Orange Winged Amazon

Robbennett

New member
Mar 2, 2022
4
8
Murfreesboro Tennessee
Parrots
Orange wing Amazon
7F3BE3F3-5DE4-479C-9C90-E8C1714E8F68.jpeg

Hi. I’m new to this forum and have a couple of questions. Meet Richard(I tell people she is sexually confused because she isn’t a male). Richard is about 12 years old. I have had her 10 years. Her original owner passed away. I figure she picked up actions from him. Because she coughs and yells HELP!! Since then the only words I have been able to teach her are Pretty Bird, Bird, Hello, What? Huh? and my name Rob. I have tried and tried to teach her other words like β€œtreat” β€œGood Morning” & β€œ Good Night”. She is attached to me in the house. She loves music and tries to sing along. When people come home she screeches and the dogs bark cause she is happy people are home.

When I first got her within a couple of months I could hold her leave her out and play with her. She would lower her head to scratch her head and I would do the same and she would scratch my head in return. All of a sudden that stopped. I don’t know why, she won’t even come out of her cage anymore. She sits on one perch in one location near the bars so she can be close as possible to be involved with everybody. She sits in that spot and poops a pile that builds up. She only moves from that spot if she is hungry and then right back up to her spot. She is treat driven and freaks out for them. But sometimes you give her a treat and she rips it out of your hand and spits it out angrily. Really rude. Sometimes she will jerk it out of your hand but still eat it. For the most part she takes it nice. If I reach my hand in the cage she will try to bite me. I don’t show her fear so she can’t take over. I put my hand against the cage frequently to show her I mean no harm to her. It stresses her out so much trying to get her out of the cage to get her beak and nails trimmed. I’m afraid she is going to have a stroke. No matter how easy or nice I try to work with her to get her out she always ends up in the back corner of her gage with her feet up. I got her the stone perch to try to help her work her beak and nails down but it isn’t doing anything. I try so many things with her. I even go to the extent of lowering myself lower then her when I’m talking to her. She is very interactive and loves interaction, as long as you don’t reach in her cage?

What else can I do so I can get her out again and hold her, play with her, and most importantly keep her nails and beak trimmed?
Rob
 
May 2, 2021
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The stone perch can actually cause bumblefoot, so I suggest taking that away. A common tool large parrot owners use for their parrots' nails and beak is a dremel. You can even get them from most pet supply shops!
 
May 2, 2021
3,527
Media
4
Albums
2
8,038
Vermont, USA
Parrots
Stormy(M): blue Australian budgie
Picasso(F): green Australian budgie
Apollo(F): sky blue dominant pied Australian budgie
View attachment 36490
Hi. I’m new to this forum and have a couple of questions. Meet Richard(I tell people she is sexually confused because she isn’t a male). Richard is about 12 years old. I have had her 10 years. Her original owner passed away. I figure she picked up actions from him. Because she coughs and yells HELP!! Since then the only words I have been able to teach her are Pretty Bird, Bird, Hello, What? Huh? and my name Rob. I have tried and tried to teach her other words like β€œtreat” β€œGood Morning” & β€œ Good Night”. She is attached to me in the house. She loves music and tries to sing along. When people come home she screeches and the dogs bark cause she is happy people are home.

When I first got her within a couple of months I could hold her leave her out and play with her. She would lower her head to scratch her head and I would do the same and she would scratch my head in return. All of a sudden that stopped. I don’t know why, she won’t even come out of her cage anymore. She sits on one perch in one location near the bars so she can be close as possible to be involved with everybody. She sits in that spot and poops a pile that builds up. She only moves from that spot if she is hungry and then right back up to her spot. She is treat driven and freaks out for them. But sometimes you give her a treat and she rips it out of your hand and spits it out angrily. Really rude. Sometimes she will jerk it out of your hand but still eat it. For the most part she takes it nice. If I reach my hand in the cage she will try to bite me. I don’t show her fear so she can’t take over. I put my hand against the cage frequently to show her I mean no harm to her. It stresses her out so much trying to get her out of the cage to get her beak and nails trimmed. I’m afraid she is going to have a stroke. No matter how easy or nice I try to work with her to get her out she always ends up in the back corner of her gage with her feet up. I got her the stone perch to try to help her work her beak and nails down but it isn’t doing anything. I try so many things with her. I even go to the extent of lowering myself lower then her when I’m talking to her. She is very interactive and loves interaction, as long as you don’t reach in her cage?

What else can I do so I can get her out again and hold her, play with her, and most importantly keep her nails and beak trimmed?
Rob
You can try to train her. Parrots usually don't just 'do' things because you want them to, they need to have a reason, and know it's not scary. @wrench13 knows a lot about 'zons.
 
May 2, 2021
3,527
Media
4
Albums
2
8,038
Vermont, USA
Parrots
Stormy(M): blue Australian budgie
Picasso(F): green Australian budgie
Apollo(F): sky blue dominant pied Australian budgie
Stormy, that's actually a very soft chewable perch
Didn't notice that. Thought it was more of a sand perch-type thing. Anyhow, still not too good at wearing down beak/nails, especially in a bird with such long beak/nails.
 

