First visit to the vet

[jthorntonwillis]

Hi,all... I recently (last week) adopted/rescued a 28 year old male Blue front Amazon.First caretaker had him for 26 years,second one 2 years.was the sons bird,kid moved and left him with parents,who had no interest in him.His toenails are almost a complete 360 degree,just short of growing into his toe.We have made a lot of progress,he lets me give neck scratches,takes food from my hand and has only drawn blood once(my fault) Now the crux of the problem...I have his first appointment with the avian vet next Thursday.I am looking for advice on the least stressful way to get him in the carrier without losing too much blood and traumatizing him to the point he will hate me.Thanks to all.Great place BTW John

[cml]

Thank you for rescuing him! I am sure that you will take good care of him .

There are a few points were I can give you some advice.

The toenails can be remedied, but it is a lengthy process (no pun intended). You will have to visit the an avian vet with close intervals and let them slowly clip the claw back, as you cant clip it all in one go because of the pulp.

We have made a lot of progress,he lets me give neck scratches,takes food from my hand

This is awesome progress for a week, this could take a very long time, especially considering he's a rescue. As you've managed this, you can begin target training. See Michael's blog for more info:
http://www.trainedparrot.com/taming
Targeting is a great tool, with which you can get your bird to go in and out of his cage, and also the travel carrier eventually.

I doubt you will have time for that before tuesday though, and I will leave it to others as to how to best handle that. Unfortunatly you might have to grab him and just put him there, it might dent your relationship, but they get over it. There might be some blood loss involved here , amazon beaks are nasty (I know).

Also, please consider letting him regaining flight. Since this is an older bird you will probably have to teach him to fly, which Michael has some excellent advice on how to do. Your bird will love you for it, and will be much healthier and happier.
I would like to point out that some old school vets might say a clip is good, but they are uneducated as to the benefits of flight and have a very old and undeveloped way of looking at parrot keeping. Dont listen to people promoting clipping, they almost never have the birds interest at heart, but rather their own convienence (though very few admit it). There are VERY special occasions which COULD merit a clip, but they are very few and far between, and in almost every possible situation its better to have a flighted bird. Check out this article, and dont be offended if you are pro-clipping, but read it through anyway and consider it: http://www.trainedparrot.com/clipping

Great place BTW

Please stick around. You've shown amazing progress in a week, and youve saved that poor parrot from a bad place. We want to hear about your continued progress!

[LadySaphine]

I have no experience with Amazons but what I would do would first put the carrier in sight of his cage, and over the days move it closer. Reward him if he checks it out. I think the trick is that you have to make the carrier a fun and happy place. When he gets used to it, take him around the house, or even outside (make sure it's locked!) so he knows what to expect. Maybe, if you can, drive him around. You don't want him to hate the carrier, that would be pretty tough to deal with.

[jthorntonwillis]

[quote} from CML Also, please consider letting him regaining flight. Since this is an older bird you will probably have to teach him to fly, which Michael has some excellent advice on how to do. Your bird will love you for it, and will be much healthier and happier.

His flight feathers are not clipped.When he is on top of his cage I try to get him to fly to me.He wants to,but flaps his wings and after a while(5-10 min) he actually says very clearly "Can't fly" Breaks my heart... He tries and flaps his wings vigorously, but no go...

[cml]

[quote} from CML Also, please consider letting him regaining flight. Since this is an older bird you will probably have to teach him to fly, which Michael has some excellent advice on how to do. Your bird will love you for it, and will be much healthier and happier.

His flight feathers are not clipped.When he is on top of his cage I try to get him to fly to me.He wants to,but flaps his wings and after a while(5-10 min) he actually says very clearly "Can't fly" Breaks my heart... He tries and flaps his wings vigorously, but no go...

This is great news! Then you can get him to fly !

He's either scared, or out of shape, or probably both, but this can be worked around.

In short, what you do is that you use targeting as a tool for him to go between two perches (or chair backs), and SLOWLY increasing the distance between them, first so its a step, then a jump, and eventually a short flight (this process can take weeks). Targeting is essential here.

A quick tip, Id change the flight status to yes if he isnt clipped, as some people might make the assumption he is otherwise (like I did).

BUT, I wouldnt start with this, but rather for many weeks first build trust, do taming and basic training (like targeting), and then do this. You will get there .