How to best help an abussed Zon?

[friday]

Being that this is only my second post I'm not sure if this is right section for this question. If it's not please move it to the appropriate one.

I have a really cool but really abused Zon, Rocky. He's about 20 and must have had a few homes but I really don't know. I got him by accident, or maybe it was on purpose. I won't go into all that was involved but when I got him he was locked in a closet, almost dead from starvation, and he had his tail feathers burned off with a cigaret lighter. Ya I'm not kidding.

After 2500 dollars in vet bills and some good by the book care he's much healthier. His behavior is much better after 10 years with me, but after that anything is an improvement. The screaming has stopped, the cussing is well I can deal with it.

I've worked with him a lot I actually had him to the point where I could handle him, but my lack of experience caused a big problem, he bit me clean through the face, and my reaction was a normal on but not the right one and he hasn't liked me much ever since. He likes my wife but after that incident and some bites to her hand he's pretty much hands off. He's unpredictable or we don't know enough to predict what he's going to do, either way he's a really big mealy and and can cause damage.

Now what we do is let him hang out with us on his cage and spend as much time outside as it seems as though he likes it.

I'm not interested in giving him a new home as I don't think he can get better care then with me, you folks that rescue these birds have you hands full. The thing is he doesn't seem content.

I'm thinking that a mate might be a good thing for him, but I don't have any idea what to do or if that would even work for a bird like Rocky. If I did go that route I don't want a bunch of chicks, to many unwanted and neglected birds already. So would there be a way to mitigated that? I guess no nesting box right? This might be disastrous idea, if so don't hold back.

I've been fumbling around in the dark for years, books only go so far, and they didn't do a book on this. I'm going to care for this bird forever because I want to, but I could use some advice and some useful threads to get him where he want to be. The forum is a little overwhelming when you don't know where to start.

Thanks, Friday.

 

[newtobirds]

Have you ever taken a peek through this? This is volume one. There is also a second volume that you can find if you like what you see in this one.

www.parrots.org/pdfs/all_about_parrots/reference_library/behaviour_and_environmental_enrichment/Parrot_Enrichment_Activity_Book.pdf

I also have a parrot that does very real damage and I am also struggling with how to make her life as good as possible while I am trying to figure out how to move forward with her. My husband and I agree that she is in the safest and best home she is likely to find. However, she is SO BRUTAL that we have to really liimit her life. She is flighted and can't be out of the cage anymore because she dives at us. I did attempt a wing clip, but it didn't slow her down one bit. I have not tried a deeper clip yet. I wept after the first one and can't face another at this time.

I am taking lessons on behavior modification right now based on Susan Friedman's work. She has a number of very intriguing articles about behavior and is brilliant. With this help, I have returned to a place where I can handfeed my parrot through the cage bars and was even able to scritch her yesterday. I hold out hope that we can turn this around.

I will look forward to other responses to your thread. I am sorry that I am of no real help. I responded primarily to let you know that you are not alone.

 

[newtobirds]

www.behaviorworks.org


This might be one of the most intelligent and powerful websites dealing with behavior modification in parrots and animals. It isn't light reading, but it's really transformative.

 

[Kiwibird]

Tears were welling up when I read about the condition you found Rocky in, poor baby. He is a very lucky boy to have found such a special person willing to take him in and give him the life he deserves. He may not show it, but I'm sure he appreciates it, and i think anyone who has a rescue bird will say thank you for not giving up on him even though he's a difficult bird. It sounds to me like the problems you had in the beginning probably stemmed from your inexperience with large parrots, especially a older large parrot with emotional problems. I think now that you have had some time to let the physical and mental "wounds" heal, and Rocky has had some more time to adjust, it's a great thing for you to want to resume socializing him. Right now, you need to go back to square one with him, and adopting a second bird shouldn't be your focus at this point. Rocky needs your 100% dedication towards training/socializing him first. Unfortunately, it can be an excruciatingly slow process to take a previously mistreated parrot and help them become a loving companion, but it can be done. Here are a few tips that have personally worked well with our previously mistreated zon-

FYI- these aren't "expert" tips I can't cite coming from some book or website, but I did grow up with 3 well-adjusted, large parrots I was interacting with pretty much since I was born. When my husband and I adopted our male BFA, he was vicious, never been handled, and had been through 2 homes that both mistreated him. I just used common sense (to me) means of socializing/training him, and after 5 years of working with him, I've gained a lot of first hand experience dealing with aggressive birds.

