Amazon help

[EvieGCC]

Sammie the Amazon has been with us 5 or 6 years now and he is definately a one person bird, he will do anything with my mom. However, this is an issue because one day he will be mine ( he will be willed to me). I would definately like to start working with him to get him more used to me. I would just like to know how successful others have been in training VERY unruly amazons and how you got started in the process.

[AmazonServant]

I would say be patient and try not to work with him when your mom's around. My Amazon likes my mom and lived with her for a while, but she'll bite her if I'm there, especially if we're talking to each other and not including her. So just watch out for that.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

There's a "sticky" topic here on working with one-person aggression. I think the same approach would work in your situation.

[MandyG]

Yes, definitely read the topic on How to Overcome One Person Parrot Aggression and How to Teach Parrot to Step Up and to Come Out of Cage. There's a lot of information in both of these that may help you.

I have an Amazon that is mostly a one person bird. My sister and my mother have had some luck with him lately, they're now able to get him to willingly step up and come out of his cage and they can handle him a bit. Before I went on vacation he wouldn't go near them. It was only after I was away for a couple of days that he decided to give them a chance instead of being lonely.

Will the bird bite you if you try to get him to step up? Does this bird willingly step up onto sticks or perches? If not, you could get your mother to teach him and get comfortable with them. Then when she is out of the house you can start by getting him to step up onto the stick to come out, that way you avoid bites. My sister and my mother use filleting gloves to give them the confidence to handle my amazon, you could also try thick leather (unused) welding gloves or the gloves used for falconry. The gloves will drasticly reduce the impact of the bite and will allow you to confidently work with the bird.

[liz]

Keep in mind tht when your mother is gone, that bird will bond with the closest one to him. So Just keep on keeping on.

[dorp]

Keep in mind tht when your mother is gone, that bird will bond with the closest one to him. So Just keep on keeping on.

Liz, you told me that parrots would die if taken away from their 'bonded' person though. What gives?

[donald1954]

Hi,

we have one Grey that has bonded very strongly to my son. When he is in the house, I can forget, coming near Momo. She doesnt even like me cleaning the aviary, comes flying to me, trying to nip. When my son is at University, everything is fine, than she is normal, like the others. I have not managed so far, that she accepts me, when my son is in, just keep on with my training, take her into another room, seperated from the 3 others. She was our first bird, very young when we got her. The 3 others have the benefit of being with compagnions. She is not so well getting on with the others, but it is getting better, slowly. I wanted my birds to have their friends, that is why we have 4. Training works fine, we can handle all of them easily, despite the fact that two of them are parent raised. I would do a lot of training with your bird, always when you are alone with the bird. It works fine!

rgds Don

[liz]

Wrong again. I never said such a thing.