all i can stands, cant stands no more...

[ilikebirds]

before i continue, i must say i thought i was good with birds. typically, i make friends with bird easily; my own flock, my friends birds, some even deemed unmanagable. i am severely dissapointed as i have discovered i am not an amazon person. god knows i have tried, but its not working. screaming doesnt bother me much, but when rex gets going, its like hes screaming into my brain. its emotionally affecting me. he screams all the day long, in or out of the cage, while playing with toys, only quiet when he is physically touching me, which is the next problem. when he is out, he follows me, i mean hot on my heels following me. but he attacks during every interaction, and each time i am afraid for when its coming. he used to only leap off the cage onto me, so his cage top privalage was revoked. so he then began to climb other things to jump from, so i would use a stick to take him down to avoid the attack. now he is jumping from the stick, he did this the other day and ripped out a bunch of hair. after the attack he asked for a pet. no matter who is hanging out with him, he looks for me. walks around the house screaming, while my husband desperately tries to get his attention. my husband really wants to bond with rex, but he acts like my husband doesnt exist. i am afraid to come down with the new baby while rex is out, as if he is on something, he will attack. so he is in the cage screaming.
i feel bad admitting defeat, that this bird has the best of me, and that we are not the right home. i would never just give him away, we will find an understanding person for him, but who knows if they will be the right one.



any comments welcome, nice or not. please understand this is not something we are doing because we had a baby. obviously we and rex are not on the same page, not even the same book, and are at a loss for what to do. breeding season has come and gone. its almost been a year, and things are getting worse.

 

[*K*J*B*]

I'm sorry. I hope Rex finds the perfect home. I know its hard to admit defeat, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

 

[Brigidt36]

What kind of zon is Rex? How old is he? You've had him a year? Is he clipped or flighted?Did the screaming start before or after the baby? What about the attacks, before or after the baby? Where do you keep his cage? Is it in a place where all the action is? How is he around the rest of your flock? What kind of toys does he like? Sorry for all the questions but with some more info we might be able to help. I'm sorry you are going through this. An angry, attacking zon is no fun at all. I wouldn't want the baby to be in the same room either.

 

[ilikebirds]

What kind of zon is Rex? How old is he? You've had him a year? Is he clipped or flighted?Did the screaming start before or after the baby? What about the attacks, before or after the baby? Where do you keep his cage? Is it in a place where all the action is? How is he around the rest of your flock? What kind of toys does he like? Sorry for all the questions but with some more info we might be able to help. I'm sorry you are going through this. An angry, attacking zon is no fun at all. I wouldn't want the baby to be in the same room either.

no worries, i will try to answer everything...
rex is an unsexed mealy amazon of an unknown age. almost a year ago, we got a call from a friend who rescues, but is not comfy with the bigger birds. all we know is rumor says he is over 20 years, and for the last 4 years spent 24hrs a day in a tiny 24x24x24 (roughly) cage, couldnt open wings, had cockatiel perches. people were going to throw him outside while snowing, due to the screaming. he ate ONLY peanuts, and nothing else. took him to the vet, suprisingly got a clean bill of health, and a toenail trim.
he is clipped because he has no flights. he has switched to a volkman mix instead of peanuts, took forever, and he has slowly been moulting, but no new flights yet. i think id be in trouble big time if has flight ready.
he has screamed pretty much since he got here. baby is just 2 months old, and has just been around the birds a handful of times. i dont even think rex knows she is here.
his cage is in the living room, with the rest of the flock, well the other half. he is now parked next to ruby, as they talk together. we had to move him to the other side of the room because he was jumping on people more frequently. we no longer have to walk past him to get to the slider door. he doesnt seem to care he switched sides. there is no other room we can put him in.
he will pretty much play with whatever we give him, but only will play if you are also playing with the toy, or if he is mad and releasing aggression. he mostly stays in the same spot of the cage, and just screams. i have tried to show him about playing, but he just doesnt care. maybe he is older than thought...

i dont recall exactly when the attacks started, just that it was from the top of the cage. he bonzais off the top, and does his best to land on you, and he has got me really bad in the face once, tried to lop off my finger another time, and ripped out a bunch of hair, as if i hear flapping wings now, its duck and cover! i put a blanket on to of the cage, and he will not go up there. but he will now climb rubys cage, or the tiels cage, just like king kong, and as i enter the room spring his attack. i have to check the room for him. not that he is ever unsupervised, but like i said my hubby likes him, but if he turns his back, rex is climbing atop whatever is handy. he used to be good on the floor, but is now attacking feet.

 

[Danita]

I am not sure if you have tried this, but flapping and flying exercise BEFORE the behavior starts really does wonders. Usually you know when the behavior is going to start. It gets their ya-yas out and they fix up their feathers after.
Shake up the routine a bit.

 

[tracie]

I am sorry this is happening. Hopefully he will find a home that understands and meets his needs better for him. I always feel so sad to read these things, as my Luca is a YNA and the light of my life. He literally makes me smile and laugh everyday, but you have to on point around him and he has to get enough exercise and out of cage time, or he will bite out of frustration.

 

[ilikebirds]

I am not sure if you have tried this, but flapping and flying exercise BEFORE the behavior starts really does wonders. Usually you know when the behavior is going to start. It gets their ya-yas out and they fix up their feathers after.
Shake up the routine a bit.

how can i do flapping exercise if i cant trust him on me and he jumps off the stick? he has trust issues and i can only touch hi on the head. flapping works very well with my meyers, but i can touch him everywhere and he trusts me. my fear is to have rex on my hand, begin the exercise, and have him feel he is going to fall and bite from fear.