Laurasea

Well-known member
Aug 2, 2018
12,593
10,702
USA
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Full house
hello and welcome to the forums @ lots of Amazon people here, they will definitely post..

She is going to need a veterinarian exam and get those toe nails trimmed and beak trimmed. That will help with moving around some. At this stage nothing will help her get them in shape. They will have to be trimmed back. Then moving around on different surfaces should help keep them in check. But might need a couple if trims un stages

No matter how things are , everything can improve. We talk a lot about resetting. Pretending you just rescued and brought the parrot home, and start from scratch .

When birds became a lump on the perch and cage bound it takes some effort to get them coming out again it becomes a kind of phobia. I will link some articles.




Diet can play a role too. Getting them eating some veggies helps with nutrition and feathers abd beak.
 
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Laurasea

Well-known member
Aug 2, 2018
12,593
10,702
USA
Parrots
Full house
Target training can be helpful. It starts with just teaching them to touch a chop stick. Then you can teach them to come towards the chop stick. This can possibly help you to teach her to come out if cage to a perch. It all starts with little steps and frequent breaks. Doesn't all happen in one day like this. But thus video is great for show and explaining. Gives you an idea how it can be help.
 
OP
R

Robbennett

New member
Mar 2, 2022
4
8
Murfreesboro Tennessee
Parrots
Orange wing Amazon
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
hello and welcome to the forums @ lots of Amazon people here, they will definitely post..

She is going to need a veterinarian exam and get those toe nails trimmed and beak trimmed. That will help with moving around some. At this stage nothing will help her get them in shape. They will have to be trimmed back. Then moving around on different surfaces should help keep them in check. But might need a couple if trims un stages

No matter how things are , everything can improve. We talk a lot about resetting. Pretending you just rescued and brought the parrot home, and start from scratch .

When birds became a lump on the perch and cage bound it takes some effort to get them coming out again it becomes a kind of phobia. I will link some articles.




Diet can play a role too. Getting them eating some veggies helps with nutrition and feathers abd beak.
She loves her veggies and fruits and peanuts. She is very spoiled when it comes to that stuff. I will check out the links thank you
 
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R

Robbennett

New member
Mar 2, 2022
4
8
Murfreesboro Tennessee
Parrots
Orange wing Amazon
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
Target training can be helpful. It starts with just teaching them to touch a chop stick. Then you can teach them to come towards the chop stick. This can possibly help you to teach her to come out if cage to a perch. It all starts with little steps and frequent breaks. Doesn't all happen in one day like this. But thus video is great for show and explaining. Gives you an idea how it can be help.
Awesome thank you. I will watch and try it. She likes to be involved and I want her to have more attention than she gets staying in the cage.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Your dear Amazon needs professional care with its upper Bill and Toe Nails trimmed. When they are as long as your sweet Amazon has it is very important to assure that it is handled by a professional as simply cutting them shorter is not recommended because Amazons tend to grow the nerve ending as the Bill and nail grows. The proper way is to with time, slowly reduce the length.

Lets start with the upper Bill being overly long, but straight. The process is to begin removing bits not longer than a 1/4" at the tip and then reshape to a point. Repeat once per month until the Bill gets near a normal length. At that point its about whether the bite is setting correct as you may have to make small adjustment to the lower Bill.

Nails are the same story, over time reduce length slowly. Remember that the nerve ends have grown with the Bill and Nails and time is needed for them to reduce naturally with the ever shorter Bill /Tail.
 
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Robbennett

New member
Mar 2, 2022
4
8
Murfreesboro Tennessee
Parrots
Orange wing Amazon
  • Thread Starter
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  • #11
Didn't notice that. Thought it was more of a sand perch-type thing. Anyhow, still not too good at wearing down beak/nails, especially in a bird with such long beak/nails.
My parakeets as a kid we put sand on their perched but they said this was good for her. They sand the parakeets had they constantly rubbed their beaks and it worked for them. Richard never used it properly. She’s pretty lazy.
 

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
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Seattle WA
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Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
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Sand perches are generally a bad idea. For one, it’s pretty uncomfortable for their feet, and as someone else pointed out, it can cause bumblefoot.

Please do not give your parrot peanuts! They can contain aflatoxins, and also sometimes have added salt or sugar.

Definitely agree with everyone saying to take her to the vet for those toenails- we have a 30 year old Amazon whose toenails had fortunately not gotten that long, but were still too long for comfort, and that combined with perches that were too small has left him with arthritis in his feet.

Is she taking baths regularly? My OWA really loves a daily misting. It gets him more active too!

If she is afraid of your hand on the cage, then don’t put your hand there. It’s best to work more slowly, and, as someone else here suggested, start over as if she were a new rescue.

If you need help finding an avian vet in your area and you are in the US, you can use this tool here: https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
 

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