I was wondering whether anyone has had trouble with their Amazons plucking and how they dealt with it.
Mine's been plucking, specifically under his tummy and the tops of his legs and his thighs. The vet thought he might be experiencing discomfort from pin feathers and gave me pain relief medication, but it hasn't stopped the plucking. He's getting a hormone implant on Friday, but I'm skeptical about whether it will help.
He's getting the implant not just for the plucking, but because he has been acting hormonal, with aggression and screaming.
I've been able to deal with the aggression and screaming with target training and foraging, thanks to a parrot training course I did. In fact, he used to scream excessively during the day, but since I started target training, he's stopped screaming excessively.
He can still be aggressive, but when he is, I do some target training and that seems to settle him down.
He's mostly fine during the day, but in the evenings he screams for me, usually while I'm cooking tea, and won't stop unless I sit with him.
I used to let him sit in the kitchen cupboard, because it was his favourite spot, but I haven't let him in it for severeal months. Nonetheless, after all this time, he still flies to it and tries to get in.
His plucking is depressing me because I've been trying hard to look after him correctly and make him happy to no avail.
I give him eleven to twelve hours sleep a night. I pack his cage with foraging toys and branches.
I can't get him to eat pellets. Instead, I've been feeding him sprouts and veggies, and I use nuts as training treats.
He spends most of his days out of his cage. I only put him in a cage when I sit him outside. I used to sit him in the sun for an hour or so a day. I haven't done that in a while because where I live, it's winter and it's been too miserable and cold.
We get a lot of birds in our yard, and he seems easily triggered by them. Even when he's inside, the sound of a crow or a cockatoo will trigger him and he'll launch into a panic scream. (I can usually settle him down through target training.)
Anyway, despite all this, he's still plucking and I'm doubtful the homrone implant will work. Has anyone experienced this before?
Mine's been plucking, specifically under his tummy and the tops of his legs and his thighs. The vet thought he might be experiencing discomfort from pin feathers and gave me pain relief medication, but it hasn't stopped the plucking. He's getting a hormone implant on Friday, but I'm skeptical about whether it will help.
He's getting the implant not just for the plucking, but because he has been acting hormonal, with aggression and screaming.
I've been able to deal with the aggression and screaming with target training and foraging, thanks to a parrot training course I did. In fact, he used to scream excessively during the day, but since I started target training, he's stopped screaming excessively.
He can still be aggressive, but when he is, I do some target training and that seems to settle him down.
He's mostly fine during the day, but in the evenings he screams for me, usually while I'm cooking tea, and won't stop unless I sit with him.
I used to let him sit in the kitchen cupboard, because it was his favourite spot, but I haven't let him in it for severeal months. Nonetheless, after all this time, he still flies to it and tries to get in.
His plucking is depressing me because I've been trying hard to look after him correctly and make him happy to no avail.
I give him eleven to twelve hours sleep a night. I pack his cage with foraging toys and branches.
I can't get him to eat pellets. Instead, I've been feeding him sprouts and veggies, and I use nuts as training treats.
He spends most of his days out of his cage. I only put him in a cage when I sit him outside. I used to sit him in the sun for an hour or so a day. I haven't done that in a while because where I live, it's winter and it's been too miserable and cold.
We get a lot of birds in our yard, and he seems easily triggered by them. Even when he's inside, the sound of a crow or a cockatoo will trigger him and he'll launch into a panic scream. (I can usually settle him down through target training.)
Anyway, despite all this, he's still plucking and I'm doubtful the homrone implant will work. Has anyone experienced this before?
