Hello from Arizona!

[JenJenRN]

Hello!
My name is Jenny. I "inherited" Bailey, a 37 year old Yellow Naped Amazon, from elderly neighbors (89 years old) that are on hospice. They had her for 35 years. She had been in a small cage in a laundry room for an unknown period of time with her former owners unable to keep up with her care. I have owned parakeets, cockatiels, and love birds in the past, but never a large parrot. She has been with me for 9 days now and I am absolutely in love.

First on the agenda was a much larger cage (since hers was suited for a cockatiel, not an Amazon) and she seems to be really enjoying it. I know its going to take a while for her to get used to her new home so we are taking it nice and slow, but she seems to love all of the interaction and being able to watch us during the day. I do the same routine with her everyday and take queues from her body language on when she's agitated or overstimulated and its time to give her space. I've heard that Amazons can be unpredictable, so I anticipate some nasty bites but the Parrot Wizards Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots has been such an amazing resource and has spared my fingers, hands and arms thus far.

Looking forward to growing in my birdie knowledge and having Bailey happy and healthy for the rest of our years.

[Pajarita]

Hi, Jenny and Bailey, welcome to the forum and thank you so much for taking her in (do you know for a fact that Bailey is a female?). Now, I don't know where you read that amazons are unpredictable but that could not be farther from the truth. Actually, amazons are one of the easiest birds to read (which I am sure you already noticed if you have learned some of her body language) because they have very obvious physical displays both when they are angry and when they are happy. They even make a special vocalization when they are angry that they do not make at any other point in time (it's like some sort of cackling or clicking - like ka ka ka ka ).

Now, the first order of business for such an old, neglected bird is to take her to an avian vet for a complete physical because I bet you a dollar against a nickel that she has liver malfunction (ask for a bile acids test and not just the normal avian panel). At her age, it's a given. But the good thing about hepatic lipidosis (which is, most likely, what the vet will find - he will see an enlarged liver if he takes an ultrasound) is that it can be treated very efficiently and even reversed a bit through the right diet (I hope you are not free-feeding it protein food because that is what causes the disease in the first place and that you are not feeding it any animal protein whatsoever) and supplements so the sooner you start, the faster she will feel better. The other good news is that amazons are ALL good eaters so you should have no trouble at all switching her to a better diet (which means no pellets whatsoever as they are all too high in protein and too low in moisture for an amazon, especially an old one).

Let us know if there is anything with which we can help you and Bailey.