More Sammy weirdness

[Cas27]

Wow I really sorry too hear this. I also have a male yn male 4 years old named raider I’ve only had him for a few months now...when I brought him home he was great with me my boys then one day he just would attack out of the blue he would show no signs he would just bite and hard. Some members here suggest it’s his hormones. He’s gotten better with less attention though stinks this way I’m used too interacting with my birds. Your situation sucks😭

 

[mh434]

Well, Sammy's slooooowly coming around. Tiny, microscopic bits of progress, day by day, but it's in the right direction.

There's no doubt that Sammy is extraordinarily hormonal, and has been for 2-3 years. As near as we can determine (he's a rescue, so it's a matter of "educated guesses") he's about 13-14 years old.

Nonetheless, sitting beside his cage and talking softly to him, whether he's listening or not, seems to be continuing to have an effect. He's less "hyper-vigilant" and appears less stressed. While he still retreats to the far corner of his cage (while flaring, hissing, and pinning) on my approach, this generally occurs only first thing in the morning now, and after a few minutes of my speaking, he calms down.

Recently, I've started sitting beside his cage in the evening, when he's on top of it, with my arm resting on a small table beside the cage. In the past week or two, he's been climbing down the side of the cage & venturing out onto the table while my arm was there. In the past couple of days, he's started approaching my hand & plopping his beak down on the table, to get neck scritches. I do precisely as he asks, scritching gently, and stopping at the first sign of impatience on his part.

This seems to be working, as he's coming over for scritches increasingly often, and wanting it for longer periods of time. I take this as a BIG step forward. I'm doing everything in my power to regain his confidence & trust.

It's a loooong road, but...I want my Sammy back!!

 

[Cas27]

Well that’s good news...I’m working real slow with raider who I let come out and travel all over his cage he usually sits on his open door preening himself.Ive been giving him avicalm it seems too be working but I still don’t trust him.

 

[wrench13]

That's got to feel good.

 

[mh434]

It DOES feel good, for sure!

Cas27 - the trust has to be both ways, doesn't it? I have LOTS of scars from Sammy, so it's going to take awhile for me to trust him, too. Although, between us, I'm clearly the most trusting...Sammy, well, that's still going to take awhile, but we're clearly getting there.

It is challenging - we have a fair-sized flock, many of whom are well-socialized birds, but I don't dare let Sammy see me interact with any of them, for fear of starting the entire process over again. Thankfully, as he now happily accepts being covered for the night, I can interact with the others for a bit before bed time after he's covered.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I really admire your patience and determination!

Maybe you should just make Sammy's last name "Weirdness". Sammy Weirdness.

 

[Kentuckienne]

That sounds like tremendous progress. As Anansi once told me, you just have to be stubborn for one more day than Sammy.

 

[Cas27]

Yes the trust has too go both ways ..... but I don’t bite down too the bone but raider is coming around now that I don’t pick him up as much I’ve been giving him his own time too want attention from me and it’s working that and lots of treats for him he is a true ama hog.

 

[mh434]

Yes, well - I must admit that we've been going through a fair number of peanuts since the "Sammy reclamation project" got underway! (He'll do almost anything for a peanut).

I've also made it a point to share part of every one of my meals with him, as I suspect it would be viewed as a bonding thing. He adores bread, chicken, beef, pasta, pork, etc., so a little snippet off my plate, directly from me to him (particularly if he sees me eating it, too) seems like a good idea.

 

[Cas27]

Yes the trust has too go both ways ..... but I don’t bite down too the bone but raider is coming around now that I don’t pick him up as much I’ve been giving him his own time too want attention from me and it’s working that and lots of treats for him he is a true ama hog.

I almost gave up on him till I put myself in his shoes lost his original owners when he hits puberty a tough time in his life and said too myself I’m not giving up on him I wouldn’t want that too happen too my two boys I would work with them. So I’m sticking it out with him. I’m a little more firm though with my time outs he bites he goes in his cage for a day or too. He lives in a new huge macaw cage so he’s not crammed in there I can actually fit in it. He loves it excpecially too sit on his door and run around on his play top .

 

[Cas27]

Yes the trust has too go both ways ..... but I don’t bite down too the bone but raider is coming around now that I don’t pick him up as much I’ve been giving him his own time too want attention from me and it’s working that and lots of treats for him he is a true ama hog.

