Some sad news about bobby

[dishgal1]

It seems that you want a bird to bond to you as quickly as your wife's did to her. That may or may not happen. Some birds like men better and some like women better.....my conure likes both, we are very lucky. You need to let the bird pick you. You can't be the one to force the issue. You will find that with birds everything has to be on their terms, sometimes you are lucky enough to make them think it is their terms when it was actually your terms but not very often.

Please don't make a contest with your wife at the birds expense.
I seem to remember in your first post that you had found a buddy since your wife had one.

 

[paulhanlon]

My wife's im pritty sure i said my mam's not my wife's lol

 

[dishgal1]

Sorry I guess that means your mom

 

[greycloud]

This thread is upsetting. It just goes to prove what inexperienced bird owners think they know everything and what they do couldn't be more wrong. I hope Bobby has a happy life.

 

[jaimmorr]

This thread is very sad... I think there are many people that do this with parrots. I'm not experienced enough in the bird rescue world to know for sure, but I do work with dog rescues and see the same things...

Everyone is right. If you have a one year old, you CAN have a parrot, BUT it takes a lot more work and supervising, IMO.

I am getting a parrot in a couple weeks and he's 8 years old, not a baby. If he doesn't take to me within a week, there's no way I'm going to give him to some breeder. The right thing to do would have been to work with him every day, multiple times a day and built a bond/trust. I believe that this would have been a better and stronger bond than if you just had bought one as a baby... Besides, rescues are overflowing with Amazons...

You're getting a BFA now? I really don't think that is wise. BFAs are one of the "hot" three, which means this bird is going to be EXTREMELY hormonal when it hits that age... Sure it'll probably be very sweet and cuddly for a couple years, but then it's going to be hormonal and aggressive for awhile. When your baby doesn't want to cuddle anymore and lunges and bites you, are you going to get rid of it as well?

Just some things to think about. If you think you've grown and matured from this experience and can handle a baby when it does grow up, then maybe you are ready for a parrot. But to me, and others on this forum apparently, that doesn't seem the case...

We're not trying to be mean. At least, I'm not. We're just trying to look out for your welfare, your daughter's welfare, and your future bird's welfare.

 

[paulhanlon]

And all im saying is none of you's knew what that parrot was like so unless you actually seen it and the way it acted keep your opinions to your selfs not one of you's have being near this bird let alone seen it my own grandad even said this bird is not right and he knows tons about parrots and this is the end of this convo say what you's like but unless you met this bird in person you have no clue of how it acted

 

[dishgal1]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you are the one who posted a video of target training with a stick .........if you are the one who posted that, believe me that bird was not wild. It sat there very calmly. What did it do that was actually so bad and made you think it was wild.
I think that breeder saw $$$ signs and conned you into believing it was wild in order to get the bird for a breeder.
Very very sad.

 

[evesta]

I also have a 17 month old and saying you can't have birds with children is like saying you can't have dogs or cats and kids together. It works but you have to be responsible and plan. There is always a chance a kid or animal will get hurt that's why you supervise, set boundaries and generally parent

Having said that though I would be very thoughtful about what parrot I was getting and I wouldn't get an amazon personally. If I was more experienced I might consider a bigger bird but I'm a newbie and chose my linnies in part because I have small kids. Any birds I get in the future I will have to take my kids' safety into account first.

But I will add if I did get an amazon I sure as h*ll would give it more than a week to work out with my family. Poor guy doesn't know what is going on. My linnie boys were hand raised babies, a gentle bird type and they still took a month or more to really settle in to our home. IMO, you make a commitment to an animal you see it through till the end.

 

[lizardsmells]

If I had given up on Kazi after a week I would be out the most wonderful little friend right now.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is all too common, which is why places like the rescue have to turn birds away every day. We are never NOT at full capacity because people don't understand what having a parrot live with you actually, really means. They see the status symbol, the cool tricks, the funny words, the cool factor to impress your friends. They don't see the reality which is a wild animal, with huge intelligence, and certain needs which require a lot of time and effort on our parts. They'd rather see only the 'fun' parts. So rescues end up full, because they're not prepared for the committment. This poor baby will end up in a rescue or neglected when those hormones hit.

It's so sad. So freaking sad. I feel sorry for Bobby. I hope he/she has a good life wherever s/he ends up.

 

[dishgal1]

I want to say this as politely as I can and still get across what I am trying to say. There are some people in this world who should NEVER own a bird. I think a lot of you know what I mean. The bird is the one who suffers from these peoples actions.

 

[TortoiseLady17]

We adopted our Amazin when she was 32, she was wild caught in Panama. She loves my husband, but this took time. She HATES me! If I walk within a foot of her she lunges and tries to bite me. She doesn't just threaten to bite if she gets me she draws blood. I have excepted this and just keep my distance and talk to her. She will do anything for my husband though, she adores him. It takes more than a week though to earn that trust.

