Help with Terrified Baby Amazon

Tweetbiker

New member
Jun 2, 2017
2
3
Oh she is beautiful! First off, a huge thank you for rescuing her! Pet stores are always about the money..its heartbreaking. Congratulations as well! I have had birds for nearly 50 years and also do avian search and rescue where I live. I have learned many things over the years but there is always more to learn. There is some really great advice here! Definitely find a good, certified avian vet and get her in for a wellness exam. It isn't absolutely necessary to put her against a wall or 2, you can also partially cover her cage but it sounds as though you are making progress! I have rescued many birds whether from pet stores, bad situations, etc. One of them is an orange winged amazon who didn't come out of her cage for a year, now she is never locked up. Talking, reading, singing softly are good ways to make her feel safer. Sit by her too. Dance with her. You can also go on yt and search for parrot music/tv which is awesome. Ensure you check into all the "safe" list about foods, wood, toys, etc. Look up parrot enrichment as well. There are many places to go for diy toys too. And of course, spending time with her. Try to avoid anything that might startle her, move slowly... Just a few ideas. Also, I like to keep a scrapbook for my birds which include when and where i got them, photos, medical info, behaviors, favorite everything, words and more. And because I rescue birds that have gotten out, ensure all possible safety measures are in place. A birds wings may be clipped but then can still fly. Good luck to you both!!!! Wing hugs!
 

birdbrain59

New member
Nov 12, 2018
2
1
Hello all, this is my first post here. Joined seeking help, hoping to get some suggestions at least.

Just rescued / purchased a 5-6 month old yellow crowned Amazon. She was at a pet shop, being marked down routinely as they were trying to get rid of her due to her behavior. I had been in the market for a parrot, didn’t plan on an Amazon at the moment; but she needed help. So here we are.

She is terrified, and I mean terrified of humans. Will not allow anyone near her, and starts making a crying / honking sound almost soon as you try along with heavy breathing and falling on her back sometimes. Does not lunge out or try to bite people, just more so attempts to flee in panic. I have not messed with her at all yet, as I wanted to gather some advice on how to beat approach this.

The owner at the store told me nothing traumatic happened during weaning (she was hand raised), but she weaned too fast and lost a couple of her nails while in the nest. Hard to say what has gone on really in here short life.. but she was being kept in a very tiny cage in a loud, high traffic shop. On top of that her feathers are all ratty and she is overall looking very stressed. All this and only 5-6 months old.

1. What should and shouldn’t I do with her right now to get her feeling safe / secure and not stressed?

2. And is the damage done to her already from being traumatized at a young age going to impact her in some ways permanently? (Possible outcomes I need to expect and be prepared for)

3. Should I go for the biggest cage I can accommodate or would a smaller cage make her feel less terrified since she’s use to not having any space?

4. Where should I start with helping her get over her terror when it comes to humans without knowing what causeit?

My apologies for the long post, I wanted to make sure all the information and her full background was provided to anyone reading.

Any help is definitely appreciated! I know this will be a difficult baby to help, and potentially take a long time. Just want to make sure I’m not doing anything to make it worse without knowing it.
You have gotten terrific advice. I will totally agree with get the cage sooner than later. Get as big as you can afford. I’ve had my umbrella since 1992 which I hand fed. Coco hates any changes period. New perches have to be slowly introduced. My advice is listen to the nice people that responded to your call of help. Good luck! Thank god you rescued the baby Amazon.
 

Hibiscus

New member
Apr 5, 2021
14
18
Nevada
Parrots
2
Hello all, this is my first post here. Joined seeking help, hoping to get some suggestions at least.

Just rescued / purchased a 5-6 month old yellow crowned Amazon. She was at a pet shop, being marked down routinely as they were trying to get rid of her due to her behavior. I had been in the market for a parrot, didn’t plan on an Amazon at the moment; but she needed help. So here we are.

She is terrified, and I mean terrified of humans. Will not allow anyone near her, and starts making a crying / honking sound almost soon as you try along with heavy breathing and falling on her back sometimes. Does not lunge out or try to bite people, just more so attempts to flee in panic. I have not messed with her at all yet, as I wanted to gather some advice on how to beat approach this.

