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Taming Blind Amazon

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

Taming Blind Amazon

Postby LoveMyFids » Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:22 pm

Earlier in the year I was given a 20+ year female old Red Lored Amazon by a friend who aquired her from her friend. She was left in a cage for years with little human interaction, a crappy diet, and no vet care. When she came to me I noticed she was off. I took her to the vet and it turns out she's 3/4 blind due to cataracts. She has little confidence in both herself and people.

I've been trying to months to get through to her but I'm stuck. Any time i ask for a step up she snaps at me. At times she'll lift her foot to me then she'll lunge. She used to lunge at me when I first brought her home, but now she sings with me and preens. Once she's out she loves to sit in my lap and relax. But any hands on, other than a wanted scratch to the head, results in a bite. She's come a long way from the start but I can't get her past this. With her it's not a IF you're getting bit when you interact, it's when. And I know it's nothing personal from her. She, as normal, uses her beak for everything, but she isn't bite pressure trained which means when you add that to the fact she can't see and she's unconfident, that touch with beak=big bite.

I've tried target training and using key words and treats but as she has little vision, it's rough. She can't really find the target. Any ideas? Has anyone else had experience with this?
LoveMyFids
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Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conures, Jenday, Sun Conure, and Red Lored Amazon
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Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby liz » Sun Aug 21, 2016 6:01 am

I can't even guess what she is going through. Most parrots being move to a new house and people take a while to adjust. Being blind will take much longer since she cannot see what is different.

Talking to her and doing a one finger touch after telling her that you are going to should help. Use the same word every time when doing the one finger touch.
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liz
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BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby Wolf » Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:48 am

I have never had to deal with this type of situation. I can imagine some of the difficulties that you are having and probably some that you are not. Parrots are one of the most visually attuned animals that I know of. They also see into the ultraviolet light spectrum which is invisible to us. I know that the right full spectrum lighting can help a parrot see things better because of their UV vision. I do not know how the cholesterol buildup in its eyes specifically affect their vision in relation to their ability to see the UV spectrum, but I do wonder if the right full spectrum lighting might help any at all with this birds vision. The proper full spectrum light would be one with a K Temp of 5000 to 5500 and a CRI of 94+.

I would think that you are going to need to teach this bird to respond to verbal cues and that is likely to take more time than normal due to the impaired vision. It would require you to be acutely aware of the exact words that you use to get the bird to know what to expect when you use a specific word or phrase.

I expect that you are already doing most if not all of the things that come to mind to me. so I am probably not being much help at all. I don't know if studying to find what foods tend to reduce cholesterol and then adding them to this birds diet would have any benefit or if it could slow or reduce the buildup in the eyes, but it would be worth trying in my opinion, just in case.
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Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby Pajarita » Sun Aug 21, 2016 11:30 am

I'm confused, does she have cholesterol deposits in her eyes or cataracts? But, in any case, I would not use a target to train her. I would only teach her very simple things like step up and step down and use verbal cues as Wolf suggested as well as touching her toes for some things like step up, for example. But you've just had her for a few months and, given her poor vision, if she is already getting on your lap (how does she get there if you cannot get her to step up?) and is happy about it, I would not say she is not interacting with you. She is as much as she is able to.

For birds with severe handicaps, training can be one of those things that might end up been more stressful than helpful...
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Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby LoveMyFids » Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:16 pm

She's got white dots everywhere on her eyes.

To get her on my lap I normal have to put on towel on my arm and put some pressure on her stomach, though usually I have to back her against the bars before she'll even try to step up. I know it's not the best thing to do but I want to get her out. Sometimes she just steps up but won't do it when asked. She gives me grief.

The towel protects my arm but she grips it so hard she sticks to it. Once she's out of the cage she's not as bad. I have even gone so far as to put her on the floor, in a protected area, and get her to step up willingly. But she doesn't mind the floor *sigh*

She knows words like Door for when I open the door so she doesn't spook. I moved the light on the room so she can catch shadows and I talk to her the whole time. She's a cranky creature, understandably. I'm just out of my zone with her.
LoveMyFids
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conures, Jenday, Sun Conure, and Red Lored Amazon
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Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby liz » Mon Aug 22, 2016 4:53 am

Bless you for taking her in and caring for her.

She can smell as well as hear and touch. Using the same hand soap all the time will help her identify when you are near.
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby Pajarita » Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:18 am

Ahhh, well, yes, white dots are not cataracts, they are cholesterol deposits and they actually mean that her cholesterol is too high and that she has fatty liver disease - is she been treated for them? Because both conditions are fatal if they go untreated but perfectly manageable if the treatment and diet are right. What did the vet recommend in terms of medicines, supplements and diet? There are a couple of people on this board who have a bit of experience with this exact situation so we might be able to help you with this.

