How long did it take your zon to trust you?

[SlashGash]

I'm just curious, how long did it take your zons to trust you? I realize I have only had Lola for 2 weeks and its going to take months and months before she even comes close, but I can see a bit of improvement since I got her. Again, im just very curious as to how long your fids took. I'm taking things very slow with Lola.

 

[dontquachme]

I've had my YNA for about a month and a half now. He seems to trust me now, with caution. And he absolutely does not like it when my hair is up. It took about a week to get him to walk out of his cage by himself, and about two weeks for him to step up without attacking. He's 10 years old with unknown history, but he seems to be getting along fine now. We had a few bloody mishaps, but honestly patience goes a long way in my experience with this particular zon. Don't push too hard, as that'll take you a few steps back. Anybody else with experience, I'd also like some advice!


Oh and ps, trick training helped A LOT in gaining his trust!

 

[oled]

Amazon can read you as an open book. So how mutch he trust you also depend on what mood you are in. As loog as he cant read you (takes time) he dont trust you.

 

[antoinette]

Take one day at a time

A bird must have time to settle down and adjust. Just imagine how many new things the Lola has encountered, in 2 weeks. So many new faces and voices, it must be so scary.
To gain your trust could take days, weeks, months even years. Each and every bird is so different. She obviously feels a comfort zone is her cage.
Sit near the cage, talking and singing to the bird. Let her become familiar with your voice. Leaving the cage door open, offer her treats through the bars at first. When she willingly accepts them, try placing a treat near the open door. Eventually she will starts taking the treats from the door, make no attempt to touch her. When she does come out, she will probably climb around on the cage. Let her explore in her own time. To get her back in, place a treat inside the cage, making sure it's visible.

 

[wenz2712]

It can take Zons quite a long time to gain trust in you... They are very stubborn Birds and have their little mood swings just like a Child.

Just take one day at a time with Lola and try to include her in everything you do... Keep talking to her and offering her treats.

Will she step up onto you? If not, you could try getting her to step onto a stick for now!

If she will come out of the Cage, then a Playstand is always a good idea. Also make sure you provide her with plenty of Toys to keep her entertained.

 

[henpecked]

I heard someone talk about trust in parrots and compare it to a bank account. If you start with a young bird (new account,empty account) then it's easy and quick to build a positive balance. Any screw up will set you back but keep plugging away and the trust builds. If your starting with an older bird who's had trust issues in it's earlier life then you've got to over come that negative balance. It's going to take a lot more "deposits" to get you back to "even". That said , the trust you build will pay huge dividends one day. Nothing like the bond with a good amazon, some just take alittle more work/time.

 

[KBEquine]

I have always liked the bank account analogy. It is applicable to a lot of animals & humans.

And it is so true that each animal's past, along with how it is currently treated (note that means how the bird views its current treatment, not how the human intends the treatment to be interpreted), will play into how long trust will take.

Examples:
We have had PaulE, yellow crown, for about a year & a half. He arrived a confident creature who likes women. I could hold him immediately, preen him in a few weeks (and I was intentionally being stand-offish because we had intended for PaulE to be my husband's bird. Turns out PaulE had other ideas). Even so, it took me about 6 months to be able to pick him up off his cage by hand (although he has always been rock-solid about stepping up to a hand-held perch). And another year-plus to sometimes be willing to step to hand from inside his cage.

We also have Kiwi, a little Pan. Right from the 1st day, Kiwi was consistently willing to step to hand and a good conversationalist, interested in the people of the household. We got Kiwi & his big friend Goose-the-Greenwing a year ago this week - and it took Kiwi until about 2 weeks ago to let me TOUCH him. He would step up, he would kindly and gently ride on my hand, if he flew off his perch in a panic about something, he would land on my shoulder as a 'safe zone.'

But until 2 weeks ago, I couldn't reach out to touch him. And it was just this week tht he first allowed me to preen him a little.

I handle both birds pretty much the same, so it is each bird's perception of what I am doing that controls its decision to let me touch it.

Trust builds on an individual basis - there is no single answer to your question.

 

[SlashGash]

When im home, I leave her cage door open and let her come out if she wants. She spends most of the day climbing all around the outside of her cage. She steps up onto my hand sometimes, but not much. Occasionally she'll fly off her cage then land somewhere and stare at me, waiting for me to come get her and bring her back to her cage. But even when she does step up I cant touch her. But she definately is less scared of me than she was when I first brought her home. I have been taking it very slow with her and being very patient. I can tel once she gets used to me she's going to be very sweet though. She never fails to make me laugh also.

 

[henpecked]

When im home, I leave her cage door open and let her come out if she wants. She spends most of the day climbing all around the outside of her cage. She steps up onto my hand sometimes, but not much. Occasionally she'll fly off her cage then land somewhere and stare at me, waiting for me to come get her and bring her back to her cage. But even when she does step up I cant touch her. But she definately is less scared of me than she was when I first brought her home. I have been taking it very slow with her and being very patient. I can tel once she gets used to me she's going to be very sweet though. She never fails to make me laugh also.

I think you're doing it right. When she flys off the cage and depends on you to take her back, don't turn it into a petting session. Take her back and she'll learn to trust you. Leave them wanting more from you, the pets and cuddles will come later.

 

[henpecked]

My Lola trusts me some days and not so much others. but when it comes to head scratches and treats, I'm her only man

Hey Grey, that sure is a good looking Cuban in your avatar, is that Lola? Are you here in Fla ?

