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Big decision to make - need help. Do I go get Cocoa?

melissasparrots

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Well, I think you need to take an honest self inventory and decide what you are willing to live with. I seriously doubt this bird is a bad biter, but you will get bit at some point most likely. If you act flinchy because you are afraid of getting bit, many amazons that weren't previously bad biters, will turn into bad biters because of all the flinching and fear. She is probably a sweet bird, but fearing her may turn her bad. If blood thinners mean you are afraid of getting bit, then don't get her. If blood thinners mean you'll just bleed a lot before clotting and your okay with that, then go for it. IMO, people are weird about bleeding. They have this big dramatic reaction to it and you can't be like that if you want to have big birds. You have to be a get over it, wipe it off and move on sort of person. Some red loreds are seriously very sweet, but they are still amazons and any new bird is going to be a learning curve for you while you figure out body language.

Not coming out of the cage may or may not get better. Can you handle it if you don't get a lot of emotional rewards from a cage bound bird that doesn't want to come out? Will just rescuing it be enough for you, or do you HAVE to be able to handle it in order to love her and want to keep her. If handling is a must, then don't get this bird unless she steps up for you willingly at the rescue. If a good deed is good enough and you are willing to go at the bird's pace and accept whatever she is comfortable with regardless of what you want, then go for it.

She may or may not be great with your green cheeks. Some amazons can be pretty dicey with other birds. Make sure you are prepared to rotate birds or have a home set up such that everyone will be safe without you feeling guilty and feeling like you need to rehome someone for not getting enough out of cage time if they don't get along. Unnecessary emotional stuff tends to get in the way of being a good big bird owner. You must be able to accept the bird as it is even if it never improves if you are interested in doing rescue. That said, red lored amazons are great and most amazons are confident enough to come out of their cage and accept scratches from time to time. Older amazons can be hard to get out of a rut though.
 

HolliDaze

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When I got my umbrella, I had only had a cockatiel and a few budgies. However, I had taken a bird husbandry class. My teacher has a bird sanctuary, and quite a few well cared for birds. Almost everything I knew about caring for large birds was from the class, and I had never done before. I've had no real issues with my cockatoo and don't plan on ever rehoming him. As long as you have done your research and know what to expect, experience with small birds is enough to get a big one.
 

aooratrix

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Well, I think you need to take an honest self inventory and decide what you are willing to live with. I seriously doubt this bird is a bad biter, but you will get bit at some point most likely. If you act flinchy because you are afraid of getting bit, many amazons that weren't previously bad biters, will turn into bad biters because of all the flinching and fear. She is probably a sweet bird, but fearing her may turn her bad. If blood thinners mean you are afraid of getting bit, then don't get her. If blood thinners mean you'll just bleed a lot before clotting and your okay with that, then go for it. IMO, people are weird about bleeding. They have this big dramatic reaction to it and you can't be like that if you want to have big birds. You have to be a get over it, wipe it off and move on sort of person. Some red loreds are seriously very sweet, but they are still amazons and any new bird is going to be a learning curve for you while you figure out body language.

Not coming out of the cage may or may not get better. Can you handle it if you don't get a lot of emotional rewards from a cage bound bird that doesn't want to come out? Will just rescuing it be enough for you, or do you HAVE to be able to handle it in order to love her and want to keep her. If handling is a must, then don't get this bird unless she steps up for you willingly at the rescue. If a good deed is good enough and you are willing to go at the bird's pace and accept whatever she is comfortable with regardless of what you want, then go for it.

She may or may not be great with your green cheeks. Some amazons can be pretty dicey with other birds. Make sure you are prepared to rotate birds or have a home set up such that everyone will be safe without you feeling guilty and feeling like you need to rehome someone for not getting enough out of cage time if they don't get along. Unnecessary emotional stuff tends to get in the way of being a good big bird owner. You must be able to accept the bird as it is even if it never improves if you are interested in doing rescue. That said, red lored amazons are great and most amazons are confident enough to come out of their cage and accept scratches from time to time. Older amazons can be hard to get out of a rut though.


Agree, but like RLAs. And amazons can be supremely stubborn. It took me 10 years, literally, to get Morgan to eat natural pellets.
 

Clueless

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Agree, but like RLAs. And amazons can be supremely stubborn. It took me 10 years, literally, to get Morgan to eat natural pellets.
Ahhhhhhh but they are all individuals. MC and Secret went into natural pellets fairly easy peasy.

But they can be stubborn when they want to be. It's like toddlers, distract, distract, distract....
 

JLcribber

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Unnecessary emotional stuff tends to get in the way of being a good big bird owner. You must be able to accept the bird as it is even if it never improves if you are interested in doing rescue.
Write that down in stone somewhere. :)

It’s not just rescue. This seems to be the main problem with most bird owners. Especially new ones. That and anthropomorphism. Behaviour is behaviour.

Very much the same as encountering something threatening. Do you panic or do you assess and act?
 

txdyna65

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Geeze John, why you gotta use big words like that? I had to go look it up to see what it meant lol
 

Just-passn-thru

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So many variables...nothing is written in stone. Taking in another is going to upset your current flock dynamics, overtime all will settle into the new routine.
 

