cage newby

[Pajarita]

The 'newer' cages for parrots all have some kind of a 'lock' that prevents them from taking the bowls out (it's usually something like a little bar above the bowl which reduces the space or 'pinches' the edge between the bottom and this top bar so the bird cannot just pull it out) but the older ones don't and, for those, you can buy bowls that are made to lock (there are plastic ones but I would go with the stainless steel one: http://www.birdsafestore.com/product_p/rs-10.htm). I only use bowls for the water and give them their food on disposable white paper plates which I 'hold down' with a rock on top (they use them for cleaning and honing their beaks as well as for perching - they are just plain garden rocks that I have washed).

I would not waste any money on a foraging toy, you can make a large variety of them with things that you can find easily and cheap (little boxes, paper, corn husks, paper plates, paper cups, twine, etc) because there are birds that will not go for the complicated ones and then you are stuck with an expensive, bulky thing that you can't really use. Start with simple ones that you can make for free and, if you see it works, make more complicated by adding layers that need to be disposed of before the bird gets to the treat (by the way, the picture shows something that looks like dry papaya -the orange cubes- and that's not good for them because it has sulfites AND sugar) or something that has just a single opening (like a hole) through which he has to get the nut out (I don't like plastic but you can get a thick plastic box and make a largish hole in it by using something hot).

[Wolf]

If you use heat to make a hole in plastic make certain to do it outside as it produces toxic fumes. Plastics may be drilled using a slow speed and sawn as well.

[debdans]

I was asked are his wings clipped. I thank so because he makes no effort to fly. But can climb fast ever were.
I witnessed my first birdy first snit fit. I opened door to let him come out planning to feed him when on top. Walked away and did not give him food he was doing a low screaming No,Who and What He does when upset that is when he bites me. I came back in later he was resting on back side head in mini blinds looking out he rushed down side of cage and nailed me before I could get arm out of cage. I filled his water bowl and placed his pellets in one bowl and like Wolf said carrot celery and seeds mix small amount in other bowl. I used a towel to put in cage on floor grate. (The first day placed food bowl in holder through door but he dumped it before I left room)He got so mad he started throwing small plastic bowl all over cage floor screaming words at it.Laying on back attacking it.LOL Later when he as calmer he took his heaver metal food bowl and slid it back and forth on floor finally hid it behind his body and stood there fussing at me and making funny eye and wing and tail flutters. So I sat there in short office chair so I am not far above him just talking to him, he settled down grabbed carrot munching. I am learning from what you all said Watch Body Language they will tell you . I am covering cageat dark

[liz]

Wow, what a tantrum.
The wing flutter is begging. They beg their parents for food like that. When Rambo does it I have a guessing game trying to figure out what he wants.

[Wolf]

By making funny eye, if you mean that the black part of the eye was getting large and small and back and forth like that from large to small, that would be pinning or flashing his eyes and together with fanning his tail and fluttering his wings, I would say that he is aggressively telling you that this is his and to leave it alone.
If you want your mini blinds to not be destroyed move his cage enough that he can't get to them.
Ok, from what you have said it appears to me that you may need to work on his diet a bit. What are you currently feeding him? I know that you just got him and I know that you are trying to see what vegetables that he will eat, and that you are giving him both seeds and pellets. What pellets and what seed mix are you using? You also might want to see if he likes apples, wash the apple well and then cut into 6 slices and remove the seeds from it and give him a couple of pieces to try.
Instead of a towel to put food on the bottom of his cage try using paper plates or even a small wooden cutting board.

[debdans]

He was eating 3/4 Zupreem fruit blend pellets. He does like them. I tried rowdy bush he refused to touch that. The other was seed Kaytee Forti diet and apple on first day, I tried oranges he will not touch.
I am starting to change his diet I have been told by you all and amazon parrot book I am reading to cut down on seed and like you said find out what natural fresh food he will eat. He loved cooked sweet Potato after he chewed my arm above my gloves and the stick I was trying to get him up on. I am crippled bad leg and have to use a cane so he is a lot faster then me.But I do believe he has calmed down a little when I am just sitting there talking to him as long as I do not lean toward cage from my chair
I fixed the bowl dumping problem today. I had my husband go to a friends house and get me 2 crock lock dishs. We both show and breed Chihuahuas, But I did not have a extra crock lock we use for babys.
He growled at it for awhile but was eating from it before night.
I have been covering his cage for what 4-5 day, how long if it works before his aggression slows down. I saw him in owners arms but I did see 2 places were he nipped. Owner said cage agression.But he said he would get on a stick easy and he was in owners arms not biting him. I am in it for the long haul to try to win his trust. But getting ready to forget trying to get him on a stick till he is willing. Just praying the day comes.

