hi everyone

[shane12]

thanks liz i will try that with him ,i do hope we have alot of fun together as i have always wanted a parrot from the age of 6 and now i am 46 lol,so i think i have waited long enough for one.

[shane12]

Thanks liz i will try that with him,i hope we have alot of fun together as i have always wanted a parrot from the age of 6 lol,and now i am 46 so i think i have waited long enough for one.

[Pajarita]

Well, he goes to bed at midnight because you are up until then and the lights are on and not because he 'prefers' it this way, my dear. Parrots need to follow a solar schedule and that means up with dawn and to bed with dusk (with no artificial lights on before the sky is completely lit or after the sun is halfway down to the horizon). They are not like dogs or cats that can adjust to our schedule, they need to follow a bird schedule (think of the birds on the trees and chickens) because Nature made it so their endocrine system is regulated by light so, if he doesn't follow it, he will end up with a screwed up hormone production and, when it comes to amazons, that means aggression big time! It also means a depressed immune system, physical discomfort (and/or chronic pain), etc. The endocrine system is the body manager and when it's not working right, everything else is affected (growth, sleep, appetite, sexual function, etc).

You also need to change his diet because amazons cannot eat seeds all day long. They are VERY prone to fatty liver disease which comes from eating too much protein and fat (as in dry seeds). Now, I don't use or recommend pellets, I think they are too unnatural and not the best dietary option for parrots, I feed gloop and produce in the morning and a measured portion (1/4 measuring cup) of a good quality low protein seed mix (budgie or cockatiel mixed with budgie) for dinner. BUT, if you are going to use pellets, please use Tops and no other. Mind you, you will still have to provide him with fresh produce as well as cooked veggies every day.

Amazons, unless they are hormonal, don't usually like their body touched. When they love and trust you 100%, they might allow you to scratch their heads, cheeks and neck but that's about it.

My amazons don't play with toys, either, but they LOVE cardboard boxes. When they see me bringing one into the birdroom, they all come to the edge of the platform (they are not in cages) and lean forward, staring at me waiting for me to say 'the' words: "Look what I have for YOOUUUUU!" "You want it? Yeah? You want it?" "OK, here it goes: Ready, set, goooooooo!" and that's when I throw it in the air so it would fall on the platform and when they all rush real quick to be the first one to reach it and chew on it But they also take the little boxes from my hand. Try giving him one and see what happens.

[Wolf]

A 40 year wait is a long time and I am sure that you are going to have a good time together, but for that to happen you are really going to need to make some major changes and this means that you will have to adjust your schedule to accommodate your birds basic biological needs. I will try to explain the reasons as I go along, so this could be a rather lengthy reply.
I see that you try to insure that he gets enough sleep but, to be honest with you it is more important that he gets up and goes to bed at the proper times for a bird. Probably the reason that he stays up until midnight is that you are up with the lights on, so he can't go to sleep any sooner unless he reaches a point of exhaustion. Parrots are photoperiodic, which means that their internal clock is set and controlled by the light that he receives on a daily basis, one of the primary functions of this clock is to control his endocrine system which in turn controls the production of hormones for the purpose of reproduction. When your bird is not getting the correct lighting then this clock becomes inaccurate and becomes free running. The result is a bird that goes into the breeding cycle and just never comes out of it until this is corrected and the clock is reset. The resetting of this clock takes a very long time during which you are faced daily with a dangerously hormonal bird until the hormones finally subside. For this reason I urge you to put your bird on a solar light schedule immediately. Breeding season is coming up in the northern hemisphere and with the light schedule that he is on now combined with poor diet could cause him to enter puberty too early.
A solar light schedule is one where your bird will get exposed to the entire twilight period that occurs at dawn( no artificial lights, at this time), then your bird will naturally wake up shortly after dawn. After sunrise it is alright for him to have artificial lights but I recommend that you use a full spectrum light that has a cri of 94+ with a Ktemp of between 5000 and 5500 with both uva and uvb wavelengths. Then about an hour before dusk turn off the artificial lights so that he is exposed to the full twilight period of dusk and then he goes to bed by full dark. This is the same light schedule as the wild bird outside follow and the same as he would follow were he not a captive bird.
You are free feeding your bird seeds which is detrimental to his long term health as it will cause fatty liver disease among other problems. A good seed mix is great for him but it needs to be fed in limited quantities and then is best used for his evening meal and then removed from his cage after he goes to bed. His morning feeding should consist of whole grains and vegetables and a few legumes such as lentils and perhaps some cooked small white beans. Pellets are primarily ground seeds with other additives and also usually have a large amount of soy products, they come with their own problems as well. Getting most captive parrots these days to eat a healthy diet is interesting at best, but Amazons are usually pretty good eaters, still it takes some time to change them to a good diet. This is usually the fault of the breeders who did not wean the babies onto a good diet, because of the expense. Parrots must learn from their parents what is good to eat or not and the breeder and the birds initial care givers, both of whom replace the parents are responsible for teaching this to the bird.
Your bird does not appear to be overly fearful, just he doesn't yet trust you and to remedy that you must spend a lot of time talking to him and offering the occasional treat while talking to him. Some out of cage time would also help a lot. It is quite possible that he will even step up for you if you give him some time out of his cage. Is he clipped or can he fly?

