New to the site in and need help!!

[Nicolehale22]

My name is Nicole and my bird is Paco. He is a yellow crowned Amazon parrot. He's 22 years old and I have known him since I was a teenager. Me and my husband have known each other and been dating since we were 15 years old. We are now 30. Paco was his grandmothers bird who then passed away so Paco was inherited by Daniels family. ( Daniel is my husband ) he was locked in his cage the majority of his life there and the only one who would really give him any attention and take care of him with my husband. They have formed a pretty big pond. We have adopted him from Daniels mother. She didn't spend near enough time with him that he needed. Nor did she take him to the vet regularly and feed him the right foods. He was not in too bad of condition except for his beak. It was really sad. It's one of the main reasons why we wanted him. I have always been afraid of Paco because I have never been around birds except for when I was a toddler. Both my grandmothers had Amazon parrot as well. They were not very friendly LOL. It's sad because I am the main caretaker of Paco now. I'm the one who's always home and making his Mills and cleaning has cage and making him toys and just giving him attention. My husband give him the attention he can spare when he is home. But he works quite a bit. Paco will curl up in his lap and rub his head on my husband's hand so that my husband I will pet him while he sleeps. He's very smart and knows tons of words and knows what most of the mean. I know that if I could conquer my fear of Paco that I could train him and make him a happy or bird. I know that he wants me to because he is always trying to follow me around the house when he gets down from his cage. He even puts his chest up to the bars on the cage so that I can pet him without being scared. That's pretty sad. He has me trained LOL So what I'm hoping to get out of this for him is advice. Lots of it! I have discovered a new found love for parents and I am totally obsessed! I would definitely get another one ASAP but I know that I need to learn to Handle the one that I have already. I have made him portable purchases and he has free range most of the time. We take him outside and give him showers and he loves it. We just put missed on the water hose and he usually does the rest. Please Help me get over my fear someone! I need a success story please!

[liz]

What are you afraid of? If he follows you around he wants to bond with you. Keep in mind that this bird has basically been in isolation. He is excited with you and your home and wants to learn everything. It sort of reminds me of Rambo. His humans were a working couple who were away all day and had no kids. His house was quiet. It was really funny how he threw himself into the kaos of my house and claimed the position of "leader of the pack".

[Wolf]

How long has Paco been with you in your home? It sounds like you are doing pretty well with him, but it is actually difficult to say that with any certainty as there is not much to go on about the things that matter to the bird. I know that sounds a bit strange, but I don't know how to put it any better. Paco would think that good food in adequate amounts, freedom to move about are his rights and are not a criteria for liking someone. Paco is more interested in how you treat him and interact with him. He knows how you feel as he is an expert on body language as it is a big part of how he communicates. He is aware of your fear and so it is always best for you to make sure to calm yourself before approaching him as he responds to your emotions almost as quickly as you realize that you have them.
I am not sure how to help you with your fears, the right approach is different with each person human or animal, although in the end you do have to face them head on if you wish to be freed from them.
don't know what you need for a success story, I consider all of my birds to be a success story as they almost all came with issues due to abuse. Mimi, perhaps stands out the most as she is a Yellow Naped Amazon of 15 years of age and is still making fantastic progress. here is one of my posts concerning her viewtopic.php?f=25&t=12442 There are a few others in the Parrot tales section of the forum and I do need to update this one and so I will try to do that today. Some of the Mimi posts are very similar in content but are still different in case you want to use the search box in the upper left of the screen to find them.

[Pajarita]

Well, let's see. First and before anything else, I worry about your comment about his beak not been in good condition because, if that means that it was overgrown, he is not in 'not too bad a condition', he has liver damage and this needs to be addressed as soon as possible (change in diet and daily supplements). You also say you take him outside so I am assuming this means his wings are clipped and he cannot fly... At this point in his life and if he has always been kept in a cage or clipped, he might not regain flight but, if I were you, I would most definitely try to give this back to him.

Now, as to how to get you over your fear... well, my dear, nobody can tell you how to do that, it's entirely up to you. But he doesn't sound like a mean bird to me - at least, you don't say that he bites you every chance he gets which is what a mean bird would do. My very first rescue was a red lored amazon. She plucked her chest, screamed all day long and bit every chance she got. She was so mean that you had to be careful walking next to her cage because she would hang on from the edge of the door and stretching her entire body to reach you, bite any part of your body she could catch. But this bird ended up in full plumage, never making a peep and a very, very loving bird with good care. So, if that is the kind of 'success' story you were looking for, there it is!

First thing you need to do is put him on a good diet and that means no sunflower seeds, no peanuts, no free-feeding any type of high protein food (seeds, nuts, pellets, nutriberries, avicakes, etc). You need to make him gloop (or mash or chop) which he would get for breakfast accompanied by a leafy green, a fruit and a vegetable (a different one every day) -you would add the liver cleansers and tonics to the gloop on a daily basis. Then, for dinner, you can give him tree nuts (walnut, almond, pistachio, filbert, etc). He needs to be kept at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk and go to sleep when night falls naturally. He needs to be let out of his cage for, at least, 4 hours a day, and you should spend, at least, 2 hours with him. If you are afraid, at the beginning, you can get him to step up to a stick and put him on a table stand with something for him to chew on (like a toy, a rolled-up magazine, some cardboard or a piece of non-toxic wood). Talk, sing, whistle to him; offer him a treat every now and then; praise praise praise him as often as you can and before you know it, he will be your friend.