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Is the Amazon good parrot for me?

melissasparrots

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Just so you know, I have a 13 year old pet female that has never laid an egg. Her mother laid one egg as a single pet for her previous owner. In my house, she doesn't lay eggs unless I give her a nest box even with a mate in the same cage. I have another 10 year old female that also has not laid eggs.
 

Clueless

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And I have a lovable blue front male that has bit me 3 times since I had him. All 3 bites were my fault and he was excited, he was on my wrist and I wasn't playing attention.
 

Imogena

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You can shape young parrots to a point by early training and socialising, desensitising them to evrything, giving them good habits from the start, making sure they are self confident, independent to some degree, eat a good diet, gain good flight skills from the start, make sure they only have positive experiences etc. and you adapt your relationship and their training as they grow. When they are mature, you'll deal with hormones at some point, their needs, likes and dislikes might change as they grow a mind of their own etc. but what you've taught them as a young bird will still be there. You will already be familiar whith their body language and have established clear communication and a trust bond, wich will help.
Thank you for your thorough explanation. It really is very helpful. I've read often that having the parrot is like having a toddler. I can see it is true.
It is like rasing a child. You have to give them the best you can and go with them through life together. You have to shape them to some extend but also respect their individual preferences and wishes. Simply respect them, their unique personality and skills and needs. And the rough hormonal period sound very similar to what I had with my daughter. She was sweet and calm as a child. Then she became sensitive, prone to be offended easily, moody. I had to accept this and deal with it. And with some boundaries, let her be, who she was. Now we have very good relationship. I think it is very similar with the bird. Plus ocasional bitting. :)
 

Imogena

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As single pets, female amazons are not overly prone to laying eggs. If egg laying absolutely terrifies you, a male of the more relaxed/sweeter species can also be a good choice.
Egg did terrified me. Now I'm a bit calmer about this. Here I got advices what to do to reduce possibility of egg bindind and id doesn't sound that scarry anymore. I have to consider a female, just need some time to think about it.
 

Imogena

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Just so you know, I have a 13 year old pet female that has never laid an egg. Her mother laid one egg as a single pet for her previous owner. In my house, she doesn't lay eggs unless I give her a nest box even with a mate in the same cage. I have another 10 year old female that also has not laid eggs.
Oh. That's good to know.
 

Capt T.

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I always tell folks that the 'hot 3' are not the only Amazons out there. There are many other Amazons who have a much more gentle, laid back disposition. Will all members of the the hot 3 be the aggressive Amazons of the scary stories? No. Me, I do not have luck with them. I really like the double yellow head but they seem to hate me and and I always get bitten, baddly, by them. My parrot is a yellow shoulder Amazon, named Salty, and he is a sweetheart who accepts scratches and affection from all in our house hold. Very trainable, Salty must know 30+ tricks and sings opera and talks his head off. The link below is to our You tube channel, where you can meet and see all of Salty's tricks , etc.

But ALL parrots are a lot of work and need some time from you every day.

captniceguy - YouTube
 

4mybirds

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Hi Imogena!

I have a 5 year old orange wing amazons named Shasta and I absolutely adore her. She was my first medium size parrot eventhough I grew up with all sorts of birds in the house.
She loves me more then anyone else and trusts me. She has bitten me several times but all are my fault, she gives me more warning then any other parrot I've been exposed to. Shasta is also very forgiving so when I do upset her she easily gets over it.
Now when it comes to my household, she HATES my husband with every fiber of her little being. He has never done anything to make her react his way to him so, we think its something from her past. Shes had a rough life in her 5 little years. He can however change her food and water bowl as long as he doesn't reach towards her, and can change her paper. As far as letting her out he can open her cage door and she will fly to her playground, that's it. When it comes to the kids, she will step up for my 12 year old stepson and talk to him. The 10 year old she could do without lol. She does like to bluff him so he just leaves her alone.
I mentioned earlier she is 5 years old so she is battling raging hormones right now. I just read her body language, she let's me know when it's time to leave her be.
She is alone 8 hours in her cage, I make sure she has toys to chew and foraging toys to keep her occupied. When one of us gets home she does scream which I believe is her flock call. As soon as I or my husband says "Hi Shasta I'm home" she calms down and waits for my husband to open the door or for me to have her step up. She spends the remaining of the day out to do as she pleases, and has a set bed time of 630 pm.
As far as the cats go I would consider strongly if you can keep them separate, make sure the family is on board and understands the importance. It really only takes a split second for disaster to happen and you lose you beloved feathered friend.
Parrots are alot of work for sure. They can be noisy, messy and time consuming. If you think that you AND the family can tolerate the cons of a parrot I promise the pros are so rewarding.
 

jh81

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I was thrown an orange winged amazone in my lap, knowing jezt to nothing about amazons :)
That said, i am having a mixed relationship with my owa called Luka, sometimes shes the ever so sweet bird, but lately shes been terrified of everything, everywhere!! Still, i would recomend an orange winged to everyone who wants an amazon. They are very sweet mellow parrots. The ones i have met so far have all been hand raised and are so sweet!!

I havejust now returned to these forums after a year filled sith problems, and my owa was amongst them. Still, she has not once bitten me! And i have today decided to renew my commitment to this wonderful bird :heart:
 

WhoaNellie

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I don't have an Amazon, but my Grandma does. She got him when she lived in South America and brought him back to the States in the 1980s. He must be getting close to 40 years old now. I don't know how old you are, but that is something to consider, too, when deciding whether to get a baby or an older bird - they live a long time.

The good thing about Amazons is that they are very easy to "read." My grandma's Orange Winged Amazon reminds me a lot of my caique in that respect. He has very definite likes and dislikes. He's never really liked men. He likes kids. Adults, he may or may not like, other than my grandma. He bites really hard, but like I said, it's easy to see when you're about to get bit. He talks quite a bit and is pretty easy to understand.

Personally, I prefer getting babies to older birds, but I'm like that with all my animals - dogs, horses, birds. I feel like it's easier to develop a relationship and a good understanding of each other when you've raised them. I just haven't had good luck with older birds. My mom has my Sun Conure, because he loves her and hates me. I got him when he was older. I think he never forgave me for taking him away from his home. That's just my experience, though. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have had the opposite experience. Whatever you decide, I would spend as much time as possible with the bird before bringing it home and know that the bird may be different once you get it home.
 
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