New with 'inherited' green cheek amazon

[julya]

Hi everybody!
I have recently taken over the care of a 50 year old amazon from a relative. He is adapting well, I think, and I have switched him from an all sunflower seed diet to Zupreem pellets with fruits and vegetables. His name is Ollie, and he is sure a sweetie! It has only been about a week since he moved to my house.

 

[MikeyTN]

Welcome to the forum!!! He switched over to pellets completely in a week? Congrats!!!! Sometimes the older ones can be quite stubborn....

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

Congrats on your new addition.. Do you have some pics of him? I have never heard of a Green Cheek Zon!

 

[henpecked]

AKA Mexican Red Head, Welcome to the forum. Your fid is older than mine, but can't be as sweet.

 

[julya]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! He is off the sunflower seeds now, I brought him home with just a handful of them, and switched him over cold turkey, I guess you would call it. He seems to be eating plenty of pellets for me, but the previous owner said he wouldn't touch anything but sunflower seeds or peanuts. And I might be exaggerating a little on the sweetness. He does bite me some, but he seems to crave a lot of attention. We are still getting to know each other, and I just started reading a book called "The Parrot Problem Solver" and it is helping me to understand him better. I will try and get some photos of him soon, I haven't taken any yet.

 

[gemkitty24]

Wow...it's awesome that you took in such a refined gentleman. Thanks for helping him live a longer and healthier life.

 

[henpecked]

Join us in the amazon section if you have any questions.

 

[LakeDesire]

Ollie sounds neat! At 50, was he wild caught? Is he hand tame? I am impressed he has lived so long when he was eating seed! He your first bird?

 

[Featheredsamurai]

wow he's old O.O Was he on seeds his entire life? Also, I personally don't like Zupreem because they add sugar to their pellets(even the natural pellets, which are better then the nasty colored pellets). I feed my girl totally organic and harrison's.

 

[Rana]

Agreed with coperarabian - harrison's all the way!
Well done though on putting him on a good diet! it's nothing short of a miracle he's gotten half a century on seeds! all the best of luck in getting to know eachother

 

[julya]

Ollie has an appointment to meet the avian vet tomorrow morning. I lucked out that there is one right in my town two days a week and that she had an opening so quickly. I have been working today on making him comfortable with the carrier cage. He really loves my feet for some reason, so I put my foot in the carrier and he climbed part of the way in by himself. I hope I don't have to just shove him in there tomorrow. I am planning on asking the vet to trim his toenails because they are very sharp like little needles. Anything else I should ask her to do? I am also thinking a blood test, but I am hoping it won't be to traumatic for Ollie. How do they draw blood from birds? I am sure he won't like it!

I will be sure to check out the amazon section! I think that Ollie must be a wild caught import, and he is at least partially hand tame but I usually carry him around using a table top t stand because he is a little bit unpredictable and I have gotten some bites already. He is my first parrot, but growing up we had chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, finches, etc. My sister had a mealy amazon that she took to college with her many years ago that we think died from exposure to teflon fumes. Her amazon really hated me though, so I didn't really interact with him.

As far as I know he was always on a seeds only diet sunflower seeds and peanuts, amazing that he isn't sick yet. But actually, I will see what the vet says tomorrow. Hopefully she will give him a clean bill of health. I will look into the Harrison's next, is it a pet store brand? I got the Zupreem at PetSmart, and I picked it because it smelled the best to me, haha, probably not the best selection method.

 

[LakeDesire]

The vet draws the blood by trimming the toe-nail, so it doesn't hurt the bird.

 

[MonicaMc]

Zupreem is considered one of the better brands out there, when talking of the cheap brands... and considering it contains sugars (and potentially dyes), not necessarily the best. Harrison's is a more organic diet with no sugars or dyes in it. There is the High Potency diet which is recommended for birds switching to Harrison's and those that need a high protein diet and the Adult Lifetime recommended for species that do not need to be on a high protein diet but are already healthy birds to begin with. It can be pretty expensive, but it's worth it in the long run.


Blood can be drawn in several ways. My avian vet draws from the jugular vein in the neck, and when done properly, does not require anything to stop the bleeding. In fact, the way that a parrot naturally sits automatically stops the bleeding. I've also heard blood being drawn from the toe, the toenail as well as the leg. When done in this manner, it usually requires something to stop the blood flow.

 

[julya]

The vet mentioned Harrison's and they sell it there, but said it is fine to feed the Zupreem until he finishes the bag. She drew the blood from Ollie's leg, and he didn't seem to mind the needle much. He hated being restrained in a towel though, and has been resting a lot of the day. She also put a smear of some poop onto a slide to look at and said it looked fine. The blood gets sent out to the lab, and we are supposed to get a call with the results tomorrow.

He started panting quite a lot during the exam, and so she gave him a bit of a spray bottle shower to cool him off. He also needed a bandage on his leg to stop the bleeding from the blood draw. She told me that he is a bit chubby, probably from so many years on a seed diet. Ollie also has a small white speck on his left eye, and the vet said that it is a cholesterol deposit, but since it is so small it doesn't effect his vision and even with the diet change it probably won't go away. I noticed after she was finished trimming his nails that one of his toes looked a little crooked. She said that is because of a constrictive ring of tissue and that with the improved diet and more showers it will probably go away.

