Rescuing Yellow Head Zon - Help!

[EkkieLu]

I just got a call about a 25 year old yellow headed Amazon named Angel. The guy that had him let Angel drink beer while his party buddies smoked who knows what. Angel had no real cage but was allowed to roam freely both inside and outside the house. Wherever the party was, Angel was right there. He ate primarily whatever was "served" (pizza, hamburgers, fried chicken, etc).
While being a very friendly guy and possessing a large vocabulary, Angel has picked up some very crude language from his biker buddies. In the front yard he would sit on motorcycle handlebars yelling obscenities much to the delight of party guests.
Any way, the owner finally agreed to give Angel to a concerned neighbor (she raises fancy finch). She called me and asked if I could either foster or offer a forever home to Angel... I'll pick him up next week (was there ever any doubt?).

I just have a few questions:

1. I'm a retired military vet, so Angel's language won't bother me too much, but having visiting family and friends called unsavory offensive names won't go over well at all! How can I refine his vocabulary?

2. My Fids are not allowed to roam around at will. They have their own safely appointed room and cage doors are rarely closed but they only leave that area with me. What will be the best way to get him used to this?

3. I don't give "junk" food to my babies. How can I safely switch Angel to a mainly fruits and veggies diet? I don't want him losing weight over missing French fries!

I know getting Angel on a safe and healthy regime isn't going to be easy but he deserves my best effort!

 

[rocky'smom]

As far as foul (no pun intend) language, if you react by laughing, saying no, any reaction. That is seen as encouragement.
The best thing we found at the clinic is to walk away. Leave them alone. If you hear good words reward those with lots of praise and favorite treats.
As far as food goes instead of French fries, try sweet potato fries. We had CAG that drank Pepsi. We broken that habit by watering it down with water. More water then pop.
Get Angel into avian vet as soon as possible. All that trash food can cause liver/ kidney damage.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Thank you for taking Angel into your house and home.

 

[Sarahmoluccan]

As far as foul (no pun intend) language, if you react by laughing, saying no, any reaction. That is seen as encouragement.
The best thing we found at the clinic is to walk away. Leave them alone. If you hear good words reward those with lots of praise and favorite treats.
As far as food goes instead of French fries, try sweet potato fries. We had CAG that drank Pepsi. We broken that habit by watering it down with water. More water then pop.
Get Angel into avian vet as soon as possible. All that trash food can cause liver/ kidney damage.

Excellent advice!!

Getting Angel to get use to being caged could be tricky. I think it very much depends on the personality of the bird. I have seen birds take a better environment quite well including being caged. Hopefully things will go relatively smoothly for you.

Angel sounds outgoing so figuring out ways for him to use up excess energy might be key. Also encouraging independent in his cage would also be great. Try to figure out what toys he really enjoys. If he's very food orientated perhaps foraging toys might work

That said I'm unfamiliar with Amazons so I'm not sure of the best and safest way to interact with him would be. @melissasparrots would a great person for advice with that

Best of luck with him and thank you for taking him in

 

[EkkieLu]

Well he won't be sleeping on the kitchen curtain rod any more! I'm just worried he's not going to be very happy about leaving the party life behind. Settling down into the family life may turn him into a screaming mimi! My ekkies don't scream at all and Newt is a shy little guy that only chirps now and then.
I'm hoping to be moved into my new (much larger) house by Christmas. The rec room is going to be turned into their aviary. It will be at least 4x the size of their 10x14 bedroom. Maybe the extra space will make him feel like he's still roaming the house. I don't want him being unhappy in a more controlled environment. I don't allow my babies to sit on my shoulder while bar-b-queing either! Poor Angel, he's going to think I'm the most uptight parent ever!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Thank you for taking Angel into your home. As for the cuss words you can redirect him and state another word that approximates that word. So if he says, s***, you can respond with another word such as "shivers" or "shoot". Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Best thing is to not make a big deal out of his cussing. It will probably take a while for him to adjust to a cage or be limited to a room but if he has a lot of goodies to play with it will help. As for food there will definitely be a transition period but he might surprise you and might enjoy a healthier diet. Maybe trying some bird bread and maybe shape it into a slice of pizza or whatever you can come up with. Chicken isn't really that bad for our bird friends. My BFA loved Kung Pao Chicken (no longer gets it since I am now a vegetarian) and when one of my red-bellies was ill and had a huge weight loss the vet recommended giving her liver and/or chicken. Maybe you can mix a little bit of chicken into food to coax him to eat new foods that you will be introducing. Sounds like Angel has a had a "devil may care" life. He will just need to readjust and stop being a party animal.

 

[EkkieLu]

I'm going to work on a Sounds Like chart and use the same word(s) each time. From what I've been told Angel uses full sentences that would make a sailor blush! I picked up some Teach your Bird to Talk CDs to play for him. Maybe hearing a lot of nicer language will help. I really don't want him yelling "Gimme a f______ beer" (one of his many statements) during family dinners!