Dartman

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Go get her and take a long term approach just in case. She's mourning right now and lost. She needs a loving soft place to land and start a new life. You'll be good for each other in the long run and everyone will come to a understanding. It took 5 years for scared to death and quick to bite Lurch to decide I was his chosen one and I took lots of bites till we came to a agreement with each other.
I bet she'll be so happy to have another loving flock she'll come around pretty quickly and be another velcro bird for you.
 

Perriewinkle

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I seem late to this.. but.. why do you doubt yourself? and your knowledge?

Yes, she's bigger, the feet, the feathers, the poop... but she's still a bird. You have learned to read your guys, and you will learn her as well.
The big questions should be "do you want another flock member?" "can you handle another flock member?"

As Jon said earlier, she's not an abused, fear stricken bird. She's allowed absolute strangers into "her territory" to change and do their thing.
 

aooratrix

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Morgan stepped up nicely in her cage for transport to her bath. Much later, when I asked her to step up from the Java tree, she flew at me and almost got me. I got her on a perch and carried her to cage. All blood is in its original container.

Morgan has only been hormonal since late spring/early summer, partly due to cardboard boxes making her broody (never agin, thank you) and accidentally getting a jet of water instead of a mist. She's holding a grudge, but it's easing. For all of her 22 years with me, save this recent bump in the road, she has been a blessing to me. Amazons are very honest with body language and RLAs can be more mellow than the yellow heads and BFAs. That's not a guarantee, mind. I'd still get her.
 

Aubrey

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You got some wonderful advice.......



I hope you took the plunge!
 

melissasparrots

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Write that down in stone somewhere. :)

It’s not just rescue. This seems to be the main problem with most bird owners. Especially new ones. That and anthropomorphism. Behaviour is behaviour.

Very much the same as encountering something threatening. Do you panic or do you assess and act?
Yup, I have a 4 year old "baby" amazon from my pair that I haven't found a home for yet. He's a good bird, but people tend to shy away when I give them the honest truth and ask them what they want in a bird. People have this bad habit of demanding unconditional love from a pet and then being unable to give it back when the bird acts like a bird. I don't want one of mine to end up with a person like that.
 

Lwalker

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So...I went up today to meet Cocoa and I brought her home! She is a sweetheart! I got a bit more of her background and it ends up she had a friend, a cockatoo who was strangely also named Cocoa. Don't know why someone would call both their birds the same name but maybe they were rehomed more than once and it was a coincidence.

When the owner died, both birds went to her daughter for three months but she was apparently struggling to care for herself, let alone two birds, so she surrendered them to the humane society.

Cocoa 2, being a Too, was adopted leaving Cocoa the amazon behind.

Cocoa (amazon) was then adopted by a family but she bit their two year old so they brought her back - FOUR HOURS AFTER THEY ADOPTED HER! After that, she got a bad reputation because the shelter had to tell people she bites. So, she sat in the shelter, alone in an office sized room. She had a big cage and toys and staff dropped in but would not let her out or touch her.

I took my niece, Caitlin, who is great with animals. We sat and spoke to Cocoa for an hour and she was animated (lots of chirps and chatter), took treats through the bars and moved around the cage to follow us. I bit the bullet and insisted they let me open the cage and test how she was with hands. The woman was reluctant but finally said okay. I watched Cocoa's reactions carefully and she did not seem agressive at all - just wary. I let her beak my finger and test my hand and finally, assertively said "step-up." She grumbled (which was really funny) and then stepped right up and walked up to position herself on my wrist. I praised her, put her back on her perch and gave her a cashew. The staff person could not believe it! After about five minutes I tried again. Less grumbling this time. I brought her out and put her on top of the travel cage I brought. Then I was in disbelief when Caitlin asked Cocoa if she could give her a scritch and wiggled one finger. Cocoa bowed her head for a scritch! (She won't let me do it but Caitlin has a magic touch with animals - she got to give 3 scritches- LOL)

Well that was it. Cocoa the beast was just misunderstood! You can see from the pictures! She also inhaled apple, banana - not sure how many fresh foods she was getting - and made it quite clear that she wanted the water I was drinking.

It was a long drive home but she chirped and whistled and chewed popsicle sticks. We stopped at my sister's where she had a snack and let me transfer her to my sister's wrist ( but she only steps up for me). Big day. She went right to sleep when I got home and covered the travel cage. Tomorrow she will get her big cage.

Sorry this is so long and I am so tired so not writing well. I know I was incredibly lucky to find her and much of today will have been "honeymoon" but it is so sad one bite - the fault of people, not the parrot - got her labelled as a "problem bird"

She is eating a Kaytee fiesta mix (not great)and looks quite scruffy but the vet said she is healthy and has already been quarantined. They will send me records next week.The weekend staff didn't know much so I don't know when she last had a bath.

And of course...the pictures!!

The bribe...
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The step-up
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Bed-time snack after a long drive (you can see she is a bit scruffy)
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Hamming it up for the camera with banana beak
rps20171008_235533_101.jpg

That face...❤
rps20171008_235626_264.jpg
 
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melissasparrots

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Congrats on the new addition. She looks like either she has been hitting her head on the top of her cage or another birds has been over preening her (the other Cocoa maybe?). Also check her weight, she might be a bit of a chub. Hard to tell from pictures. You might want to try getting sweet potato or winter squash into her a few times a week. Rescue/rehomed amazons are notorious for being vitamin A deficient which can exacerbate the scruffiness.
 
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