My orange winged amazonian is really scared first day at hom

[artiseven]

im watching the videos now

[Dave & Karen]

Cool... Hopefully you can see some of what others are doing and what works and what doesn't work. One way to tell if someone is doing something wrong is by watching what the bird is doing or how the bird reacts to the trainer.
A bird shouldn't be growling, pinning it's eyes, fluffing up it's nape feathers, striking, popping it's wings, or shivering while being trained or tamed, Also, panting or breathing hard after the bird has been released from it's training session is a good sign of a very pissed off bird. Now some of these body languages I've mentioned birds will do when they're happy and content, but you can almost always tell the difference.
Here's a basic guide to some of the stuff you might see both in the videos and in your bird, which will help you gage his mood when you're working with him... this list is pretty basic and not complete, but it does show the most common body languages and behaviors... http://www.freedomflightsparrotrescue.c ... avior.html

[Dave & Karen]

I don't go to youtube for videos so I would not know which one to recommend. I work, too, and although it's not full time or all-year-round (I work in a school), I have so many animals (I rescue dogs and cats as well as birds) that my days are long and very busy. But I do have a bit of experience with scared or aggressive birds as I take in the ones that rescues consider unadoptable for one reason or another (I also take in handicapped or birds with incurable medical conditions, some terminal). I've taken in several neglected and/or abused birds which always translates into them been scared of people and what I do is exactly what I recommended. Granted, sometimes it takes quite a while to achieve a relationship of sorts but whatever level I achieve, it's a firm one. It took me over three years to have a male Senegal which had lived 11 years in the same small cage through three different homes to stop attacking me every time he saw me, and then another two years for him to approach me for scritches but, when he recently fell between the wall and the radiator and I had to grab him with one hand while I tilted the radiator with the other (and don't even ask me how I did that because I am not that strong and have terrible arthritis in my hands!), he never even tried to bite me even though he was VERY scared (kept on screaming distress calls non-stop). I am now working on a Citron too that also lived his first 17 years in a cage where I now keep a blind cockatiel (and that should tell you how small the cage is!) with only some head scritches in the morning when his cage was cleaned from the same woman who raised him, it's been a year at the end of August and it's only now that he has begun to trust me enough to touch him (and for me to realize he is a Citron as the woman who had him before thought he was a Lesser Sulfur but one year of fresh food brought out the orange color in his crest and a lovely yellow suffusion in his entire body as well as cheek patches). Parrots suffer neglect/abuse very deeply. It does something to them, to their heads, and to their spirits. They are confused, lonely, depressed, lost, always scared and anxious and don't find joy in life.... It's imperative to treat them with patience, as you say (and I agree) but it's also imperative to eliminate stress as much as possible and allowing them the security of a familiar place and the kindness of choosing when and how to interact with the 'dreaded human' goes a very long way towards repairing the damage done to them.

And, as an added note, the lady mentioned eye contact on the video also, something every bird rescuer knows it's a complete NONO when it comes to scared birds so you should always look at them out of the corner of your eye and never make eye contact. Not everybody who puts a video on youtube knows what they are doing even if they have excellent intentions...

