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Need Help with Blue Faced Amazon Parrot Temperament Changed

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Need Help with Blue Faced Amazon Parrot Temperament Changed

Postby Jwilliams59 » Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:48 pm

I need help please! I bought my best buddy Dudley in August. He was hand fed and weaned. He is now 7 months old. He has been great to have around. I am on Medical Disability. I am home all day long, so I have been able to talk to Dudley and spend time listening to music with him. Dudley can whistle, Say Hello, What you doin, Huh, I dunno, and laugh in many different ways. He has been getting in and out of his cage without any issues until two weeks ago. I went to get him out like usual, and he bit me on my finger, and backed up. I tried to get him again, and the same result, bite on the finger.

I looked up some information on this and was told that he is territorial of his cage and I needed to open his door and talk to him. I have done this, but nothing. Finally on Monday he did come out of his cage, but had a hard time getting him back in, but he eventually stepped up on my finger and went in. Now he is back to not wanting to come out, trying to bite my finger. But he does his noises.

I was told by the person who I purchased him from that I needed to make sure that he got 10-12 hours of sleep without any interruptions. He was getting 8-9, so the past three nights I have moved him into a room, turned off the lights and left him alone until the morning.

I cant think of anything that was done to him. Does anyone have any suggestions? I love my Dudley and want to get him back.

Thank you,
Jeff Williams
Jwilliams59
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Blue Faced Amazon Parrot
Flight: No

Re: Need Help with Blue Faced Amazon Parrot Temperament Changed

Postby Pajarita » Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:10 am

Hi, Jeff and Dudley, welcome to the forum. Don't worry too much over this, he is just growing up. But the info about him needing 12 hours of sleep is actually obsolete, we now know that this doesn't really work because the purpose of this was to prevent them from producing sexual hormones all year round, year after year, but they would not only produce the hormones, they can actually breed very comfortably under this schedule. The trick is to expose them to twilight. Let me explain. All birds (and I do mean ALL of them) are photoperiodic (research avian photoperiodism). This means that their bodies know when it's time to do what by the type of light and the number of daylight hours (research circadian and circannual cycles). But, in order for their photoreceptors (cells that 'sense' and react to light exposure) to 'turn on or off' hormonal production, they need to 'sense' the different light that happens at twilight. Think of it as a stop watch, the light of dawn (that bluish one that happens before the sun comes out) turns on the stop watch and the light of dusk (that reddish, orangey one) turns it off - the number of hours of daylight between these two events tells them if it's time to start or stop producing sexual hormones, if it's time to molt, if it's time to migrate, etc. So, your first order of business is establishing a 'bird light schedule' instead of a human light schedule. You accomplish this by not exposing him to any artificial lights (and watch out for the widows and the street lamps) until the sun is high up in the sky in the morning and after the sun is halfway down to the horizon in the afternoon.

The second thing you need to do is establish a daily 'bird routine' for his activities. Parrots need to be fed very early in the morning, even before the sun is completely out in the sky because this is the time of the day that the wild birds go out to feed as they need to go to ground for water and some food and predators do not see very well in this light (they are 'crepuscular feeders'). The need to feed at twilight is hard-wired into their genes by nature (an evolutionary survival of the species tool) and reproducing this in captivity for our pets ensures not only good appetite and a healthier diet but also a good mood! Then you have the noon rest (all birds but most particularly the ones from warm climates stop to rest around mid-day) and the times in between when they are active within the flock (after breakfast and when the become active in the early pm and before their dinner).

The third thing you need to do is make sure that he is eating the right kind of diet. Amazons are VERY prone to fatty liver disease because they cannot eat a lot of protein and/or fat so there should never be any free-feeding (meaning, fill up a bowl and just leave it out there for the bird to eat all day long) of protein food (seeds, nuts, pellets, avicakes, nutriberries, etc). This is necessary for all parrots but there are species that are more prone to aggression than others and the Blue Fronted Amazons are one of those so, taking into consideration that high protein not only damages their liver and kidnesy but also makes them aggressive, it makes to put a little extra work into their diet. In this sense, you are lucky because amazons are EXCELLENT eaters so you should have no trouble whatsoever getting him used to eating chop, mash or gloop accompanied by raw produce in the morning (and this is a great time of the year for this because the nights are still very long and they wake up VERY hungry -no sauce like hunger, right? :D).

Also, until he has 'calmed down', I suggest you use a stick instead of your finger to get him to step up.

I have four amazons right now (a male/female pair of Yellow Napes and a two female pair of a Blue Fronted and a Yellow Crown) but had more in the past (I used to run a rescue) and, with the exception of Mami YellowCrown, every single one of them came to me because they were aggressive - and every single one of them calmed down once their diet was good and their endocrine system was back on track in tune with the seasons (this is the 'period' part of 'photoperiodism' - the 'photo' part meaning light). My birds wake up at around 6 am when I open the blinds and uncover their cages, about an hour after they get their raw produce (one fruit, one veggie, one leafy green) and about half an hour after this, their gloop (they LOVE their gloop!). Then, at around 4:00 pm, I turn off all the lights and, at 4:30, I give them their dinner (one tablespoon of a cockatiel mix -I use ABBA 1600C- with two or three pieces of nuts like one almond, one quarter walnut and one pistachio, for example). Mind you, this is the schedule I am using right now, at this time of the year, because it changes as the days become longer or shorter but they always get their breakfast about one hour after the first light appears on the night sky and about one hour before it gets too dark for them to eat. You will see that, once he eats his dinner, he will go to his roosting perch and start getting ready to go to sleep (they need the waning light to start producing melatonin which makes them sleepy -among other things, it's also used for the immune system so it's VERY important).

Let me know if there is anything you do not understand or have any questions. And, one more thing, with parrots, nothing (and I do mean NOTHING) has an immediate effect. Everything takes time so don't get impatient if he doesn't change in a matter of days or if he doesn't eat his good, healthy diet the first, second or even third day you put it out. He is not going to starve because you are giving him seeds for dinner but, as I mentioned before, zons are great eaters and you will soon start seeing him eating - especially if you eat with him!
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


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