 

[Big.Green.Chicken]

We got KerBear our Mealy amazon by accident. We thought we were taking in a white eyed conure, when a Mealy amazon showed up on our porch in a box. I can understand how difficult it can be working with a larger bird. My Ker is very quiet. When she does scream though, the walls and windows shake. I couldn't handle that 24/7, so I certainly understand how frustrating it must be for you. We would not have felt comfortable keeping KerBear if she was not very trusting of me, gentle, and quiet. We had no amazon experience.

I am very sorry for your current situation. At times things we do frighten Ker. We have no idea what kind of situation our birds have come from. That you have tried for a year to work things out despite the screaming and the attacks shows that you really do care.

Thank you for thinking about what is best for Rex. Perhaps he needs a household where he is the only bird and things are more quiet. We never know what our birds went through before they came to us.

 

[suncoast]

Does he have a smaller sleeping cage somewhere dark & quiet? Perhaps in a spare bedroom? Maybe he's not getting enough rest. Are there other pets that could be considered predators like cats or dogs?

Ginger

 

[ilikebirds]

Does he have a smaller sleeping cage somewhere dark & quiet? Perhaps in a spare bedroom? Maybe he's not getting enough rest. Are there other pets that could be considered predators like cats or dogs?

Ginger

i dont have a spare rom for him to sleep in, but he gets at least 12 hours sleep, and has covers on the cage to make sure lights dont wake him. everyone is kicked out of the living room/bird room around 8pm, as the kids have to get ready for bed. the bedrooms are upstairs. so he is getting lengthy, good quality sleep, gets uncovered each morning cheerfully by my husband.
we have no cats, just a stupid dog which rex could care less about. he just recently started to chase the poor stupid dog (i call her stupid dog with great love), and he does not show fear of new things. in fact he is the most steadfast bird we have, and loves loves LOVES the vacuum, where the other birds are fearful of it.

 

[suncoast]

Hmmm, I am sorry your in such a hard place. I know you really do love him and this is very difficult. I hope someone with more experience will be able to guide you.

Ginger

 

[ilikebirds]

actually everyones ideas are helpful. gives me a mental checklist to go for things to try with him.
and finding the right homewill take a long while. like i said, i wont just hand him over to anyone.

 

[jmfleish]

Have you tried clicker training with him at all. This might get him to focus his behaviors. It's worth a try. Are you sure he's a Mealy...it's very odd behavior for them as they're generally very passive birds but if he's been abused in a former home, anything is possible.

 

[ilikebirds]

i have read on clicker training a little.i am having an impossible time to find a training treat. he absolutely will not try anything besides the seed mix. no people food, no veggies, no fruit, no nothing. only thing he will accept from hand is a peanut.
i posted a bunch of pics a while back in a thread when i first got him. im sure its a mealy, and everyone else said mealy too. he has extreme sweet moments, but hes mostly strung out and nutty.

 

[jmfleish]

I would use the peanuts for training then. Make sure to remove them from his regular diet and only use them in training. If you would like, I can send you a copy of Karen Pryor's Clicker Training for Birds that also comes with a clicker and a target stick to get you started. Just PM me.

 

[Brigidt36]

Oh gosh, I hate that you, your family and Rex are going through this. Mealies are usually the 'gentle giants' of the zon world. He's not flighted so clipping him to be able to work with him is out (in the past I've had to do this with Max, but it was always the last resort and something I hated having to do). Does he jump off his playstand and cage, or is he able to climb off them? If he jumps, well gosh, I don't know what to tell you. If he climbs, is there a way to set things up so he is prevented from climbing down to get to the floor? I've had to place Max's perches and toys strategically on his play stand so that he is unable to get to the floor. The old cage I had for him he was allowed to play on because the seed guards prevented him from getting to the floor. The new cage goes all the way to the floor so Max is very rarely allowed to play on it. I've been cornered by him before and it's not a pleasant experience for either one of us.

Does Rex like to forage? Making foraging activities might keep him focused on keeping busy instead of terrorizing every one. When he plays with his toys praise him to encourage more of this behavior.

I'm a sort of exciteable person, I always do things fast...eat, talk, etc. I can't seem to have a conversation without using my arms and hands. I've found over the years that I really have to adjust myself when I'm around Max. The more excited/animated I am, the more excited/animated he gets, sometimes to the point of being overly stimulated and this has caused me to get bitten a few times. I try to keep things calm and low key (well calm and low key for me anyway) when I greet him in the morning, then calmly and slowly invite him out of his cage and slowly walk him to his playstand. I try to talk softly and a bit more slowly. I gradually return to my 'normal' self as the morning progresses. If you're a highly animated person like I am, maybe try toning it down a bit.

Does Rex like showers? My Max lives for showers. When he is especially being a grump I've found that if I mist him with his misting bottle or take him (in his cage) outside and use the 'rain' setting on the hoses' garden wand it instantly changes his mood to one of sheer joy. Once he's showered he then spends hours preening himself and is a much happier bird.

I'll keep you and Rex in my prayers. I hope you are able to find the perfect home for him. Poor guy. Also, if his cage is big, and he has plenty of foraging activities and toys to destroy and ropes to climb then it's okay for him to have more cage time. I've had to keep Max caged up during his hormonal season for weeks at a time in the past. Good luck to you all.

 

[ilikebirds]

off to the store to find a clicker, and some new toys. hes quite fond of anything with paper. he LOVES boxes