I'm glad to see wr're on the same page... We also take in rescue birds, mostly birds that are unwanted by their current owners or when an owner just can't care for them properly anymore, or has to move somewhere they can't keep them.
Our amazon was a rescue that way where the owner loved her a lot and didn't want to part with her, but wanted to ensure she had a good home. We could tell his wife was just glad to see her go and we could also tell she wasn't exactly nice to the bird either since she was a bit more cautious with my wife at first, and there are also times when she'll yell "Pebbles... SHUT UP!!!" in a very agressive tone as loudly as she can yell. My wife works with the previous owner's sister who did admit that his wife would yell at the bird like that.
Pebbles was scared of both of us for a few days then she started coming to me, either climbing on me or flying to me and landing on my arm, but she wouldn't let me pet her, it took about a week before she was comfortable with my hands on her but now she comes to me for pets, scritches, and she likes a good foot rub too. Now she greets me very excited when I get home from work or if I've been out of the room for more than just a few minutes.
Then we got a pair of budgies who have never been handled or trained in any way... these guys want nothing to do with us, but one of them is cautiously starting to come around. I'm actually using our little parrotlet to help build their confidence, he's tame and will fly to me without me calling him, plus he's about their size so he does the interaction with them mostly. The way he helps me is that I can perch all 3 of them on the same perch and offer a piece of millet, he'll run to my hand and begin to eat, then the others will follow after they see it's safe. I can already pet one of these budgies, but the other one will move away or fly off. I've also got the tamer one to step up after letting Sprite do it a few times in front of them. Sprite will also leave their side and land on my head or shoulder then fly back to them, and he'll land on my finger, bow his head and fluff up for a scritch or 2... the other birds aren't that brave yet, but I can tell they're wanting to but not so sure of it just yet. It's always advantageous to have a really tame bird to help tame the wilder ones because they'll tend to copy what the tame/trained bird does, the talkers also teach the non talkers to talk way faster than we can.
And about patience... our ringneck took over 6 months before she lost her fear of us, she's still skittish, but we can open her cage and she'll come out, she'll stay on my shoulder and she loves to cuddle, but we still have to be careful with our hands since that's what she fears. I can kiss her when she's perched, but if I reach to pet her she'll move away most the time. She's come a long way and she's still a work in progress. She also came to us clipped, and letting her flight feathers grow back so she could fly really helped boost her confidence.
One of our best success stories is with our quaker "lucky" we got him from a bird show and we were getting ready to leave but I didn't want to take him outside without a transport cage, he was doing just fine in my wife's hand but when I was purchasing a transport cage, he got scared, flew out of her hands and right into a wall at full speed, fell about 12 feet to the floor and wasn't moving. Everyone thought he was dead, but I picked him up and saw he was looking around, very dazed and his feet and wings were paralized, he could only move his eyes and beak. He had blood coming out of his nostrils, his beak was bruised and you cold see where his beak flexed. He had a severe concussion. We took him home where I put him in another transport cage with some folded up T shirts to keep him warm and comfortable, then I put him in the bathroom and shut off the lights so he could relax uninterrupted. I checked on him a few hours later expecting to find him dead, but he was alive and hungry, I offered him a slice of apple and he gorged it down, then I fed him some millet which he ate a lot of. I had to hold him up since all he could do was lay on his side. A few days later he still had no control of his feet or wings, but could get around a little bit by grabbing with his beak and pulling himself to where he wanted to go. I would spend hours holding him upright and keeping him as happy as possible, by this time he appriciated what I was doing and would grab my hand with his beak to put it over his wings, he'd also grab my finger when he wanted to be pet, or if I was petting him and I stopped, he'd grab my finger and put it back on his head. This went on for about a month, all he could do without me was lay on his side, but he progressed to using his wings to move around, his feet were still paralized. One day about 2 weeks later he was on the bed while I was changing and he flew to me. I was surprized and my wife was shocked by this, I had to catch him since he couldn't land, but I gave him a nice reward and encouraged it. He learned to fly to the curtains and grab the curtain with his beak to land, he also landed the same way flying to me. Fast forward another month and he was up on his feet, but very uncoordinated, I worked with him and would perch him on a small perch, or make him walk across the bed to me. Then one day he just flew up to a perch we have hanging from the ceiling and began laughing histerically as he was so excited that he actually landed without my help. Now about 3 months later, he flies almost normal, he can land on just about anything, and he's developed a strong bond with our ringneck, they are now best buddies, but he still comes to me and gets super excited when I talk to him. He tamed out of necessity that he knew I was helping him, if he didn't have such a nasty accident I would have used different methods to build his trust. He's definitely one of the sweetest mannered birds we got and even tho he may never fully recover, he's come a really really long way and can hold his own just fine when it comes to flying, landing, and even walking.
Each bird has their own things going on and their own personalities so we do have to change our methods to fit their needs but yeah, patience is the key. some of them tame right away like our sun conure who only needed to learn how to step up and his name, and some of them can take months before they let us near them, but all the ones we have are very tame, and the rescues are all making progress at their own pace.

[artiseven]

i trusted one of the videos and left the cage open for a while when i woke up i saw him walking around a destroying wires if i went near him he threatened to bight me and growled. so i put seeds in his cage pot to lure him in. didnt work he was pooping all over my room i knew i only had one choice and that was to grab him with a towel and put him in his cage. after he got in its not like he was scared or anything he just went in ate some seeds and took a nap. so in conclusion; this was a failed plan and this parrot is one unreasonable boy. i ran out of ideas.