The owner at the store told me nothing traumatic happened during weaning (she was hand raised), but she weaned too fast and lost a couple of her nails while in the nest. Hard to say what has gone on really in here short life.. but she was being kept in a very tiny cage in a loud, high traffic shop. On top of that her feathers are all ratty and she is overall looking very stressed. All this and only 5-6 months old.

1. What should and shouldn’t I do with her right now to get her feeling safe / secure and not stressed?

2. And is the damage done to her already from being traumatized at a young age going to impact her in some ways permanently? (Possible outcomes I need to expect and be prepared for)

3. Should I go for the biggest cage I can accommodate or would a smaller cage make her feel less terrified since she’s use to not having any space?

4. Where should I start with helping her get over her terror when it comes to humans without knowing what causeit?

My apologies for the long post, I wanted to make sure all the information and her full background was provided to anyone reading.

Any help is definitely appreciated! I know this will be a difficult baby to help, and potentially take a long time. Just want to make sure I’m not doing anything to make it worse without knowing it.
I agree with wrench 13 and others. You may already have knowledge but I will give a few suggestions.

I would suggest in your parrots transition to supplement with nutrition and herbs.
DMG I would start with first to address your Amazon’s stress then add in organic diluted German Chamomile tea. Yes DMG is safe to stay on for life according to most Avian vets but I only give it to them for 6 months to a year to give there body a resting period around 3 months.

Harrison’s organic bird food
Harrison’s Bird bread add in organic Ceylon cinnamon a half a pinch, plus organic oregano from Frontier. Monthly rotating a variety of non toxic organic herbs.
I would avoid nuts for now as they stimulate breeding.
Leafy greens and fruits especially berries in particular that are fresh and organic.

Lighting featherbrite important
Herbs are overlooked and are vital to there well being. Small quantities, organic being fresh are crucial and overlooked.
Cage against two walls and an organic cotton sheet placed on half of her cage if your parrot is not frightened.
Lighting, diet, foraging are all crucial in there emotions, health and well being.

Plants, bark, flowers and herbs reduce stress, are antiviral, antibacterial high in antioxidants and are essential for there overall mentality and health.

What God has created man cannot change. What changes man has done has harmed his creations.

Patience and your calm voice in her environment, I believe in time your sweetie should heal and build your trust. How sweet of you to have her, I do love Amazon’s there smart and amazing parrots!
 

Emeral

Well-known member
Sep 16, 2021
209
628
Parrots
Hanhs Macaw
It is always cute to watch bird playing in a shower or a shallow dish of water. This is followed by perching her near a window to warm up under the morning sun.
Nature doesn't require a towel to pad dry.

Emerald's morning routine on warm summer days is fun. But on colder days.....she shiver or sneeze, so had to be blown dry with a hair dryer. (A towel is unacceptable to Emerald since her nail trimming and her vet visit. Non of us can bring it near her since towel is normally used to hold unwilling birds for nail trimming.)

To prevent catching a cold....wing flapping
(to propel excess water out)
and tolerance to noise from hair dryer is a must. Thus, I used to blow my hair dry next to her cage for weeks to get her used to the noise

Our family find it funny to watch this......
Behold a series of daring free flight with varied unplanned routes, as Emerald spread her green wings. Hold up a towel and off she goes to another corner of the room. Put down this towel and here she is, back on my shoulder. Each trip, is so fast, and she comes and goes as fast as I can turn to look........This creative trick is performed fashionably near your towel.
 

Emeral

Well-known member
Sep 16, 2021
209
628
Parrots
Hanhs Macaw
I think she is learning to enjoy the company for sure. She will sometimes "squawk" when I am not in the room, but have never heard her do it when I am; or when I'm sitting at my desk next to her. Unsure if she's just trying to see if I'm in earshot or just being vocal.

She's eating and drinking sometimes when she sees me doing it, so I'm taking that as a good thing. Lol. Still will not go near the chop diet, but I will keep trying there.

Will do more perch work today and seeing about getting her to step up, but it will definitely take awhile. She either just chews / bites on the perch or doesn't trust stepping on it. Limited on what I can work on with her, learning wise; since I cannot get her on a perch or out of the cage yet. Figured I might skip the perch, and try to work towards maybe stepping up onto my arm or hand, if the perch is too much of a chewing distraction. She usually tries chewing on me as well, so it may not actually benefit anything lol.