[debdans]

A set of mini blinds is $10 at Dollar General. My friends love birds destroy a set every few months. If Mr Kiwi starts doing it a lot his cage will be out more in floor. But occasionally chew it that is one cheap bird toy. You just replace the bottom part original blind holder stays in place. As ling as he does not chew walls like another friends Umbrella Cockatoos does.
They had to take sander and file off bolt ends, he takes claw and beak and dismantles his cage and was out in less then 2 hours several times. Destroyed a table one day when alone. They make his wood toys and perches on a weekly basis as he will sit there and chew all day. He has a 40? inch cage but I know he needs bigger because he is alone all day so is a board chewer. Below is me with him.2 years ago and 155 lbs heaver. I could not have a cockatoo as if Dan my husband was in there house over 2 hours he starts to wheeze. Buddy is 100% love and I so wish I could have had him.I would cry sometimes when I had to leave. They finally sent him to a cousinses house that was a work from mom answering service, Buddy never even screamed like so many.
I DID purchase Kiwi a spray bottle when I got his carrots and celery. And he has had a bath with one before. He actually came to me put his head down wings out a little and made cute noises not loud words and turned around to get both his sides wet. So that was a huge plus for us something he likes. I gave him a huge bowl first day to bath but he did not even drink out of it. But he sure knows spray bottle.I am not super experienced in birds do know a little from friends but nothing about bad birds are Amazons.Just what I am reading this week and what you are telling me.

[Wolf]

Be very happy that you got an Amazon and not a cockatoo. Cockatoo's are indeed snugglely cuddle bugs who want all of your undivided attention, but can and do turn on you out of nowhere if they don't think that they are getting enough of your attention. And that huge nut cracker can do a horrific amount of damage in less than a heartbeat, it takes bad bird to a whole new level.
Your Mr. Kiwi is not a bad bird, from what you are saying, he just has a few issues to work through. It is doubtful that he will be as much of a cuddle bug as a cockatoo but you will find that in time and with the right assistance from you that he can be a very loving bird. The guy that you got him from did not know what he was doing with this bird and is the sole cause of most of this birds problems, at least in my opinion and we all know about opinions, don't we? I have a 15 year old Yellow Naped Amazon hen, who also came from a very controlling and abusive home prior to coming to live with us. After over a year of daily work and interaction we have finally helped her to reach the point where she is beginning to show signs of trust. Sometime the damage that people do to these normally loving creatures is beyond comprehension for me.
With how you described your attempt to get Mr. Kiwi to step up on a stick, you might want to make one in the shape of a cross so that when he starts moving up the stick towards you that you have something that will help you to slow him down and keep him off of you.
At this point in time, I would not expect Mr. Kiwi to get over his hormonally driven behaviors, at least not until after breeding season is over for the year. That is because it will not be much longer before breeding season begins. However if you want his raging hormones to subside as they should then you need him to be on the same lighting schedule that the wild birds are on and you need to fix his diet.
I think that all birds like Zupreem Fruit Blend pellets. They like the nice bright colors and they love all of the sugar in them. This particular brand of pellet is very popular as the humans like the colors as much as the parrots do. But they are among the very worst pellet that they can get to eat. They are full of dyes, they are made with a very large amount of soy products and have lots of chemical additives and preservatives. Like an all seed diet they are also too high in fats and proteins and they are full of sugar. This means, to me that not only do they support hormonal imbalances in the bird, they put the bird at risk for fatty liver disease and at risk for diabetes, both of which are fatal. I don't feed pellets at all although there are several members who do. I feed my parrots a home cooked food called gloop, for breakfast along with a couple of fresh raw veggies for all day picking and then I fees a high quality seed mix for dinner. I leave the gloop in with the bird until dinner time ,but I remove any seed mix that is left after they go to sleep for the night. and I use a vitamin/ mineral supplement for birds in their gloop three times a week, but I only give them a third of the recommended amount of it at one time. I also add a little probiotics to it once a week to aid in digestion.
As with most thing parrot related patience is your best and most useful tool. They are intelligent and need to feel like they have some control over their own lives. They are very social creature who are for the most part non violent, except for breeding season when they are hormonal and are driven to protect their mates, their young and their nesting area. They are loud, undisciplined, destructive, amusing and wild bundles of feathers with intelligence. They can be and are a lot of fun and are great companions.

