Im freaking out!

[terri]

I got my first bird on craigslist this past weekend.Let me start by saying one of my birds passed away[not Harlow]and I knew eventually I would get another . I know what my bird limit is and the chance to love another bird was going to happen .I wanted to stay true to my beliefs that I needed to do a shelter or craigslist [for the many birds in need of a good home]As I was starting the whole adoption process.I kept an eye on craigslist,and one ad caught my eye.It was a Blue fronted amazon[The only thing about Amazons that I knew was on here]I went to see him to know if he might like me [he was ok coming out to see me and they were suprised cause he only likes the daughter]They wanted to get rid of him for christmas money.[How sad ]He had only one toy and just the bell was left on it .He was in a cage I though could have been way bigger.Did I mention he was HUGE [ didnt know amazons were that big]I think hes overweight and not enough activity in his life.Hes bigger than my grey ,hawkhead and LS2 Im floored.I was nervous because their so different than my birds[I know what to watch for ].Well Ive met my match with him.The first time I took him out of his cage [I went slow and he still bit me good]We have worked our way through that .He was depressed for a day[how sad] now hes decided he likes me[hes an older parrot]He comes over and lays his head near me to get rubbed [what a love ,who knew]Tonight hes on the arm of the couch and Im actually having a conversation with him.You always read Lizs post on her 2 and their actually like that! I need help maybe some insite with what to watch out for and getting his diet on track [hes a big eater]So please help CML,Liz and Polern and other zon owners thanks

[marie83]

Congratulations on your new bird, he is going to have a much better life with you, sorry to hear about the loss of your other one though.

[cml]

Congrats on the new bird Terri , whats his name?

I am not sure what you want to know, I know that you already got tons of bird experience.

Let's see if I can break down the differences between Stitch and Leroy, in regards to their body language. I cant promise that this is related to amazon behaviour, but they DO behave in different ways (it might be because they are just different birds, not because they are different species).

Stitch is, just as you say your new guy is, a cuddlebug. Most people who dont own amazons think that they are not cuddly birds, and sometimes that can be true. They are cuddly when they want to. I can scratch Stitch head everyday, and he always ask for some head scratches every evening before going to bed. Leroy on the other hand, a bronze winged pionus, is more reserved with cuddling, and I only get to scratch his head occasionally (and my wife isnt allowed to at all, even though he allows all other forms of handling from her). So there's definitely a difference there.

When it comes to temper, there's a world of difference as well. Stitch is more like a rollercoaster, he can be superhappy, superinterested, and he can also be very very angry. This can fade pretty quickly. Leroy is mostly just calm and a little reserved (but much less so now ).

Tell signs that Stitch is angry are:
Pinning eyes, I know that some say that it can mean that they are happy as well, but in Stitch's case its always always that he's either angry, or overly-excited (which will lead to possible aggression).
Spreading of tail feathers. This is a sure sign to stay away, and dont agitate him.
(Leroy doesnt do any of this, he always shakes his head when he is angry).

Tell signs that he is happy:
He makes kissing noices, or speaks when he is the most happy. Always talking and chattering away in the shower.
He will preform random tricks to show that he wants us to start a training season.
Sometimes he flies over and wants his head scratched.

I am probably missing a lot of signs that I see everyday, but react to unconsiously to, or that I am just forgetting right now.

Stitch is a handful sometimes, but he is oh so intelligent, and it shows. You really have to be consistent with him but he is at the same time a joy and I love him dearly. Zons really are personalities, which I am sure you will come to know if you havent already.

If there is anything else, or you got any questions, just shoot and Ill try to answer to the best of my abilities .

Oh, and regarding amazon size, ours is a lot smaller than a BFA, but he's still packing the full amazon punch let me tell you that !

[Polarn]

I'll give it a shot here as well and as with CML if you got any questions just ask and we may be able to answer, we might not...

As for training and what they eat etcetera youre probably doing fine with your others and will be able to balance the diet for your new zon (and congrats their great birds, although some cycles are worse... but at the same time not.. couse their usually overly easy to read so you barely get bitten anyways) as for training nothing really differs with them than other birds... their not needed to be on a really strict training diet to get results though... couse their hogs.. they'll eat anything coming their way and usually plenty more than what they should...