 

[Kiwibird]

I think the definition of what trust is varies from parrot to parrot, depending on them as an individual as well as their past life experiences. A hand raised baby, brought into your home as a juvenile will likely warm up to you quickly and be willing to learn to enjoy petting/physical contact. An older bird who has had bad past experiences with people may never particularly desire to interact with you on that level.

One of my moms zons was wild caught as an adult bird, and even after 40 years in the same loving home, she doesn't allow petting and only steps up away from her cage. She is a very sweet and confident bird, but she will never enjoy human contact. She was, obviously, very traumatized by her experience (capture and quarantine) and she still hasn't forgotten it. She does show her affection in other ways, like playing with your hair if your sitting down, preening your toes, or fluffing up right in front of you looking soooo soft, but you can't touch her. My moms other zon and too', on the other hand, are very friendly birds who love any kind of petting/attention they can get. They will step up to just about anyone, the too' will even crawl up your shirt and pop his head out and let you hug on him! They were both hand fed babies, and one home birds. My husband an I have had our BFA for 5 years, and we are (as far as we know) his 3rd home, (he was outright neglected in his last home, and who knows about his first). He reminds me very much of my parents wild caught zon behavior wise. He is very timid around people, but also very independent. We pushed the stepping up on command, since he is not flighted and it's important he comes to us on command, but I don't push him to accept petting or physical contact if he doesn't want it. My husband pets on him, but you can see it in his eyes and body language that he doesn't like it one bit, and I doubt he ever will. I take a much more laid back approach with him that so long as he steps up and doesn't bite, that's all I ask (took about a year to train him to step up). My husband has taken a much more "you'll do as I say" approach with him. He's a lot more friendly towards me, but he listens and behaves better for my husband. Even after 5 years though, you can still see in his body language that even though he comes to us and interacts with us, he still isn't 100% trusting.

 

[aliray]

Henpecked just an aside ,our local pet supermarket in Englewood Fla has a cuban for sale for 1499.00. They are beautiful birds.

 

[WharfRat]

As loog as he cant read you (takes time) he dont trust you

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I kinda disagree with this.... I love the Zon's, I can easily get them to step up, sit on my shoulder (if I have them alone) and give them treats........but that's it, they are both strongly bonded to the wife, she can do anything she wants with them and yet I can't even pet them and their bites ain't exactly "gentle" either. I hope this changes but it's been over a year now. I'm also the one that feeds and waters them every day.

 

[henpecked]

Henpecked just an aside ,our local pet supermarket in Englewood Fla has a cuban for sale for 1499.00. They are beautiful birds.

What pet store is that? i was at Thomas ranch hunting all weekend. Corner of River Rd and 41. Heck i was at Geier's sausage on 41 monday. We're almost neighbors.

 

[raven2013]

I'm just curious, how long did it take your zons to trust you? I realize I have only had Lola for 2 weeks and its going to take months and months before she even comes close, but I can see a bit of improvement since I got her. Again, im just very curious as to how long your fids took. I'm taking things very slow with Lola.

I guess I was lucky. Mine was sitting on my shoulder and letting me rub her feathers within 30 minutes of bringing her home. She just took a liking to me as I did to her. She was sleeping with me from the time I brought her home. She would nibble on my neck to let me know she needed to go to the restroom. I would turn on the light; she would fly to the perch and poop and then fly right back to my pillow.
I will post some pics of her.

 

[henpecked]

Does she sleep with you? I know of two different people who slept with their birds in the bed with them, both birds died in the bed,one was crushed and the other smothered. Knowing your actions killed your fid is hard to live with.

 

[SandyBee]

Trust, hmmm
Well he decided he would start trusting me about 4 days in, but trust is still building. This is almost 4 months now. I think especially with an older amazon it can take wuite a while.

 

[raven2013]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and all forums as far as that goes, so when I replied, I guess I did it wrong. It never showed up, so I am trying again.
I have had my Amazon 26 years, but within two hours after I bought her she was letting me rub her feathers around her neck and she was nuzzling up under my hair. Heck, she was sleeping with me within a few days. She would nibble my neck and wake me when she needed to poop. I would get up and turn the light on and she would fly to the perch, poop and then fly back. She had a perch in my bedroom as well as the living room.
Give your parrot time. She will love you dearly if you are just patient with her. Mine loves to cuddle. If I am in bedroom, she will fly from her perch and to my room and let me know she is missing me.
I would rather die than lose her, but I have to find her a home now because of my health. We had 26 wonderful years and I will have those memories. I am trying to get her into a zoo where she can fly free. She has never been caged and I am afraid if someone buys her and cages her, she will die. She has a cage but she never spends any time in it.

 

[raven2013]

I am not having any luck getting my replies to show up so I do not know if you will see this or not. I am glad to hear you have a new bird. They are so playful and fun. I have had mine 26 years and she is as pert and and playful as she was when I got her. We play games; I will toss a small bell up in the air and she catches it and brings it back to me. Most of the time though she plays with all the toys I get her. I try to keep her in toys. I learned a long time ago that that is the key to keep them from chewing on furniture and wood trim.
I posted some pics of her but I could not find them after I posted them.

 

[raven2013]

That is so sad. I slept with my Amazon for years and years, but my advice would be "do not" because you inhale a dandruff from their feathers that is dangerous to the lungs. As far as rolling over one and smothering it, I cannot imagine that. It is kind of like with a parent, a mother's love would keep her from rolling over on her baby. I slept with my new borns. I felt that same kind of love for my bird. Besides, she would have took a hunk out of my neck. She always slept nuzzled under my hair.