UDATE on Adopting a 25 year old Green Naped Parrot

[susiequ53]

WOW! Doesn't pay to get complacent around large parrots does it??! Guess I took her sweetness last night for granted. She just nailed me good! She will not come out to play today. That should have been my first clue! I was giving her her first rope and wood toys and a new larger swing and in a split second she showed her true "feathers" so to speak! Invading her space not necessarily a good thing! Funny tho, I sternly told her NO and gave her my evil eye and she hung her head. Ahhhh! Now I feel bad! I've also sliced an orange for her but she isn't sure what to do with it! First of many encounters I'm sure lol.

[liz]

You haven't had her 24 hours yet. It will take her at least a week to understand that she belongs with you.

Her cage is all she knows to be her own. Only put your hand in for food and water. You can hand her treats but her real food must be in the cage.

Let her come out and explore as she wants to. She will go back in her cage for food and water.

25 years in one place and 24 hours in another is a big difference. She is older but not old. She will learn.

[susiequ53]

I Know! Just couldn't wait. My bad :/ Intellectually I understand where she is coming from. I have learned from this mistake. I do not want to make her afraid of me. I've left the TV on Animal Planet and a light on and getting ready to go to work so she can have some peace I hope. BTY, she is destroying the wood and rope toy! Better that than me haha!

[Polarn]

Knowing my bluefronted I can recommend you getting a saw and a drill, if you have somewhere you. An saw branches, he shredds anything quick. Like the playstand I have originally comes with them standard smooth wooden rods for the ladders and perches, first thing I did was replace all that I could with natural perches. 3of the perches helps hold the thing together so those I braded hemp rope around to protect. But I can say that the other 28 shorter ladder steps and the 4 longer perches has to be changed about once a week. But this keeps him preoccupied and he doesn't chew on the trim along the doors/windows floor etc. he even chews the roof (got wooden roof) if I doesnt provide him enough fresh branches to chew on.
So yeah be prepared to replace toys not only to keep them interesting but also ecause their shredded

[susiequ53]

Feels like I'm going backwards with my new parrot. Yes . i know it's been less than a week but it seems she's getting a little wilder each day. She won't come out side to play and she lunges towards any movement and she has quit talking and has yet to make any parrot sounds. I do not have experience with larger parrots and understand patience is huge. I will persevere but it is somewhat disheartening not to be accepted at least a little. I spent the better part of the day just talking to her and giving her treats. I left her cage door open but she didn't want to come out. She has NEVER had fruit but found she Loves Bananas and watermelon! Hopefully, she will come to accept me. :/
Any suggestions?

[cmaygar]

This is a 25-year-old bird that has not been handled since her owner died. She's in a brand new location with a stranger and is most likely terrified. I would suggest letting her get used to her new cage and you by making her comfortable for a month or so. Once she is comfortable with you, you can start feeding her favorite treats by hand and then start working with her. It sounds like you've made some excellent progress with her by finding fruits and veggies that she likes to eat. That's great. She may not end up being a cuddly bird. Some older amazons may be difficult to train if they haven't been handled regularly in a long time.

[liz]

Myrtle was only one when I got her. She was neglected by her owner and abused by an African Grey.
She was skinny, dirty and scared almost to the point of loosing her mind. I could tell by the woman's add that the bird was in trouble. I did not know what shape she was in until I got her. Heck I didn't even know what a Blue Front Amazon was.

Seeing her condition, I gave her all the foods that Rambo has been eating, opened the cage and left her alone. I decided she had had enough and may never be my baby or talk to me. I just wanted her to be healthy and happy.

One year later, Myrtle is very sociable, cuddly and talks. When she has nothing else to say she just baby blabber. I did right by her. She is more than I ever expected her to be.

Don't try to modify a scared bird. Give it some freedom and let it be itself for a while.

[susiequ53]

Thanks for the encouragement and info! It is looking up. I'm really happy with the progress! I have since found out a bit more about her and her former owner. He "cared" for her but did not spend a great amount of one on one time with her. Not only has she never had anything to eat but peanuts and sunflower seeds, she has never been handled! Can you imagine, for 25 years! She has never had affection! So, no wonder I'm getting hammered and nailed every time I extend my hand. Poor baby! She hasn't a clue! But now she has learned she loves to shred wood and toys, she is terrified of anything red and makes little grumbling sounds constantly. Two days ago, I introduced her and her cage to the other parrot room and sat with her to watch. I tried it again the next day. She seems to like it there and has perked up, I leave her door open and she will happily sit all day on top of her new playpen. She DoeS try to take out the parakeets when they get too close so I will keep them up when she is out. They're are just too curious lol. I don't guess she's ever been exposed to other birds before and may never like them flying over her head. AND, today I found she will step up on my forearm but will bite a hand> Interesting! She sat on my shoulder and pulled my hair!!! And grudgingly let me gently turn her on her back for a tummy rub! But just for a few seconds. NOW that was progress and I couldn't be happier. I gave her her favorite (peanuts) and praised her. She was ready to get back down so now she is perched and grumbling her sounds
and wants to be left alone haha! Baby steps but this was huge I think! YEA Katie!!!!

[susiequ53]

Just had to tell someone about this! I have several Andrew Skeoch CD's on bird/parrot sounds. I played one of various parrots and in general just an hour of forest sounds. It's a great CD. Anyway, Katie starts doing this Stevie Wonder head dance and spreading out her feathers and wagging her tail feathers and flapping her wings. Then she started bobbing and singing her own little song! Now there's this huge cacophony of happy ( I hope!) bird sounds from all my feathered critters filling my room singing along with the CD. Awesome! Katie seems to be having a great day! About time!!

[liz]

Yea for Katie and a very big yea for Suzie. Doin' good. Keep it up.