I almost gave up on him till I put myself in his shoes lost his original owners when he hits puberty a tough time in his life and said too myself I’m not giving up on him I wouldn’t want that too happen too my two boys I would work with them. So I’m sticking it out with him. I’m a little more firm though with my time outs he bites he goes in his cage for a day or too. He lives in a new huge macaw cage so he’s not crammed in there I can actually fit in it. He loves it excpecially too sit on his door and run around on his play top .

Well raider bit my forearm yesterday when I was putting him back in his cage he got me pretty good and took back some trust I thought we had building.

 

[mh434]

They will do that, alright. Trust, with an Amazon, can take a loooong time.

Even though Sammy's actually running over and ASKING for skritches now, several times a day, and even calling for me when I'm out of the room to come and do so, having him step up is still a trigger for him.

I can tug gently on his tail, pick him up with a stick (he actually LIKES that...go figure!), skritch his neck & cheeks, but step up on my arm? Nope! Not unless I want to visit the emergency ward again.

The ONLY time he'll accept a step-up onto my arm is if he's had a bad landing somewhere & wants help. I only have a few seconds, though - once he's on my arm, he marches up to my shoulder and starts hissing, pinning, and flaring. I have to really hustle to get him back on top of his cage before I lose an eye, cheek, or ear.

He USED to love riding around on my shoulder for hours, even going to sleep up there sometimes. Not anymore.

However, I'm confident that, eventually, we'll get back there, most of the way anyway. At the current rate of progress I expect it will take another 2-3 years.

I can be patient. There really isn't a choice!

 

[mh434]

After a bit of backsliding (Sammy bit me a couple of days ago - hard - no warning at all, and no particular reason I can fathom), we had a tiny bit of progress yesterday.

I was sitting beside his cage, and he was sitting on a table beside the cage. I could see him eyeballing me, but I pretended not to notice. After a while, he tentatively reached out with a foot toward my knee. While inwardly excited, I tried to be completely nonchalant.

After a few minutes, he casually stepped onto my knee & stayed there for about 5 minutes. I was thrilled - it's been about 3 years since he last sat on my knee!!! Then he wandered off to another table where there was a toy of interest.

I'm hoping to re-create this soon, hopefully with the addition of giving him neck scritches while he's on my knee (like we used to do, back in the day). Well, I can hope, right?!

 

[SailBoat]

So very happy that you're have some success! Your The Greatest! Thank-you, for your efforts!

 

[wrench13]

So good to get these reports on Sammy slowly coming back. Like 'Boats said, Your the Greatest!

 

[Kentuckienne]

This is heartwarming!

 

[mh434]

I came home from work a couple of days ago, and found Sammy on top of one of the other bird's cages, making cooing noises (the hormonal kind). This was puzzling, as his cage was still securely locked. After investigating, I discovered that he'd broken the welds on two adjoining bars at the bottom of his cage, spread the bars, and walked out.

I didn't want to move his cage out to the shop to weld it up again (it's a huge cage, and tough to move at the best of times, not to mention down two flights of stairs, etc.), so I ended up wiring the bases of all the vertical bars on that side of the cage together with stainless steel wire.

They can really try your patience, can't they?

 

[wrench13]

Busted welds??? Spread cage bars??? Sammy must be Superbird! Aside from the strength, smart enough to know to spread the bars open!

 

[Kentuckienne]

What a saga! I always check this thread for updates. Sammy the Muscle!

I had to pick up my guy's amazon with a perch for a long time. I eventually started holding it closer to the end, and eventually he started stepping up on my finger alongside the perch. I wouldn't fret about that at all, if he's stepping up for a perch he will probably come around eventually. I used to take Little Buddy for a tour of the home on his perch, to look in all the rooms and closets and look out all the windows, and he loved to go on walkabout so he began stepping up much more willingly. I don't think I ever got to where I never had to use a perch, but it became less often .

Cas27 - if you are reading - ten minutes of time-out is all a parrot understands. If they go in the cage, especially a cage in another room, for ten minutes or so of being ignored, they do associate this as a unwelcome result of biting. Leaving them there for longer doesn't make the lesson any stronger, it just makes them mad, and they may learn no lesson at all.

 

[SailBoat]

Our DYH Amazon became a Free Roamer after he had disassembled the primary vertical section of the cage. Even the use of locking nuts failed. The last time, after putting the Cage back together, I reset the door perch so it would not allow the door to fully close. The cage as remained fully assembled and he is in and out at his choice.

I Do Not Recommend this Course of Action unless one is home near all the time!

FYI: I always enjoy the updates!