His weight got recorded as 230 grams according to my receipt, but I think that it was recorded wrong because I looked at the scale when they were weighing him and it said 330 grams. I wonder if I should mention it, maybe at the next visit. She offered to clip his wings, but I have been encouraging him to fly and the vet was fine with that just to be careful he doesn't get out.

 

[Kiwibird]

Congrats on you new feathery addition! My parents have a green cheek, in fact, he was their first (of 3) parrots. He's over 40, and has always been such a sweet, gentle, mellow little bird. It must be a green cheek thing, because most other types of zons are generally mischievous and boisterous, but I've never heard of a, um, more "lively" green cheek

I'm sure the "pellet" crowd is getting tired of me, but I really believe parrots shouldn't eat unnatural and heavily processed food as a staple in their diet. They really shouldn't be eating either pellets or seed as a majority in their diet in the first place. Fruits and veggies should be the majority, followed by seeds and nuts then healthy/non-toxic for birds table foods. Most of what my adopted BFA eats is fresh produce (it was hell getting him to try it at first, as he had literally only ever been fed pellets). He also gets a bowl of seed in the morning, and a cooked grains/beans mix at night, plus a bite of just about everything we eat that won't hurt him (he especially likes pasta, eggs, anything involving squash, mashed potatoes, Thai food, oatmeal, casseroles...). Parrots are actually omnivorous, and can eat just about everything we do. A varied diet is just as important to your bird as it is you. Most of the human food that is bad for them is junk food anyways, so familiarize yourself with toxic foods for birds, and feed him pretty much everything but. Many parrot owners (myself included) bring our birds to the table for meals. It's a good chance for them to be social and form strong bonds with their human carers. Sorry to get off subject there, but Im not ashamed to be the person who is against processed and chemical ladened foods for people and animals. It's not natural and not good. Anyways, I wish you the best with your new little buddy, it sounds like your first experience wirh a parrot will be a positive one

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

congrats on your new bird. it's great how interested you are in becoming a great parront. if he starts flying around your house and is getting in to places that could be a danger or if he gets aggressive, it might relate to the independence of flight -- so keep an eye. I'm only mentioning it because you're new with him.

My 30-year old cherry-head won't have anything to do with the harrison's pellets. Occasionally he'll take a snip of the power treat and that's it. If you want to try it, you can ask a vet that sells it for samples, since that is where you would likely end up buying it. Or you can request one from Harrisons directly.

Looking forward to photos of your new housemate.

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds like you have found a great avian vet! Can't wait to hear of the results and hopefully how he does once on a healthier diet!

 

[LakeDesire]

It does seem like green cheeks are mellow! Henry, the bird I am adopting on Saturday, sure was when we met her. She still was very communicative, but a lot more subtle compared to most birds I know!

I got a sample of Harrison's from the vet and mixed it in my nanday conure's Zupreems, and she picks out the Harrison's first! Guess it is time to buy some and switch her over.

 

[julya]

Ollie has passed his blood test, the vet said the results were "great, no problems" in a voicemail. Is there anything specific I should ask about in terms of the results, or ask for a copy when I call back?

I am feeding a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, but I feel safer having pellets available for Ollie to munch on when he feels like it. Especially since he has had a deficient diet for so many years, it seems like a good idea to have a fortified diet available for him. He did have lentils and squash for dinner tonight, and he liked it a lot! His beak got so dirty and he made all kinds of cute noises!

I will keep an eye out for aggressive behavior linked to flying. He doesn't fly much, but the vet warned me that he will probably fly more and more as he gets fit and loses weight. I will ask the vet about a sample of the Harrison's in the next few weeks, as the Zupreem starts to get low, that is a good idea. I was quoted that a pound was something like $10, which seems like a pretty good deal. And if Ollie doesn't like it, I bet our pet rats would love it as a treat.

LakeDesire, congrats on your new addition! I bet you will have a lot of fun with Henry! Ollie is really starting to come out of his shell and be more affectionate. I am thinking of starting some kind of trick training. I would love it if he could learn to hold out his wings on cue for me, so show off those pretty feathers.

 

[LakeDesire]

Thank you! I bet you can train him EASILY! I watched YouTube videos on clicker training parrots and also watched one of Barbara Heidenreich's DVDs on parrot training with positive re-enforcement and they were really helpful. My 16 year old, half-blind nanday conure learned to turn around on her perch in one training session, then how to wave in the next training session! Training has been really great for Jade's self-confidence and distracting her from annoying behavior (screaming) by redirecting her to a fun activity. And now instead of squawking to beg for treats, she spins around on her perch and waves! She is smart but crotchety and stubborn... if she can learn a trick, any bird can!

You should get a copy of the paperwork if you plan on boarding Ollie or having him around other birds. Good boarders require that the bird has been to the vet in the last 12 months and may want to see the papers.

Can you get a sample of Harrison's from the vet? If not, they sell it by one pound bags on Amazon.com and other websites... so if he doesn't like it, you don't have 5 pounds of fancy rat treats! Don't forget to start with the high potency, which is like a super-food for parrots that may be nutrient deficient from the seed diet.