Amazon Hasn't Been Handled In 10+ Years

[HCK9s]

Hi guys! I have a question about one of our BF Amazons, Pickles. He is 18 years old or so and hasn't been handled in over 10 years. His previous owners became pretty sick and he just sat in a cage. They claim he used to be very friendly and handleable but stopped about 10 years ago and they did not push him. He is rarely ever caged here. He won't step up. He goes in and out of his cage as he pleases and usually comes down to try and bite or will lunge to bite as you walk by his cage. We've been doing a lot of positive reinforcement counter conditioning (he is pretty food motivated). Any other recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[April]

I know @Monica has lots of good training tips. Let me tag a few other members. @Clueless @melissasparrots @macawpower58 @Elysian

 

[Clueless]

Oh man. Secret. Same issue!!! I was told Secret was the friendly sweet one when I rescued 2 Amazon's. Wrong!!!!!

So MC became my buddy (he passed away about 2 years ago) and Secret's life was saved because I figured she could get better.

Keep working with the T stick. That's how Secret moves from the cage. If she comes out on her own to crawl on the cage, no way we can get control. Bird is out until she deems going in.

Treats are given only when we have T sticked her out of cage out on my lap (lap protected by a baby blanket and stick handy for transfer). Or when the bird won't eat her medicine, then I pinch tiny pieces of almond slivers to add to medicine.

Best of luck!

 

[Clueless]

Yikes. I meant to say we T stick transfer to a small playstand. We do give treats and medicines in my lap but wouldn't recommend that until you develop a good bond with transfers.

Secret can do a "mini-Eagle" fierce attack. Luckily, I know and respect the signs to avoid that.

 

[macawpower58]

You may have mentioned in another post, but please state again how long you've had him.
IMO Amazons do accept change fairly well, but it still takes time.
If you haven't had him long enough for him to feel comfortable and trust you, you may be moving too fast.
I'd just work for now on lowering the lunging to bite. Try some target training so he sees you coming near as a good thing.

 

[Monica]

There's a lot of great resources in this thread

Free Training Resources

Someone recently told me that there was only one trainer on the internet that had free training advice. This is, quite simply, false. This “trainer” they spoke of is an amateur that has taken advice from salesmen who market themselves as bird trainers. Not to say that they don't enjoy helping...

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Videos can be a great way to see how behavior is taught! Such as teaching this scarlet to step up!

 

[JLcribber]

As Becky asked, how long have you had him? Time and patience as I'm sure you know. You've got earn that friendship. Bribery is a great tool.

It's always a good idea to stick train large parrots. It's a win win for all.

Pictures - The T stick.

If you have a large aggressive parrot (Amazon, Macaw, Cockatoo) such as a rescue/rehome you know fair well how dangerous that creature can be. A happy healthy confident hormonal large parrot is another formidable foe. Handling them becomes a tricky ordeal because they are physically dangerous...

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