[Dave & Karen]

You made a few mistakes, but don't punish yourself for it too much, just remember what went right and what went wrong and keep working with him. Don't give up, just press on like it never happened. We all learn from those kind of mistakes and I'm sure your bird will forgive you too .

Falling asleep with his cage open or leaving him unattended is definitely a no no, especially before he's taught right from wrong. They can be very curious which makes them very mischievious, but if you were to let him out when you can keep an eye on what he's doing, you can stop him from getting into stuff and teach him to stay away from certain areas.

Don't give up on him, he's still a baby and needs guidance, I leave our birds out of their cages for hours at a time and they do know to stay out of certain areas and not to mess with certain stuff, but it did take some teaching them where they can and can't go. You can also potty train him but he's gonna poop in places you don't want him to at first, luckily it doesn't smell and it cleans up easy. I taught our 10 year old amazon to poop in the bathroom sink by placing a suction cup mounted shower perch on the mirror for her, and anytime she acted like she had to go, I just said "bathroom" and took her in there. She now flies in there on her own or she'll say "bathroom" and I'll take her in there, she will hold it long enough for me to get her in there, but if I miss her body language or don't understand when she says bathroom, she'll go wherever she's at. The reason I chose the sink for her to poop in, it's the easiest to clean, just run the water and it goes right down the drain. You can also teach yours to use the bathtub or shower if you don't want it in the sink since it's much easier to clean than your floor... especially if you got carpet. This is an old dog training trick so your dog has a place to go inside the house that's out of sight but cleans up easiest, the shower or bath tub.

Have you tried leaving his cage open while you're minding your own business in the room or doing something in an other room where you can check up on him about every 5 minutes? If he comes out of his cage, let him roam around the room, but just tell him "no no" or whatever you want to say when he gets too close to something you don't want him to mess with, he will catch on what no means as well as catch on to where you don't want him to go or what you want him to leave alone. You're building up a friendship with him, but you also need to be the one to set the rules.

When you aproached him and he growled at you and acted like he was going to bite you, the best thng to do was stop advancing on him, but stay put and stand your ground, just remain calm, when he settles down a bit, move in closer, he won't bite you unless he has no other choice so it is safe to call his bluff.
Did you notice that he did submit to you when you got him with the towel? it's not a popular or recommended technique, but it's an effective one, and not knowing what to do to get him back in his cage, that was probably the best option you had at the time, he won't hold it against you too much as long as no pain was inflicted in the process, and he might just realize you won't hurt him a little bit more now, even tho you took a chunk out of his pride. You did what you had to do so again, don't punish yourself too much over it.

Here's the most important things not to do if you need to get him back in his cage or out of trouble in a hurry...
Never, and I mean NEVER do anything that'll hurt him, any pain can drastically reduce trust and ruin months of training instantly, and that trust may never come back. Birds do not respond to physical punishment anyway and parrots will fight back.. these bites will do lots of damage, so you're out one finger and now your bird won't trust you at all.

Never chase him around trying to catch him, this is where he'll see you as a predator and will lose trust in you, this trust can be restored, but can take a long time... we're talking months or longer.

Never yell or scream at him, the same as chasing him, but will also encourage him to do whatever he did again and again as a game to him, basically yelling or screaming at him will give him a way to control you. Most birds actually think it's funny when their human yells at them and will quickly realize if they want to hear this sound again, all they gotta do is....

If he threatens you again, (and he will) stand your ground, stay calm and in control, he will soon see that behavior is uneffective, same as if he bites you, stay calm and in control, again, if he threatens you or bites you and you leave him alone or move away, he just won and now has another way to control you, and you want him to know biting is uneffective as early in his training as possible. His first bites will be more like warning nips anyway and usually do little or no damage to you, now when he matures and his hormones are going thru the roof, if he bites you then, he can easily break a finger or worse. Almost all parrots will try and see if they can bully you into giving them their way at some point in their training. You need to stay in control in these situations then they'll respect you and nobody got hurt.
This is where most people make the mistake of showing fear or putting the bird up, or yelling at the bird, and all that does in reenforce that the behavior works when he needs to have his way with you. Best to ignore the bite if he ever does it and do your best not to react to the bite.