Working on getting her use to my hand being either right next to her / by her, and touching her feet. Figure if I start there, she might come around to stepping up on me rather than a perch.
Congratulations, you have earned her trust. It's wonderful that she talks to you and eat while you eat. With out feeling safe, bird keeps quiet and hide. So I am sure she called you when you are in another room. Meaning when she can't see you, she wants to know where you are. I am so happy. So many excellent signs, she will follow you if she can fly. Bravo, you are now, her flock leader.

My Emerald do this too. From another room, she called. And I answer yes yes, then she went about playing. She doesn't call out to Stanger. When a visitor comes she became quiet.

She is eating when she see you eat too. So it will be very soon to have her step up on your hand now, despite past trauma. With a few good commands and we are good to go on to introduce food to build trust lessons.

From current breakthroughs, she will be observing you closer and learning every thing from you. At this young age, she will be obedience and Learning fast.

(During puberty, she will start to test....what happens if I don't do it. When she knows that it is ok to disobey but she will not be praised. She will, then, returned to obedience again. It feels good to not force her. To give her freedom of choice. And have her love us anyway. But this is for months to come.)

Ready with tasty treats? (As long as her treats is not more than 15% of her daily diet, and she is not overweight, we should be fine.) Here we come.
We will be consistently repeating the same short words to command and communicate with her. Since she is learning to socialize as you teach her to, let's list out what to teach her in groups.....

A) What get praised

I tought Emerald, simple commands for common understanding. Every one in the family use the same set of commands.

I use "good girl" for taking a shower and tricks done well

B) What is acceptable

"It's ok"
I say this when introducing new food or new toys. I also say this when I give her my unsalted omelet. I will explain why in C

C) What you don’t want her to do

"Give me"
....to take unedible things from her strong steel beak

"Hot"
...she rush to eat food from my plate when I say hot, she waits.

We got this through by an accident. Someone let Emerald out to play. But she got her eyes on omelet and land on our breakfast table. As she hear me shout Hotttt, she already knew what hot means. Happened only once but it worked on any item, you don't want her to eat since then. Clever girl.

"Ouchhhh"
...When she nibble too hard on your skin, hand, arm, neck, cheek, ear....

I have tried showing nothing when it hurts, but then Emerald bite harder every time. She also tries her biting scale from lighter to harder on different places as if she is conducting an experiment. It is as if she is testing her theory by biting at a different strength and observing my reaction.

So I decided to be frank. If it hurts, I let her know with lounder and sometimes act like it hurted bad with face expression too. Now, her bite never get beyond allowed Ouchhhh. Finally, I trust her bites. Now that I know I can tell her that it hurts. She had learned to be gentle. This is how she earned her place on my shoulder. Shoulder perching is a privilege for gentle and good manner free will bird only.

D) What is safe

We can teach her to feel safe.
Introduce sounds of hair dryer and electric nail grinder, little by little. That is, small volume from far away, every day. And then closer and lounder in the next week or month. At younger age and with her in the safety of her cage this tolerance will be useful. Later on, you can blow her dry after she showers on cold days. Nail grinding can be done at home with out any stress from strangers too.

This video does it best.

 

Mgoakes

New member
Nov 26, 2017
7
8
Have you seen an avian vet yet? Are you sure you can trust that your little baby is not in need of care? My first stop would be to vet and if all checks out there, I would follow all the advice given here. Very important to make sure no real physical issues, I don’t like the panting and bad feather problem.
I agree. If you know one I your area
 

Emeral

Well-known member
Sep 16, 2021
209
628
Parrots
Hanhs Macaw
So for so good?
How is she in your happy home?

Do share with us if you notice any positive triggers so we can learn more about her.
Hence we can better adapt our methods to her.

Some babies that was hand fed get excited at any thing associated to it. Either showing excitement or running to pick up familiar looking items are good signs. Some babies rush to positive trigger items. Emerald always rush to pickup plastic syringe. Carrying it in her beak and walk around. Yes, she was handfed using disposable syringe.

Examples of hand feeding equipments that baby birds remembered are.....
Metal spoon
Plastic syringe
the sound of microwave
The sound of metal spoon in a coffee cup

If she is afraid of metal spoon, her feeding probably was done with a syringe. And vice versa. Or if she is afraid of both syringe and spoon, we can let her set her own pace.

Our goal is to build trust. So we must remove any negative trigger while enforcing positive ones.

Little by little one walks far.
 

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