[Pajarita]

If you follow a strict solar schedule, his hormonal production will start decreasing in mid July and he will go into molt after it in order to begin the 'resting' seasons (winter). A strict solar schedule this time of the year (the actual times vary as the seasons change) means:
1. uncover cage at 6:45 am with all artificial lights off and remove food bowl
2. turn on artificial lights at 8:00 am (they should be a good quality full spectrum: CRI 94+ and Ktemp 5000 to 5500 with UVA and UVB output)
3. feed breakfast
4. turn off artificial lights at 4:00 pm and serve dinner
5. cover cage after he falls asleep (around 5:30 to 6:00 pm)

It's essential that there are no artificial lights on during sunrise and sunset and no light before or after because it's the change in the light at these times that turns on and off their internal clock (and this what tells their bodies to start or stop producing sexual hormones).

If you are going to be in the same room where his cage is, you need to use a black out cage cover so no light whatsoever shines into it and keep very quiet because they need good quality sleep or they get real grouchy. This is not easy to do so a lot of people have what we call 'sleeping cage' which is a smaller cage kept in a room where the bird can sleep all night long without human life interrupting.

I think either Wolf did not explain correctly or you misunderstood on the diet. He needs to eat cooked whole grains with cooked/chopped veggies in the morning and either pellets or seeds for dinner. If you are going to go the pellet way (I don't recommend them), please get him Tops because they are the only ones that have no soy, are organic, made out of human grade ingredients and have no man-made vitamins/minerals in them, as Wolf said, the colored pellets are pretty much hands down the worst there is. Parrots like them the same that kids like candy but they are not good for them in the long run. Personally, I (and the birds) prefer a good quality seed mix, 3 of mine eat a budgie mix (ABBA 1600) and the other three eat half budgie and half cockatiel which I make out of equal parts ABBA 1600 C and ABBA 1200. They each get a bit less than 1/4 measuring cup.

Now, amazons are GREAT eaters BUT parrots are born not knowing what is safe to eat and what is not and need to learn from their parents but, as breeders steal the babies from the parents before they can teach them anything, they only know to eat what they were given by the breeder during the weaning process -which is usually not the best diet for them because a good diet is not only expensive but also difficult. So it will take many tries of your giving him the same thing over and over and over and him seeing you eating until he will try something new and learn to like it. This process takes could take years so prepare yourself to throw away A LOT of uneaten fruits and veggies until he learns. Unfortunately for our pockets and patience, there is no other way of doing it and, when it comes to amazons who are so very prone to obesity, hormonal surges and fatty liver disease, there is no choice but to do it. Thankfully, your bird is young and an amazon, a species that is highly motivated by food and all of them end up been good eaters (I have gotten birds that were 30 and 40 years old and have successfully switched them to a good diet, something that would be almost impossible to do with other species).

Please don't expect a cockatoo affection from him because you won't get it. I am saying this because I don't want you to be disappointed and think that the bird does not love you because he is not cuddly, does not like his body touched, does not give you kisses all the time, etc. These are not normal amazons behaviors but it doesn't mean they don't love us, they do, they just show it differently. They love to talk to us and they adore to sing with us (they always do it opera style and are a hoot when they do) and there is nothing they like better than quietly sit on our shoulders and very gently preen our hair... well, when they are nice and calm, not hormonal, and when they finally bond with us. Don't even try to put him on your shoulder for many months or you can get bit and an amazon bite is nothing to sneer at!

He sounds as if he has been either severely neglected and possibly borderline abused so you have your work cut out for you, my dear. But it's not impossible. My first rescue was an adult amazon, she plucked her chest, screamed all day long and was the meanest thing (she would hang on to the edge of the door of her cage and stretch her body as much as she could to bite you as you were walking by) but she ended up been a sweet, affectionate lady who never gave a single problem.

And be careful with the little chis because he can easily pluck an eye out of them or bite half an ear off.

[debdans]

I will continue to work on his diet. And yes you 2 I am so glad I did not get a cockatoo as I have heard night mare stores about them for years. With no warning not even a growl Huge chunks out of face, nose, broke and lacerated fingers to the bone. A few like Buddy wonderful but even more just so so pet and a few real bad bird given to rescue are euthanized.
I can go in open door and sit he comes to a few feet from door and lets me talk to him. If I wait a little bit he will take a peanut from me are carrot and not attack. Some times he throws them don but usually not if a favorite treat
Wolf I will try the cross stick so some protection. But I have decided to wait at least a week are 2 if still making ping eyes to try to get him on stick
Like you all told me he is not as bad as some and there is hope but If I break his trust are make him submit I will never have a happy bird.
You better believe I never leave alone a pup near my bird. Not even a adult.Dogs not even in same room.Especally Puppies do not have the brains yet to fear other animals are to not jump at a bird wanting to play and would be so easy to kill or badly injure.