I know it can be very discouraging when things like this happen, but we've all gone thru it a few times while we're forming a bond with our new freind. Don't give up on him, just press on like it never happened. Sometimes something like this can set your progress back, but anyone who owns parrots and says it's never happened to them are lying.

[cml]

Here is some advice regarding wires:
http://theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10471&p=73863&hilit=parrot+proof*#p71745
You really need to parrot proof you whole house, or at the very least the rooms the parrot might be in. This means making sure the bird cannot fall down behind things, securing wires (like I show you in that link), making sure things cant topple over, securing the windows (or be dead sure they will never be opened by mistake) etc etc.
There's tons of stuff to do, and you will have to keep improving on the parrot proofing for a long time.

Hang in there, a bird might take months to warm up and settle down. We had the same situation with Leroy, it took a very long time for him to start to want to actually hang out with us.
You cant expect the bird to trust you from the beginning, it may take time for you to earn his trust. Dave has given good advice in this thread, and I urge you to hang in there.

Make a structured plan. What you will do everyday, in what order etc.

I would go with something like this: (just a quick draft, there's tons of info in this thread already)
*Make sure you spend a minimum of 2-3 hours in the same room as the parrot daily without actually interacting with it.
*Talk to him for at least 10min, or read a book nearby.

Do this for a week, and dont expect anything more to happen.

Then for the following weeks, until you get progress:
*Then start by offering a treat through the bars everyday, you may have to sit with your arm stretched there for an hour everyday with no result, but dont give up. When you get there, its HUGE progress.

Now you can start with target training through the bars. Targeting is an AWESOME tool for getting your bird to go where you want, in and out of the cage in the beginning etc. With it you will be able to have the bird outside and take him in without causing him any stress.
BUT, this may take weeks to achieve. Read here for more info on targeting:
http://trainedparrot.com/taming

All in all, make a plan, and it needs to be a long term plan. I understand that it may feel difficult, but really youve not had him long at all yet. It may take months to see progress.
Ive been through it, and I know its doable with discipline, hard work, a good attitude and a will to see it done.

Good luck!

[artiseven]

thanks i just wonder how im gonna do this in these 2 weeks. not only am i busy with modeling but im also packing and expecting to be in the new house by next week.

[cml]

thanks i just wonder how im gonna do this in these 2 weeks. not only am i busy with modeling but im also packing and expecting to be in the new house by next week.

You will have to make the time available. A parrot is a very demanding pet and caring for them is time consuming but at the same time very rewarding. They need hours of stimulation everyday.

You can be in the same room as the parrot while sorting and packing, as long as you dont make any scary noises, or move to quickly. That should be an easy way of both packing and spending time with him.

I really really urge you to read Michael's blog: http://trainedparrot.com
You will find tons of information there.

To me it sounds a little bit like you were unprepared as to what it means to own a parrot. Thats ok, as long as you are willing to work hard to make up for lost research and make changes in your life to accomodate your new amazon into your everyday.

You can get through this .

[artiseven]

actually i was prepared very much and it was only school and modeling but then my parents surprised me with the news that we're moving out. i wanted a parrot my whole life im not the social master as you can probably tell and i needed a friend in my life and i always heard that parrots fill the open gap deep within you and build a very strong friendship between us. but i just wish i can see the results sooner, now i know hes only months old and i should be very patient and i agree 100% but i just wouldnt want him to think im a predator to him and i want to show him that i want nothing more than to be his friend and be with him for the rest of his/my life.

[artiseven]

but i can assure you that im not giving up on him no matter what it takes, as god is my witness. all i need now is the ability to tame the bird which as you can all see i lack of quite so much and my first 3 attempts were all failed attempts. and believe you me, it is not easy finding an instructional video on how to tame your bird or put it back in its cage or whatever and ill be honest the ones out there all suck and got me in very difficult situation, hence the bird escaping its cage and me having to put him back with a towel and a bit of sunflower seeds (which is all he ever eats, he wouldnt eat anything else i tried everything). so yeah, youre right raising a parrot is a challenge but im willing to take that challenge and never give up. thank you.