And your right their quite big and the bluefronted is one of the bigger zons, you get like half an inch more bird with a yellow naped and half an inch to an inch extra on a yealow headed... and I'm not sure from ontop of my head what the average lenght of a mealy is but their a bit bigger... anyways amazons has quite a weird body (if your used to other birds) couse their kind of like bulldogs... their fairly wide but short... and well if freefed previously with lack of excercise your most likely right about him being overweight... basically look for the "zonboobs" these exist in other birds as well but are fairly common on amazons... your not supposed to look at a cleavage and think "geez one more size and you need a brah mate" in that case you really need todo something its hard to really explain how they should look like and definitly impossible to give you a goal weight to reach without feeling the chest on the way... but basically you can feel him on the chest to notice a difference... but they are quite heavy birds for their size (even when in shape).

Also with the eyepinning this is hard to see in some birds, well if your not used to looking for it (wich I know you are) but once you se an amazon pinning... you'll notice you would have been able to see it from across a field there is something with their eyecolor or something that makes it really easy to see.

Now since it is an older bird the normal amazon strut and tellsigns may have been trained away.. but they have a whole arrey of things they go through before they turn on you if they doesnt feel like interacting, and the end part before a strike youll think he has turned into a bitbull leaning forward growling and snapping in the air... the flared tailfeathers is a good place to back off though (if you mis the pinning eyes, OR the body shifting backwards, or if these signs are accidently trained off) if the tellsigns are there but really weak, once you learn his just pay attention to them every single time and he will definitly start increasing the frequence he uses them since he knows they work, and he will up the visual effects of it... another thing (atleast the bluefront) does when they feel threatened is making themself look big and a good tellsign if not used to them is that if he all of a sudden looks more colorful than usual he is most likely upset... they basically show up their colors when they get upset but its hard for a while to tell what their actually doing to show em of but if you consider him to be more colorful than usual choose another time to start an interaction.

If the tellsigns of upset is really weak, look for the oposit to make sure an interaction is possitive, look at the eyes and see if their round or in the shape of an almond... if their in the shape of an almond and stays that way when you get closer he is relaxed and most likely wont be up to anything you doesn't like, with em in a round shape... well definitly doesnt mean he is angry might as well be curiouse, having alot of energy etcetera... but seeing your already interacting this isnt really anything you need to look for (unless you want to reward him for staying calm when something happens then rewarding at points where the eyes are almond shaped strengthen the "beeing calm means I get rewarded" thingie.. sicne they basically get taht shape of the eyes ones their calm and contempt.... as do most birds but I find the zons eyes to be easy to look at and see differences in.

To sum it up, you most likely will be able to read his language within a day or two seeing you got birdexperience with other birds....

Look for zonboobs and adjust accordingly

[terri]

Thanks guys that was EXACTLY the info I was trying to figure out.I need help with a name. His names Tequila and hes 12 yrs old .Im sure he knows his name but doesnt say it [like Harlow does]I was thinking of trying to call him Tequila[and use what I want to call him as a middle name]then eventually drop his first name.Please help with ideas.Does Polarn mean something or is it a name there?I have never experienced a bird like this before! Their amazing definately in their own catagory.My other experience with birds they seem pretty straight forward.This guy Ive had to watch closely how you both described and things are going even better.I think his last home they were afraid of him [They said once he got on top of his cage they had to wait till he wanted to go back in]It seems like he called all the shots.Definately wants things on his own terms [but he knows Im not afraid of getting bit]So hes bending some.Such a sweethart when he wants his head rubbed Most on this forum are worried about their Senegals .I say get Amazons then lets talk!! I had him with me while I was making Christmas cookies tonight and he trys to join in our conversations[hes also doing the Opera thing].Polarn Im cracking up about the zon boob thing I had to read it twice[Did he write that ]I am going to take him to the vet it will be interesting to see if hes overweightI know he ate seed and junk food and that was his diet.Do you guys [because their quite the eaters]do any warm food like rice and beans?Always trying to better everyones food variety.Good analogy of the bullfrog thing.There heads and necks are wide I find my rehomes tend to prefer one person and the ones I had since they were babies are a little easier going.Thanks

[Polarn]

ýeah well the zonboobs... thing is their quite big bodied for scuh "small" birds... well seriously they arn't as long beak to tail as many others and many where their as long seems so so much smaller... basically you want no cleavage you kind of want the chest to be smooth looking.... you should be able to feel the chestbone (as with any other bird) but on a flighted zon its not as prominant as on a few other species... but their basically short n wide.

As for warm food... not really...due to their hormonal behaviors, I do serve cooked food and on rare occations warm.. but I usually let it cool off before servings, and usually he gets a tiny tiny bit of whatever I am having if birdsafe... but yeah their big eaters and in captivity definitly weight is a factor needed to keep an extra eye on, their known (atleast the bigger zons) to get health issues directly linked to fat and fatty tumors arn't actually too uncommon... I've seen pictures of open wounds on the wings etcetera caused by them being too fat, not that pleasent to look at and certainly can't be pleasent for the bird. And ofcorse since their big eaters and if freefed they get fatty livers etcetera etcetera.. an overweight bird is a seriously unhealthy bird and with bird with the apetite similar to a pothead... well things get out of hand.