 

[rocky'smom]

The two cussing birds that I've worked with would make biker blush. They knew words and series of words that made my face red, I'm biker.
Mister (CAG) was worse at racial slurs with his former owner's laugh after every naughty thing he would say. Any time we got nice words we would treat with almonds or cashews.

 

[EkkieLu]

The two cussing birds that I've worked with would make biker blush. They knew words and series of words that made my face red, I'm biker.
Mister (CAG) was worse at racial slurs with his former owner's laugh after every naughty thing he would say. Any time we got nice words we would treat with almonds or cashews.

Good idea. I can ignore raunchy language but others will assume Angel picked it up from me, my 92 year old mother will throw a fit for sure! Never mind my young grandchildren! So working on his language will be the priority in my life!

 

[Clueless]

Best of luck. My zons were supposedly known to curse but we have never heard it. I guess since we don't curse here, they forgot about it.

I would suggest telling your mom the sad story of his life if he does it in front of her. Perhaps that will be enough to make her understand.

 

[EkkieLu]

Good idea. I think I'd better tell everyone before they get here. Hopefully Angel will forget about cussing too. He's super friendly and loves to cuddle so maybe folks can overlook his verbal issues!

Has anyone ever adopted a cage free or free roaming bird before? I don't want to scare him but my babies go in their cages at night. It's for their own safety.

Best of luck. My zons were supposedly known to curse but we have never heard it. I guess since we don't curse here, they forgot about it.

I would suggest telling your mom the sad story of his life if he does it in front of her. Perhaps that will be enough to make her understand.

 

[Begone]

I would suggest telling your mom the sad story of his life if he does it in front of her. Perhaps that will be enough to make her understand.

Yes to this.

Make a sign and put on his cage. "I'm a very nice parrot, but my last owner learn me some really bad words, and encourage me to use them. My new owner are beginning to replace them with better words so have patience with me."
So you don't need to explain it to everyone that visit your home.

And he will loose them if you replace them with words that you encourage him to use and get exited over.
And thank you for giving him a better life!

I don't want to scare him but my babies go in their cages at night. It's for their own safety.

I agree. Sometimes you need to do things they don't like. And if it's not working, do you have a smaller bathroom where he can sleep?

3. I don't give "junk" food to my babies. How can I safely switch Angel to a mainly fruits and veggies diet? I don't want him losing weight over missing French fries!

I would never had give him any more junk food again. You can make your own healthy pizza, and make sweet potatoes chips, using coconut oil in the pan.
I don't think he will starve himself if you continue to allow him to eat real food. (but healthy this time)
Good luck!

 

[melissasparrots]

1. I'm a retired military vet, so Angel's language won't bother me too much, but having visiting family and friends called unsavory offensive names won't go over well at all! How can I refine his vocabulary?
Don't cuss around him or respond when he does. The don't cuss around him is important. I didn't know my old male amazon knew how to say stinker until it was repeated a few times on a movie I was watching. The next morning, I walked into the bird room to feed everyone and he promptly called me an stinker. The bird hates my guts and would like to put several holes in me, so it was comically appropriate. It took him a few months to forget it.

2. My Fids are not allowed to roam around at will. They have their own safely appointed room and cage doors are rarely closed but they only leave that area with me. What will be the best way to get him used to this?
First make sure he can't fly. Amazons can sometimes attack other birds outright. Lightening quick. I've had more problems with my females doing that than males. Still...be careful. If he's clipped, at least you know he can't fly to the top of another bird's cage and attack the occupant. Most of my amazons will stay either on cage tops or on their gym. They usually don't want to fly very far. But, if something spooks them and they land on another bird's cage and the occupant is in biting range, bad things happen that way. Amazons bite first think later. Get a cage that is on a stand or legs that he can't climb down from easily.


3. I don't give "junk" food to my babies. How can I safely switch Angel to a mainly fruits and veggies diet? I don't want him losing weight over missing French fries!
Don't assume losing weight is a bad thing. MANY amazons are over weight. Weigh him and get a vet check done pronto to see if he is in fact over weight. If so, a little controlled weight loss is not bad. My first amazon had her previous owners conned into thinking she would only eat seed. She was over weight and deficient in vitamin A. The first week or so, I just added veggies, sprouts and pellets to the seed diet she was already eating without any rationing. Just to get her exposed to the fact that those things will be in her food bowl. Week two, I started rationing her seed. She got a tablespoon or two of seed at night which she wolfed down and was gone within an hour. In the morning, she got pellets and a few sprouts. Early evening after work, she got sweet potatoes and a few other veggies to help with the vitamin A problems. If she didn't want to eat the pellets or the veggies, then she could just be hungry. She had weight to lose anyway which she did, and I was giving her enough seed that while she may be hungry, she was not actually going to starve to death. She screamed and acted pathetic for a few days and paced back and forth in her cage. Then she started eating what was offered and within 3 weeks, he diet was completely transformed. Also at about that time, her feathers lost the dull black tint and curly edges, the excess skin on her feet flaked away and she looked like a new bird. She did lose about 20-40 grams in the process. But, keep in mind, a lot of birds will lose that much just because they were put in a car, given a new cage and new people. Even without a diet change. My cockatoo loses 20 grams because I drive her an hour to visit my parents once a year and we only spend a few hours there and back. Watch the weight loss, but expect that some will happen and it may not be a bad thing.

