Hello from Buenos Aires.

[birdofhermes]

I just found out about this forum and I thought I might register to talk about my parrot. In real life nobody pays attention to him because he is sooo mean. I've had him for 10 years but he had been so neglected before that he never really developed a bond with me or anyone else. He had a brief crush on my mother but it seems she broke his heart(she doesn't pay attention to the animals in the house). And now he only yells at people for food, water and he lets me touch him twice a year when he is changing his feathers so I clean the parts of his head he can't reach. He does love to sing along with me, but that's just as far as our relationship goes.
He is actually my father's parrot but lately I've decided that I want to try and be friends with him. I know he can't possibly be happy being so lonely, even when he is the one that is repelling people.
P. is about 25 years old and lived his 10 first years in a tiny cage in a pet store and then went to live with some distant relatives who nearly killed him with a mono-diet of sunflower seeds and dirty water. I was told they even physically abused him on more than one occasion because he just loooves to scream at nap time and he took interest in some uhm "exotic" plants of them and once he broke from his cage and destroyed them.
I know it might sound weird that I am trying to bond with my parrot after 10 years of having him, but I suffer from incapacitating anxiety and I always thought that he was better off alone because I extrapolated my social anxiety to him all along... Now I am trying to recover my health and I thought it would be a nice idea to walk the path of happiness with my crazy P.
I know it might take me forever to see any progress because this an adult parrot, and I know that I might never see him being tame like my other animals, but I think he deserves another chance, and I'm willing to put time everyday to this task.

I know that cage is awful but actually that's where he sleeps at night and where we put his food bowl and water dish. He can fly and he spends the whole day in our backyard destroying stuff and climbing to a palm tree we have there. Sometimes he has mock fights with a pidgeon I raised a couple of years ago.
I know I've been a bad owner but he really stresses me out whenever I want to reach to him, but I am decided now to put all I have to be his friend. I really love him and I want him to have a good life.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.
You are to be commended for your efforts even though it has taken many years. I don't know about other blue fronts but mine has a mind of her own. Myrtle is very intelligent and active.
You can build a relationship. Older parrots have been rescued and adjusted to their new humans. You have a better start since he already knows you. Now he needs to learn the new you has taken an interest in him.

[Wolf]

Glad to have you here and hope that we can assist you in your attempt to be a better friend to your parrot. Most of his problems were not of either his or your choices, but rather from the poor treatment that he had received prior to his coming to live with you. I don't know how friendly he will eventually become with you as that is between the two of you, but all of us respond in time to good treatment and patient loving guidance. Don't be concerned overly about you not having been as interested in him as you think that you should have been and instead concentrate on moving ahead at his pace.
I have a 16 yr. old Yellow Naped Amazon, who was also severely abused. After two years with us we still can just barely touch her and she has just started to come out onto the outside of her cage. Sometimes all you can do is constantly show them love and kindness and then allow them the time and space to heal from the mental and emotional scars that are a part and parcel of this type of abuse. Some can make a full recovery and some can't. The thing is to be patient and considerate and never stop trying and to accept that which they can give, never demanding, but gently encouraging them to trust you a little more. Study closely his body language as it is how he communicates with you as I am sure that by now you are aware of. Good luck.

[Pajarita]

Welcome and bienvenido (soy uruguaya). Tell us a bit what you have been doing to win him over and we will try to help you achieve your goal. And his name, you did not tell us his name!