1. Gloves may not seem nice, but they do protect your hands. For about the first year we had Kiwi, we resorted to heavy, leather work gloves while training him to step up on command. We used the traditional methods of training, but because he was so vicious, we covered our hands and made sure to keep him away from our faces once he started coming out of the cage. It took about 6 months to get him comfortable enough he could be coaxed onto our hand with a treat, and actually be removed from his cage on a hand. For about the next 6 months, we did (2) 20-30 minute step up drills by placing him in various spots around the house and having him step back up again repeatedly. It got him used to coming to us from anywhere, as well as making him fear us less every time we picked him up, didn't hurt him, and gave him verbal praise (I prefer verbal praise to treats, since you can always say good boy, where you may not always have a treat). We eventually removed the gloves, and he hasn't been a huge biter since.

2. All parrots, even the sweetest, happiest ones have the potential to bite from time to time. In my experience, biting stems from fear or, more commonly, overstimulation/excitement. I know some may not agree, but when Kiwi bites because he is super excited, he is immediately (calmly) put back in his cage and put the covers on for as long as it takes to clean up the wound. It gives him a moment to calm himself down, and he doesn't see or hear me reacting to the bite, which could encourage him to bite more often. After he's calmed down, I take off the covers and take him right back out so he sees his bite hasn't scared me. Kiwi hasn't bitten in almost 2 years now, but when he does again in the future, he will always get the same, consistent reaction from me.

3. Too much sugar contributes to aggressive behavior. Feeding parrots the super sugary fruits (melons, apples and pears) on a consistent basis is like feeding a kid with ADD pixie sticks every day. There are plenty of other healthy fruits and veggies to feed them that have far lower sugar content than those 3. Just like children, lots of sugar makes parrots hyper and aggressive. Not too many people think about this, but I assure you if you are feeding any of the super sweet fruits regularly, cutting them out of the birds diet will help.

4. My final bit of advice is to have patience and understanding of where Rocky is coming from when he displays aggressive behavior or bites. Parrots do have long term memories, and poor Rocky probably still hasn't fully learned to trust humans. If he bites, calm him down and pick him right back up ASAP. No more years long gaps of interaction between you guys because he got excited/fearful. Since you do posses the greater level of intelligence, keep him away from your face until you can trust him. And don't forget, it will take years before he steps up on command, has been x number of bite free years, and is a loving member of the family. Best of luck!

 

[bkparrot]

Kudos to you for taking in this poor bird and giving him time and patience to heal his phyiscal and mental wounds. The advice posted here is very valuable and I hope to read and implement as much as I can to ensure my parrots have a full life.

thank you.

 

[Aquila]

Thank you for rescuing an abused bird!

He might not ever be great. He might always be antisocial or difficult, but it sounds like you've made a lot of progress in the amount of time you've had him. It'll get better, slowly, but surely, just keep doing what you are, and a lot of the people here will offer you excellent advice.

 

[wenz2712]

Kiwibird has offered you some great advice

It is going to take a long time and alot of patience on your part before any sort of trust is gained... but stick with it... It sounds like you are doing a great job with him

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum,. thanks for giving an older zon a new home. After ten years you should be able to read your bird and avoid the bites. Are you sure the biting issues now are not related to breeding/ hormonal behavior ? Do you think it might be seasonal ? Now is the breeding season for many zons here in the states. If that's the case then he might be nipper towards you ,if your wife is his favorite. Has his cage alway been in the same spot? Maybe try moving it somewhere new and see if it doesn't change his attitude . IMO your best not adding another bird if a pet quality bird is what your looking for. There's always a risk of trouble when adding another bird, even if it is for breeding. Breeder birds that were bonded to another at some point may except another bird quicker than a pet bird who's bonded with humans. I vote against adding another. At least until your bird is bonded to one of you. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. Loads of rehomes and rescue zon around my house, many take years to come around but usually they find either my wife,son or I appealing and learn how to trust again.