[shane12]

thanks for your information i will try the things you have said because i want the best for him.
wolf you asked if he had been clipped ,no he can fly he also has out of his cage time from when he gets up to when he goes to bed.he is taking to me because when i go out of the room he squaks or flys to the room i am in.he also has long nails i have bought him 3 abrasive perches which i have put down at the bottom of his cage near his food dishes.i dont think his owners had much to do with him, but thanks for all your advice.

[Wolf]

That is great news, I am so happy to hear that he is flighted and that he get a lot of out of cage time. I will be happy to help in what ever way that I can. Thank you.

[shane12]

thanks wolf, i dont believe in clipping birds wings they are meant to fly if not they would have better legs to walk on. i have found his first veg today he likes tinned peas,wont touch carrots thou keep on trying new stuff. thanks shane

[shane12]

p.s wolf do you still have your double yellow headed amazon, if so what is he like as a pet i mean.

[Wolf]

I have a Yellow Naped Amazon, she is 15 yr. of age and as a companion bird goes, the jury is still out. I have had her for nearly a year now and will keep her until I die. When she first came to me she was severely traumatized and quite psychotic, so much so that perhaps I should have tried to find a bird sanctuary for her to live out the remainder of her life in. I spent the first several months with her hanging and weaving upside down from the top of her cage screaming non stop except for when she was eating or when she went to sleep at night. After about 3 months of this she gradually reduced the screaming and started to talk and a terrible tale it was that she told, about days of neglect, impossible rules for her to follow, birds getting sick and dying, one of which was her brother. The very first words that she spoke that didn't rip my heart open were " Good food, my god, good food. I like this food" This is a thing that her previous owners had never heard from her although she talks quite well and a lot. She has finally started to venture outside of her cage to a perch installed on the door which is always open unless it is after bedtime. Her name is Mimi and I have made several posts concerning her in the Parrot Tales section of the forums. The very latest thing that she has just started doing in the last couple of weeks is to start playing with a plastic chain that is hung on her door and another on the outside of the cage next to the door. This has not been posted before, the rings are about 2 inches across so she can't get hurt or stuck on them. She has never bit anyone. Perhaps I need to rephrase that last. She has just started learning that it is alright for her to reach out and touch us and since my Lady is her chosen, it is her that she practices touching with and in the process has applied too much pressure on a few occasions and scared herself when she did so. But she has never intentionally bitten either of us. She is a very careful and sweet bird and the only thing she wants is to be loved and allowed to be. All in all she is a wonderful bird and in time she will be just as wonderful of a companion bird.
There is very little difference in these two species of Amazons.

[shane12]

poor girl, at least she is in a good place now , hope you all have happy times together.