New owner of an traumatized Amazon Orange Wing

[Rouya]

Hey there all!

New member here who has assumed responsibility for an Orange winged Amazon who is roughly a year and a half.

It is highly sensitive to all my movements and any attempts to approach the cage results in her becoming defensive and alert. She thrashed and went into a panic, bit and drew blood from the shop owner when he placed his hand into the cage. Her cage was in poor condition and it's evident she hasn't been catered for and possibly traumatized.

I aim to give it a good quality of life and was wondering how I could overcome her defenses and gain her trust and even one day amicability....

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed!

Where in this big world are you located? It will make a difference, as you will see.

Go to our Amazon subform, and read the 2 stickie threads at the top of the page, "Amazon Body Language" and "I Love Amazons". Read these very important and thorough threads, written by Sailboats, our most experienced and valued member on Amazons. Read these sitting as near as you can to your parrot, without upsetting her. Read them out loud in a soothing soft voice, and then read them again sitting a bit closer to her. Repeat until you are able to sit right next to the cage without upsetting her. This might take a week, maybe more! You have to remember that right now, she has no reason to trust any human, and with parrots, it is all about trust. She has to learn, slowly, that ONLY good things come from humans.

THe good news is that Amazons are the 'come back kids' of the parrot world, and with patience and love and TIME, they can open up like a flower. PLease don;t rush things! She will be with you for many, many years, so it is very important to get this right. Most often, people try to rush this process above, and their parrot never becomes tame. Parrots accept new things at a glacial speed, especially when compared to our quick monkey brains rate of acceptance of change.

You will want to try and figure out what her favorite treat is. Try small pieces of pine nuts, slices of almond, 1/2 a shelled sunflower seed or what ever. Then every time you pass her cage drop a piece into her food bowl, or even have a separate small food bowl just for this purpose. THe idea is to start her learning that only good things come from humans. If there are other people in your house hold, they should do the same.

Diet - If she has been on a commercial parrot all seed diet, you will want to slowly change that. These diets typically have loads of sunflower seeds, which are so not good for them ( promotes fatty liver disease ). A good diet for parrots is 70% veggies, 20% healthy pellets and 10% fruits and nuts/seeds.. We have many diets in or nutrition subforum.

Orange wing Amazons are noted for being relatively calm and quiet parrots. It may take awhile before she opens up, but with care and time she surely will.

Once she is calmed down and you can handle her, you will want to have her go to a Certified Avian Vet for a 'wellness' check up. This allows the vet to determine what her normal vital signs are, so if she does get sick, he can know what her vitals were and can compare them. Choose a CAV, NOT a regular dog and cat type vet, parrots require very specialized knowledge that regular vets do not receive. Availability of CAV depends a lot on where you are located (see - I told you it would be important). In some countries they are fairly common and in others there might be only 1 or 2. But it is vital that you choose one that has the medical school training to see and treat parrots.

Last - we love pictures here! Please post some of your new birdy!

 

[SailBoat]

As my good friend above stated: Developing a Trust Bond is 'the' most important thing you need to do! Start from the position that for the majority of her life, she has been abused! For her, it will be difficult to ever trust another Human! But, without 'expectations' tons of love and moving forward at her speed, she will begin to trust again. She will slowly develop a place in your heart as she allows you to develop a like place in her heart.

If you will commit to the long haul and without expectations you will be reward in ways you cannot see today.

I fully admit to being an Amazon Snob. That said, the longer I am with Amazons, the less I find that I know about them! They are a life time of learning and a joy to be part of their life.

The really hard part is that you will see others who have truly great relationship from the very beginning and you are faced with this very slow development. I assure you that some point in the future, you will have a much deeper relationship because you have earned it.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Amazons!

 

[SailBoat]

STOP!

Please assure that you have received a Hatch Certificate for your Amazon! Amazons as a family have been classified at a minimum 'Endangered' and they fall under specific documentation requirements! In North America, that Hatch Certificate is mandatory for any Amazon under the age of 5 years.

Return to the seller and obtain the document. If they state they do not have it. Tell them they need to get if from who they had received the Parrot.

Once you have the Hatch Certificate take it to your Avian Medical Professional, the will make a copy of it and keep in as part of your Amazon's Medical File!

They may have a DNA Sex Document, you need that also. If they are just guessing at it, you really need to get one and make it part of her Medical File.

 

[Rouya]

Thank you very much for your detailed responses. I am an expat residing in Saudi Arabia thus veterinarian care is rather sporadic. I will post pics soon!