 

[LakeDesire]

If you want to see how Rocky does with a flockmate, you could try fostering with a local parrot rescue and see how they get along. That way, you haven't already committed if they don't like each other. If you know Rocky's sex, you could also get a bird that is the same sex so they bond but don't have babies.

I haven't had experience with egg laying, but I've heard of people doing different things with any eggs they don't want to hatch. Supposedly a hen may keep laying if you take her eggs away right away, so I heard of one sanctuary shaking the eggs and putting them back for the hen to sit on. Not very nice, but I agree that there are enough unwanted parrots! You may never get an egg, though, if you don't have a nestbox.

 

[friday]

Gloves are a big nono with Rocky, he hits the roof if he even sees them, sticks are a no go to. The good part is if you don't mess with him he doesn't mess with you. He's out of his cage most of the day.

I wasn't looking for a pet quality bird when I got Rocky, I wasn't looking for a bird at all. So the fact that he has handling issues isn't that big of a problem. I'm perfectly happy to have him hang out with us on top of his cage, but I'm not sure that's the healthiest thing for a bird, or a bird with his problems.

He doesn't like me to touch him but yes this time of year he tends to like my wife a lot more then normal.

On the diet side he does get to much sugar, I've always just given him his pick of pellets, fresh fruit, or seeds. I guess I got into that habit when I was trying to put some weight on him, he goes for the apples.

I recently moved and as you would assume his demeanor changed, he's been really quite lately.

I'm not going to go jump the gun a buy another bird. If I do it I'll do so well educated and well informed. For now I'll go with the no vote, looks like it's time to stop messing around and do some reading.

 

[Kiwibird]

While I do understand the glove/stick issue (almost every bird is fearful of them if they aren't trained not to be), I do think being able to handle him in some way is important. What if a fire broke out or some other emergency where you needed to quickly grab him and leave? Would you really be able to roll his cumbersome, huge cage out the door or coerce him into his travel/emergency cage in a quick and safe manner? Even if he isn't terribly friendly, it is still very important you have some means of being able to transport him. You can certainly use desensitization techniques to correct the fear of gloves or a stick (how we got kiwi over his initial fear of gloves), but you can also train him to be toweled or use any other creative (safe) way you can think to have a consistent means to get him out of his cage and where he needs to go. Maybe just training him to instantly get in his travel cage if he's really THAT against everything else? I just live in an area with a lot of forest fires, and I know how stressful it can be to just get evacuated with a pet. I couldn't imagine having to leave Kiwi behind because I couldn't handle him in any way and get him out the door. Natural disasters happen everywhere, and it's important to be ready regarding pets.

Also, there's nothing wrong with giving him his space in general, so long as you have interaction with him on some kind of level. Kiwi is not a very "touchy feely" type of bird either, but one of biggest pet peeved is people with "pets" who's behavior is on par with wild beasts. Kiwi gets a lot of leeway IMO, but he is at least trained to the point he could qualify as an actual pet. He steps up on command, and is potty trained (I'm proud of being able to train him on that one hehe), but I haven't pushed petting because he genuinely seems to dislike it, and he doesn't seem to want to try any trick training either. Instead, we just include him in everything we do at home on his perch, and he does seem to like us and interact with us, just not with petting or sitting on our legs. He mimics body movements too (like if you start swaying your head or put your hand up to him, he will sway his head or put his foot up), which is awesome, but also a sign he notices us and engages us. And I do feel he's very content in our home after being terribly neglected bordering on abuse the first 10 years of his life. Rocky sounds a lot like Kiwi, and from what you describe, he sounds pretty happy now. He does need some basic training, but past that, I wouldn't worry if he's a little off in his own world. I would imagine if suffered years of abuse and neglect, you would be to.