Thinking about an Amazon companion

[Dessy]

Hello, Guys!
I see here is the best place to get some information about my decision.
For a long time now i have been thinking of getting a parrot. I used to work in a pet store for about 5 years 1 of which i was working along side to an Amazon Parrot i think he is a blue front one . Unfortunately he was very unfriendly because he spent 4 years cages up and not really socialized, however i tried my best to make his days better and we became sort of friends, by friends i mean he was tolerating my presence and occasionally giving me a hello foot. I had to leave the store but he remained there, there is no way i can handle him now because i dont have so much time and i dont really think they would give him to me.
Soo long story becoming longer - i am thinking now of getting a baby Amazon. The problem i am experiencing is that i know they are very temperamental specially between 4-6 years of age they are very agresive because they are maturing. I also have a pug that is the most friendly thing ever , but he barks when he hears loud bird screams so i want to ask if they are very very loud.
I searched through the pages to check more info but these are the two main things concerning me right now - agressive behavior and loud screms. I pretty much handled a lot of birds by now in the store but never had one in my house and its a whole new thing .
Thanks a bunch

 

[Sammy01]

My experience with White Fronted Amazons

Aggressive behavior:

My little boy is pretty sweet. He does have his off days (like everyone) where he just wants to do his own thing. I let him and typically in the evening he'll come and ask to be hand fed a treat (he likes being fed by seed by seed, carrots bite by bite, etc). He is about 5-6 months old.

The other amazon is a bit aggressive but that's because of her background. She's coming around. I have no clue how old she is.

In general I don't think they're really aggressive. I'm generally very sweet to them, even when the female bites me (she doesn't take out a chunk of skin anymore). I think it depends on how you train them and treat them.

Noise:

For a while I thought he was a mute but one morning he found his voice and he was loud! He's still quite and makes sounds here and there. If he sees wild parrots it really gets him going.

The other amazon makes noise through out the day but it's not very loud unless she's super excited or annoyed.

The noise in general isn't that bad. They do make noise through out the day, but it's not deafening. They only do that once of twice a day.

***

Even though your dog might just be excited by the noise it could scare your amazon. Also, you'd need to keep them in separate rooms just in case and watch them like a hawk when they are in the same room.

 

[Dessy]

Thank you for the fast reply!
I feel better now about the noise .
My dog is very sweet he usually does not pay attention to other animals at all, i think if he gets used to the bird being there he will simply ignore it most of the time. I think i am going to gather some more info and will go find a nice breeder to get a birdy .
I am still thinking about the one from the pet store though.. do you think he can be rehabilitated ? He is about 5 years old and has been in the cage for pretty much his entire life without anyone specially close to him , also he has a fear of being touched - he wants to bite everytime u get close to him. Honestly i love him i still think about him all the time but i am not sure if i can handle him as my first owned bird..
Ah and one more question - do you think its okay if i keep it in my room ? Because everywhere else i think he can catch a cold because the windows stay open almost all day and im living in Bulgaria where winter goes to -20 ..

 

[Gizmomania]

Oh, they can be loud, all right. I can only speak about my guy here. If Harley starts his brief twice a day 'shout out', I can easily redirect him back to speaking 'Amazon'. That's so much better on our ears!

They're not like conures who like to have frequent outbursts throughout the day. My duskies are a lot noisier than my Pan Am.

 

[getwozzy]

Some people on here have zons that are fairly quiet, but mine was LOUD. (I have a few video/audio clips) Zons usually sound off morning and evening and I swear I needed ear plugs every time lol it just depends on the individual bird as well as species. I was considering either a panama, lilac crown, or a blue front because of their sweet/gentle-ish disposition. Amazons are notorious for mood swings and can be bitey- some more or less than others.

If you're considering getting the 5 yr old- are you ready and willing to put in the time, patience, and dedication it will take to work with his social and behavior issues? Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but if you keep at it you could probably turn him around. Babies are still work too though because you'll still have to train him and deal with social and/or behavior issues as they get older and mature.

 

[torrap]

I was thinking to get a baby bird untill I went to volunteer in the sanctuary. They have soooooooo many sweet birds in need of home. I just couldn't think about getting a baby anymore after seeing that.
So, I have one Zon I got from Craigslist - it's an Yellow Shouldered Amazon (YSA) and the sweetest thing you could possibly have. It's a 7 years old and a hen. YSA Zons are not much of the talkers, but not loud at all.
Also I am in the proccess of adopting a Double Yellow Headed Amazon (DYHA) from the sanctuary, she is 10 years old. She is also super sweet to me. When she doesn't want me to do something she just growls like a dog and opens her beak like she is about to bite...... I know not to force her into stepping up if she does that. I have forced her few times, and she just grabs my finger with her beak, but not hard at all.
Most of the time when she growls and I need her to step up, I just let her step up to a stick (she is trained to do that by someone who had her before).
I think you can benefit from having an older bird if the bird had good life prior. I always think how lucky I am to have a bird that talks her head off, steps up, has manners and I didn't even have to spend all this time to train her........And she is only 10, therefore still could live longer than me anyway.....
Both of my birds are pretty quiet. They get loud when excited or want attention.

 

[Merlee]

One thing with amazons is that they are very good about picking up whatever they hear. I learned the hard way not to yell my husband's name whenever I needed him because I had a bird that would say it over and over and drove my husband crazy. Also just don't say anything that you don't want the bird to repeat like curse words. It's very difficult these days to do so because it has become so mainstream in today's society.

 

[Sammy01]

Rehabilitate:

I think so. A lot of people will mention how it's a lot of time and effort but I don't think it is. In the beginning you won't even be direct with him as it could upset him. More than half the time you'll be doing your own thing until he's comfortable with you.

Petting:

If you eventually win his trust he could let you touch him. Some birds just don't like being petted. My male amazon only does it for peanuts. Even then it's one stroke and he'll ask you stop. I've also had two budgies that wouldn't like anything touching them. They liked their feathers being perfect to the point if they thought they'd bump into something they'd put up their wing so nothing touched it.

Position:

Yes, you can keep them in your room. You'd have to keep them in a place that's room temperate. You also don't want them to be somewhere that's too hot. Make sure there isn't draft as that can cause them go become ill.

 

[Billy29]

I bought a Yellow Shouldered Amazon because of all the good things I read. Mine is about 3/4 size of a blue fronted and very friendly. While I have only had him for a few months I am very happy with my decision. Some of the more popular species have reputations of not being a easy to handle. Also the yellow on YSA are so vivid the colors seem to look like they are glowing.

I also heard they can be very good talkers but they don't vocalize as much.

Here is a picture of my little guy.

 

[Dessy]

Thanks so much guys for replying !
I am really considering of getting the older bird from the pet store because i already know him well and i am still kinda attached to him already from spending the year i just want to check on him to see what hes up to and if he is worse than before .. hope everything was well while i was gone. If he is having problems interacting i might consider the baby one.
I will keep u posted and im gonna find some photos of oldie so u can see how sweet he is and how pretyy he is <3 at least he is used to other animals around him and he seems calm in every situation even when he had 3 cats inches from his cage he was like ignoring them totally
THANKSSS again