cage...just his head and shoulders outside the door but if you saw all the small steps it took to get to this point you would all be as excited about it as I am.
Vocally Mr Biggles has finally decided to make his voice heard. When the dogs bark he also joins in now squawking I think he is trying to mimic their bark as he changes his tone imitating the rythym and the tone of the bark he hears, but it just isnt a bark not yet anyway...he also mutters away to me which I love. I have to say Mr Biggles has wiggled his little tail right into my heart...I couldnt now imagine a world without my Adorable Mr Biggles in it...he hasnt spoken a word yet and perhaps he never will but his muttering is so so soooo charming ...hee hee he has me totally bewitched...sometimes he lets me touch him and its like he suddenly comes to his wild bird senses and says to himself oops did I let you touch me .Once is enough thank you, dont be getting over familiar...he actually totally surprised me one day as I put my hand out to see if I could stroke his beak...he sometimes lets me do that, but on this occasion he obviously did not want to be stroked so he took my finger in the little fist of his foot and pulled it downwards towards the perch below him. He doesnt like a target stick which I borrowed to see if he would respond to it but he will touch the little green lollipop type stick I have, and gently put his beak on it expecting a treat for doing so...I cant manage a clicker, I never could, so my word is "great" ... it works along the same principle as a target stick and clicker; touch ,the word GREAT spoken at the same time as the touch and then the treat....he seems to enjoy this for a while and then lets me know when he gets bored so we change the game or I give him a break depending on how long Ive been working with him...I figure 10 mins at a time is enough for him or even less if he gets bored sooner. He's doing really well...he isnt cage aggressive with me and I can clean his cage and change his food bowl as he watches from his perch high up or even from the lower perch and right beside my hand as I fill his bowls. Its very difficult to get him to eat any veg other than celery or carrot and the only fruit he seems to like is a sliver of apple...everything else he refuses no matter how its offered be it raw or cooked sliced diced or mashed its all the same...I have also been feeding him a pellet for the past few weeks but he is not eating it, however he is eating a wider variety of the seedmix than he had originally been doing. Funny thing is I offered him a millet sprig treat and he didnt seem to know what it was...it spooked him at first, then when I showed him it was okay he settled but didnt eat it...hes a funny man and a great character

 

[JerseyWendy]

There you are! So nice to hear from you and Mr. Biggles!!

Please, even if you feel there's nothing to report, we all LOVE hearing about just his antics.

Don't even worry about not being able to work with a clicker. You are not alone. I'm intimately familiar with someone who is utterly useless with them (that would be 'me' :54. Verbal commands/praises work for both me and my crew.

The way I see it, ANY process with Mr. Biggles is process.

Can we bother you for some pictures, please???

 

[Anansi]

You got him past the door?!? That's huge! When a bird is that skittish, even the smallest step is a giant leap in progress! Nice!

And I second the request for pictures!

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Thank you for your lovely comments of encouragement. Im having huge internet problems at the moment and pics are not uploading for me most of the time nor can I see pics sadly...our internet service where I live is not great (its what they call an amber line and the provider doesny guarantee broadband) and at times like this its limitations are really annoying. I dont have the option of a different internet provider where I live. I might try a short video...sometimes when I leave a very short video uploading to youtube overnight it has uploaded by the time I wake up but if the internet cuts out then I have to start all over again.