PLEASE HELP ME WITH MY BLUE FRONT AMAZON

[crislee35]

Hi I recently got a blue front amazon parrot that was mistreated badly. He was in a cage with other birds that had plucked his feathers, and chewed on his feet. So his feet are some what messed up. But he manages to perch. Sometimes he loses his balance and drops but he always seems to be ok. He has bitten me several times now! I was told he was not a bitter but that was obviously a lie. He wont let you touch him, he wont step up (maybe due to his feet) and he wont let you pick him up if he is off of his cage or out of his cage! The only way that I have been able to pick him up when he is off his cage is with a towel and even then he tries to bite and he yells. I am just not sure what the heck to do. I wanted to give him a good home but I am at my wits end with this bird. I do not now how old he is however I was told he was still young. How can I tell his age? He doesnt seem to make any noises or talk other than when I have to pick him up with the towel. And I have read that picking him up this way can be bad but I dont know what else to do. Can someone please advise me on some tecniques that I can use to get this little guy comfortable and secure with me? Also ANY tips in general about this little guy would be so helpful. THANK you so much!

[MandyG]

Have you looked at Michael's "How to Teach Parrot to Step Up and to Come Out of Cage" article? It has a lot of great information that may help you with your situation.

[Kathleen]

Does the bird accept food out of your hand? If it does, great. If not, the training will be a little different.

Don't pick this bird up with a towel anymore unless it's some kind of emergency. Otherwise, you are teaching it to become afraid of and aggressive toward a towel, and you won't be able to towel it in the future without a lot of training/trouble.

Otherwise, MandyG already posted the link to Michael's article about basic training, and that's what you should read. It's a long article but it contains plenty of useful information and advice that you should use. If you go through it and implement some of the techniques from it, you will probably see results.

[zazanomore]

I just want to know, have you taken the bird to a vet yet? Make sure he's healthy before you try to push anything.

[Alcatraz]

If your bird recently came from an abusive environment, its probably very insecure and defensive right now. Be patient and allow it some time to get used to its new environment and feeling safe again.

[captwest]

Hey, let us know whats going on with your bird, the people on this forum can help, please respond, we'd like to help people with their birds and help end rehoming/rescue because it means that some poor bird is suffering and you can change the endless cycle and have a great pet. Richard