 

[melissasparrots]

Wow, thats really interesting modification of my foul mouthed amazon's vocabulary. Something was lost in the translation. LOL. I've never heard anyone call anyone a bum head ever.

 

[EkkieLu]

1. I'm a retired military vet, so Angel's language won't bother me too much, but having visiting family and friends called unsavory offensive names won't go over well at all! How can I refine his vocabulary?
Don't cuss around him or respond when he does. The don't cuss around him is important. I didn't know my old male amazon knew how to say Bum head until it was repeated a few times on a movie I was watching. The next morning, I walked into the bird room to feed everyone and he promptly called me an Bum head. The bird hates my guts and would like to put several holes in me, so it was comically appropriate. It took him a few months to forget it.

2. My Fids are not allowed to roam around at will. They have their own safely appointed room and cage doors are rarely closed but they only leave that area with me. What will be the best way to get him used to this?
First make sure he can't fly. Amazons can sometimes attack other birds outright. Lightening quick. I've had more problems with my females doing that than males. Still...be careful. If he's clipped, at least you know he can't fly to the top of another bird's cage and attack the occupant. Most of my amazons will stay either on cage tops or on their gym. They usually don't want to fly very far. But, if something spooks them and they land on another bird's cage and the occupant is in biting range, bad things happen that way. Amazons bite first think later. Get a cage that is on a stand or legs that he can't climb down from easily.


3. I don't give "junk" food to my babies. How can I safely switch Angel to a mainly fruits and veggies diet? I don't want him losing weight over missing French fries!
Don't assume losing weight is a bad thing. MANY amazons are over weight. Weigh him and get a vet check done pronto to see if he is in fact over weight. If so, a little controlled weight loss is not bad. My first amazon had her previous owners conned into thinking she would only eat seed. She was over weight and deficient in vitamin A. The first week or so, I just added veggies, sprouts and pellets to the seed diet she was already eating without any rationing. Just to get her exposed to the fact that those things will be in her food bowl. Week two, I started rationing her seed. She got a tablespoon or two of seed at night which she wolfed down and was gone within an hour. In the morning, she got pellets and a few sprouts. Early evening after work, she got sweet potatoes and a few other veggies to help with the vitamin A problems. If she didn't want to eat the pellets or the veggies, then she could just be hungry. She had weight to lose anyway which she did, and I was giving her enough seed that while she may be hungry, she was not actually going to starve to death. She screamed and acted pathetic for a few days and paced back and forth in her cage. Then she started eating what was offered and within 3 weeks, he diet was completely transformed. Also at about that time, her feathers lost the dull black tint and curly edges, the excess skin on her feet flaked away and she looked like a new bird. She did lose about 20-40 grams in the process. But, keep in mind, a lot of birds will lose that much just because they were put in a car, given a new cage and new people. Even without a diet change. My cockatoo loses 20 grams because I drive her an hour to visit my parents once a year and we only spend a few hours there and back. Watch the weight loss, but expect that some will happen and it may not be a bad thing.

Thank you! I just had my eyes opened! I'm making notes to keep handy when I pick up Angel. I raised cockatoos for many years, and my ekkies are totally spoiled. But I have never even met a zon in person.
I'm moving in a couple weeks so I'm hoping the new aviary will cut down on the territoriality factor and allow Angel to fit into the flock more quickly. Lucy thinks she's in charge and tries to rule the roost. Another male might help with that issue too.
As I read the many posts on AA I sometimes feel like I have the rare flock that doesn't get along very well. Sergei is the only one I actually paid for. Lucy and Newt are true rescues, as is Angel. I guess having the opportunity to pick and choose new additions might make a difference, but it doesn't mean you love them any less!

 

[EkkieLu]

Thank you for taking Angel into your house and home.

Angel is going to be the last rescue I take in. I wouldn't be good at fostering as I fall in love with them very quickly! Of course I said this same thing when I rescued Newt. LOL
I just want to have enough time each day to give them individual attention. Not to mention the cleaning time required. We can all relate to that!

 

[Fergus Mom]

Good idea. I can ignore raunchy language but others will assume Angel picked it up from me, my 92 year old mother will throw a fit for sure! Never mind my young grandchildren! So working on his language will be the priority in my life!

I was going to say similar to what Eloy did! The note on the cage is brilliant, and maybe teach him to say - "I'm Angel, but talk like the Devil cuz I'm new here!" Ha ha!

 

[EkkieLu]

Will record that on the Mimic gadget I just got! Angel's statements are great if I could only get rid of the "bad" words.

Bring me a cold Beer would be fine!

May have to tackle this one sentence at a time!

I was going to say similar to what Eloy did! The note on the cage is brilliant, and maybe teach him to say - "I'm Angel, but talk like the Devil cuz I'm new here!" Ha ha!