I would not force her to step up. I would allow her freedom from a cage and make a setup that would allow her to climb and perch but also safe from falls. Parrots with severe handicaps don't really benefit from the kind of interaction a healthy individual would... they always much rather be by themselves -especially if the person is almost a stranger to them. She would benefit immensely from a companion though and the best would be another old amazon (NOT a young one). Is there any possibility that you can give her that?
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby LoveMyFids » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:00 pm

The vet gave her a vitamin shot and she's on Prime supplement to help. Surprisingly, her lungs were great and her heart was fine. She was on AviCalm for the first month she was here to keep her address low.

Her diet before I got her was crappy. A dollar store brand seed, chips, peanuts, French fries, and absolutely no fruit, pellet or veg.

She was on that diet for over 15 years.... And her had no desire to change.
Pellet? Won't touch.
Veg? Goes on floor.
Fruit (dry and fresh)? Goes on the walls.

I've tried baby food, fresh friut puree, fresh whole veg/fruit, sweet potato, steamed veg..... I've tried spooning it to her, mixing small bits in with her food, shoving some in her mouth, putting it in her toys, eating 'with her'..... She REFUSES to eat it :(

Now if I open chips, eat French fries, open peanuts? She's all about it, though she isn't allowed!. I even went as far as to BAKE some homemade fresh sweet potato fries to fool her..... Nope. Wasn't happening.

She was so skinny you could see her chest bones, her feathers were a nasty mess (though not plucked at all), she REAKED of cigarettes as did her cage, nails that curled to long, and her beak was in major need of a buff when I got her. She's gained some weight, her feathers are getting life back in them, and she smells like a normal bird. And her diet is no better. Just less nuts and better quality food.

She goes back in January for her yearly check, blood work, and another beak buff :) she's been getting monthly nail trims, and full on baths every few days. She loves to sit and dry on her perch my the window in the sun. But I feel bad because she just sits around on her gym. She sings and preens but pretty much just hangs around.

As far as a companion? She hates other animals! Dog? Cat? Conure? Anything that gets close becomes a target for Aggression. Understandably. I don't think a companion would be to well received. She's been alone her whole life.

To be honest I NEVER wanted a Zon. I'm just not a fan of them. But when my friend asked if I would try helping her, I gave it a try. She needed help, who was I to deny it? The agreement is that if she didn't come around, she'd go back to my friends house and live her life as a cage pet. Granted she has a CAG and a Goffin at hey home, but they were both rescues who aren't people friendly either. At first it was rough. But after a while, seeing my Zon search for me on the bed to sit in my lap? I couldn't just give her back. She loves to talk to me but isn't a fan of other people. To be honest I'd miss her if I gave her back. I'm grabbing straws with what to do to make her better in a home life but it's either this or she goes back to cage pet till the end.

If you have any other ideas on getting her to try fruit and veg? Please let me know!!
LoveMyFids
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conures, Jenday, Sun Conure, and Red Lored Amazon
Flight: No

Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby liz » Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:49 am

Eating in front of her will not work since she cannot see. She can smell though. Offer her fruit and veg in different dishes while she is on the floor with toys. She would probably love to have a toy that makes noise.
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liz
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Taming Blind Amazon

Postby Wolf » Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:19 am

I understand your predicament with this bird. I have an amazon that was treated in much the same manner for the first 14 years of her life. It has taken me nearly 3 years to get her to come out of her cage and another year to get her to spend any time on the outside of her cage. I built her a tree to hang out on right next to her cage and hung a boing from the ceiling right next to both the tree and the cage. In the past week or two she is finally coming out and for the first time ever she spent nearly 5 hours on her boing refusing to come back off of it until it was time for her dinner at which time she climbed down and onto and then into her cage all on her own.

Amazons are known for being perch potatoes and are often not very active if they have no reason to be active. Mimi, my Amazon and I get along just fine but she really wants nothing to do with me, but she is very bonded to my Lady. So many of the things that you are describing seem to me to be normal, but Mimi is my first and only Amazon parrot.

Like your Amazon, Mimi came here eating a very poor diet consisting primarily of seeds and peanuts. I started her on gloop right away for her breakfast, however for the first three days she absolutely refused food of any sort including the seed mix that she was accustomed to eating. Then she started eating and willingly tried out the gloop with a top dressing of her seed mix. Inside of a week she was eating the gloop like she was born to it. I am still having lots of fun trying to get her to eat any fresh raw fruits or vegetables, but she no longer cares for peanuts, but she loves almonds.

It has taken a long time to get her this far and most of it has been just being persistent in offering her the opportunity to come and go from her cage and offering her a good diet. We still have a ways to go but she is making progress. Very often it gets a bit discouraging because I don't see any progress. But every so often she begins to exhibit a new behavior and as long as she is encouraged with lots of praise and we don't attempt to push her she usually increases the new behavior very quickly, although sometimes she appears to scare herself with her newly discovered freedom and regresses a step or two. But then if left alone about it she will start to do it again and it soon becomes a daily part of her normal behaviors.

I hope that this will encourage you and help some with the issues that you are now facing.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

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