While your poi-amazon thingie may be discussed weather one bird is harder than another etcetera I consider them different... as mentioned in a previouse post their one of the easiest birds to read so it is quite easy to avoid bites (this is only true if the warning signs hasn't been trained away though, and it is extra true in parent raised birds where they have learnt the full array of signs).

Some videos to show (all of them isnt really intended to show agression and not all portray an agressive bird...)
eye pinning amazon, this is either (as you know) excited, frighten or nervous.... basically there is 1 good possibility out of a few and excite it more and you may get bit....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOSnbt527WE

this is something that people (new to birds and definitly new to zons, but you see it in videos on youtube sometimes with their own zons) interpret as the bird making himself look pretty and wanting attention... as the poster of this video says... stay away or youll end up with bloody fingers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86D6O8jCdQc
PS: people used to the cockatiels heartshaping as a sign of attraction actually thinks thats what the amazon is doing when doing this, but this is what I talked about earlier about showing colors and making themselves look big.

Just gotta say I hate some of these clips pepole put out on youtube because the civil thing would be to back of and leave the bird alone, such as this one... but its a good example of how your BF would look scared or angry... you can see it swaps between em back and forth the leaning back while flaring usually means something is uncomftible and he is scared, may happen if something startles him (or in this case batgirl comes along) the other stance he takes is the agressive, where the bodyweight is more forward, still the same flaring but still a different thing..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM3LxdOPeDo

This one I actually gotta say I hate as well but it shows the behavior how it looks like if agitated and you move closer where they start biting in the air... I was trying to find one where they does that at the same time as growling, but couldn't and I couldn't stand lokoing at more of these videoclips where people agitate their birds on purpouse with a camera ready and wanting them to behave this way for the camera... but basically these videos does not portray a bird you want to try and pet... couse the odds are youll collect a scar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EAM-609ZyA

[liz]

I didn't know anything about big parrots when I got Rambo. I did birdie sit him a couple of times when his mom was away. We loved him and he interacted. The surprise came when he realized that on this visit he could stay. He went wide open. He was intelligent and increased in language and actions. When his last Mom came to visit he hid from her for fear she was coming to take him back. I found him in a cardboard box in a corner. He was being very quiet so she could not find him. He really does well in conversations. He accidentaly got closed in the bathroom this morning. We heard "HEY COME'RE PICK ME UP RIGHT NOW".

I did not know what a BF was until I saw Myrtle. Dumb me I thought they were all built the same with different colors. She is taller but lighter weight. All she had was seed and water with 2 toys. At first she would not try new foods. When she saw Rambo eat a piece of carrot it opened her to a world of food. She will try anything. She has even taught Rambo to eat bananas.

They are wonderful, intelligent and loving kids and will learn as kids.

By the way. Myrtle remembered from last year not to get in the tree. Now she walks around under the tree picking twigs off.

He hasn't talked yet but he may already have the words and not ready to share with you. Just keep talking. Rambo didn't share his words until he knew for sure that he was here for good.



You have to ask specific questions or I will go on and on about my kids.

[terri]

Polarn I spent the evening watching the u tube videos I see what you mean with possessed eye look [you cant miss it].I liked the rope perches on the 2nd video that they had on the outside of the cage [good idea].My guy looks alot like the one in the 3rd video [but even more of that pale yellow further back on his head.]When I first went to see him they said he was a blue front.I was sure they had the species wrong ,most of his head was that pale yellow and theres only a spec of blue above his beak.I thought it was a double yellow head.I went home and looked them up.I realized that they can look different and he has the black beak not the white one.Hes almost been here a week .I think were making great progress soon[I know how slow things can go] Hows Gila doing ?I miss mine so much thats the one that died

[Polarn]

well, some days I think she's doing amazing, others I think she is moving backwards... but using a second set of eyes that only see her every now and then has been helpful and he ensures me she is becoming stronger for each visit, her next vet visit is scheduled for sometime after Xmas to make some tests and see if there has been any visible changes there. But were working as hard as we can to make her better, I can't imagine having a healthy bird turn like this (even though this isnt a "real" illness its malnutrition and lack of space to move anywhere...) I've only lost one bird so far and he was only really ill for two days before he was gone... this is me looking at a bird that looks as sick as can be without being dead for months and its heartbreaking...

[terri]

Polarn,can you hand feed her formula? It really helped Harlow[the most vitamin packed thing you can get]