 

[GiosMom]

I'm at a loss for words. I saw your video of you stick training Bobby and for 1 week she/he seemed to be acclimating nicely. I'm a little confused by your disappointment of he vs. she....I grew up with a Blue fronted amazon it was my grandfathers. Was wild caught and probably smuggled into the USA illegally...my grandfather had him or her for 30+ years...don't really know if Chico was male or female because he was never dna'd. I can tell you I grew up where the bird never hurt any of us kids and my grandparents had a house full of grandchildren always...and Chico loved my grandfather hated my grandmother but respected her and knew she was the source of his food. My grandfather put a lot of time into Chico. My dad and aunts joke that Papa loved the bird over any of them....you get out of thongs what you put into them. I only heard stories of how Chico and my grandfather bonded...and some of the funny bite stories. Apparently hair pieces were popular in the 70's. In any case it took years to develop the bond they had. And again he was a wild caught bird. While a baby comes with a clean slate....it still requires the same commitment. And your theory of male vs female doesn't really matter. When a bird reaches hormonal periods both sexes struggle the same. It really doesn't make a difference only if your looking to breed does it. That male vs female is more an excuse people use IMHO. I'm sorry to hear you gave up. And I'm sorry that Bobby is being uprooted again I hope you placed him with someone more dedicated to taking the good with the bad. This is a sad story.

 

[melissasparrots]

This is profoundly sad. Please realize that even a baby blue front may need some work. Any amazon can go into overload mode and bite your child. For that matter based on species stereotypes the blue front is more likely to do that sort of behavior than the orange wing. I think you could have worked with that bird. If you decide to go for the blue front, please know that it will at some point bite you. You will need to work with it. Once you get it home, it may well feel entirely overwhelmed and require some clicker or other training to get it going not unlike the orange wing. The hand-fed baby is likely to be easier short term. Long term, I think the orange wing could have had potential to be the easier bird. Especially if the orange wing was a girl. Unless she had a tatoo under her wing, I'm not sure how the breeder could take one look at her and know it was a she. Please don't get another bird unless your willing to stick with it. Even when its behavior is atrocious. They are all that way at times.
Melissa

 

[paulhanlon]

I will be sticking with my blue front and i have already put down a depossit on the baby and i will be getting him or her in october when they are ready so it gives me loads of time to prep and thats all im saying

 

[henpecked]

Sorry to hear things worked out like they did.Wild caught is not a bad thing, a ex-pet turned breeder is a lot harder of a bird to handle than a wild caught breeder.But no matter.My best pets are wild caught. Getting a baby is a rare opportunity to raise a really great lifelong compainion,if you take the time to learn what to do.The problem is that ,what you learn comes too late when raising your own baby. Maybe "fostering" this breeder (and you did a good job) will show you the importance of learning how complex your pet amazon is and what a commitment they are.Good luck and ask if you need help. PS i'd rather have a OWA than a BFA, IMO.

 

[paulhanlon]

Thank you henpecked atleast you can understand how hard it was for me i thought i was getting a nice tame parrot not a wild one being a first time owner a wild orange winged amazon is no good for me as where as a hand reared baby will be good for me and he or she will be well looked after and im glad you think i did a good job in trying thats all i could do but sadly it did not work out and if i need help with my new baby ill be sure to ask you for the help and again thank you.

 

[Grendel]

I would like to know what proof the breeder gave you that:
1. It's a wild bird
2. It's a female
Because you are basing your entire decision on these two.

 

[jewels04]

I had a similar situation happen to me. Before I got my tiels I wanted a sun conure, got talked into buying an orange wing amazon that was about 8-9 months old site unseen and had it shipped to me. When we got home the bird was not what was to be expected and I had zero experience with parrots of any sort and I was terrified of the bird.

Being unprepared and unknowledgeable I contacted the breeder for her help, which she gave me none, so I told her I needed to put the bird up for sale to an experienced owner if she did not give me help. After she saw the ads up she called me back saying she wanted the bird back so we drove the bird back up to her. The change in the bird upon seeing the breeder was UNBELIEVABLE. What we had asumed was an aggressive untamed amazon was unbelievably sweet and caring with the breeder. I just didn't have the knowledge and believe the breeder should not have sold me the bird to begin with especially after I told her I had no experience with birds at all.

I personally do not think an amazon is a good choice for you right now, especially with small children, the amazon bit me to the point of needing stitches if that had been one of my children he had bit it could have been A LOT worse. Actually I am still waiting for the $1,000 the breeder promised to give me if the bird ever bit anyone...lol.

 

[god61021]

I've had the big horrible bird that I didnt know how to handle properly and quickly got rid of the "evil" thing. I've since come to understand that it was me not being prepared for a big bird that was the problem. while everyone here is absolutely correct, you are not gonna respond to negative reinforcement any better then a macaw so I wont even go there. lol but I do wanna say, never ever listen to the guy whos trying to sell you something. If I had a dollar for every time a petstore or animal breeder flat out lied to me I would buy my wife the hyacinth she's always wanted. Theres no doubt in my mind that breeder told you what you wanted to hear so he could get a cheap breeder bird and make a sale. A honest breeder would have told you everything you've been hearing on this forum.
Anyway now you've got a baby on the way. you've started the training with the last bird so you know what to do. stick with it and realize this new baby WILL turn into a temporary monster just like any kid testing their limits. If you are ready for it when it happens and you make it through it, you will have a great bird. good luck. and in the future when it comes to pet dealers if they stand to make a profit off your decision never trust thier advice.

*is thier or their? neither looks right this morning. school was a long time ago.lol

 

[friedsoup]

Sorry to hear about Bobbie and I understand your feeling a loss and you were making headway, so keep up the work you started see if you can Help out at a parrot rescue or a pet store that carries exotic birds. I got laid off one summer and worked at a pet store of the 11 birds I worked with hand taming (three were baby quaker's and the rest ranged from B&G to cockatiels) 9 sold before Xmas that year. I was also the Dog Bather personal record for one day 13 dogs.