Hormonal Amazon driving me nuts

[Sisco]

And, right now our whole house is suffering because of it.

A little background - Sophie is an OWA and she's a wild caught. My husband's aunt had her for 19 years and she wasn't treated very nicely. I don't want to speak ill of my husband's aunt, but she was old school in the parrot keeping idea...dominate and break the bird. She just didn't know how to be a successful Amazon owner. (Not that I do either...) However, Sophie is a lot more stubborn. Nonetheless, Sophie spent 19 years covered in a cage the size of a cockatiel cage in a corner. Now that we have her, she has spent the past 8 years being cage-less. I never locked her up. She spent her days on a cage and her playstands. She watches Elmo and other movies, eats, plays with toys, etc. She bonds with my little birds to the point where if I leave them out of their cage, she goes ballistic and must follow them around the house. That's not usually a problem, since she doesn't fly. I just scoop her up and put her back.

The most her hormones cause any issue is with screaming and we can handle that fine. With 2 roosters in the house, we kinda tune them all out. LOL

But...about 6 months ago we brought home a 6 month old GCC. Ugh! Sophie seems to think the GCC is her mate and fights anyone who tries to come between her and her mate. She has snuck out of the bird room and into the kitchen on a few occasions and attacked my nanday who is also the GCC's friend. Nothing major has happened, yet! The nanday can fly and she flies out of harms way.

So, now Sophie is back to being caged and it breaks my heart. My husband witnessed the last attack and said she was out of control and she had to go, but I reminded him that she is a wild animal and only following her instincts and there are things we can do to lessen those instincts.

That's why I am asking for help... we don't touch her since she is untouchable (I'm not even 100% she is a girl) so there aren't any no no touches from us. We don't have her in darkness 12 hours and I know that'll help, so starting tonight, bedtime will be 8:00 strictly. What else can we do? Are there supplements I can use to calm down her hormones? Do I need to know for certain if she is a girl before we try any supplements?

Please help. I feel humans failed her constantly by even trapping her as a young bird and forcing her into being a pet. I don't want to give up on her.

 

[MommyBird]

since she doesn't fly and the nanday is in another room - why not use a baby gate.
I actually use a mesh fireplace guard since it can't be chewed or climbed (mesh too small)

edit to add : I also have a senior female OWA who is physically unable to fly due to old wing problem.
She is out all day when I'm home, which is most of the time. She loves to go on adventures, so I try to keep her in her large, bird-proofed room.

 

[Sisco]

since she doesn't fly and the nanday is in another room - why not use a baby gate.
I actually use a mesh fireplace guard since it can't be chewed or climbed (mesh too small)

edit to add : I also have a senior female OWA who is physically unable to fly due to old wing problem.
She is out all day when I'm home, which is most of the time. She loves to go on adventures, so I try to keep her in her large, bird-proofed room.

I do have a baby gate blocking off the bird room, which is in our dining room from our dogs. She climbs it. Sophie can fly, she just doesn't because she hasn't had much experience with flying and is really bad at it LOL Thanks for the idea, tho!

 

[MommyBird]

If you get a fireplace screen with small mesh, I promise you she will not be able to climb it.
My girl is a true climber but the mesh is far too small to get a nail or beak into.

 

[Sisco]

If you get a fireplace screen with small mesh, I promise you she will not be able to climb it.
My girl is a true climber but the mesh is far too small to get a nail or beak into.

That might be something we will have to look into. We have a very old house and we have to walk through the dining room to get to the living room from the kitchen, so we have one of those 6 paneled baby play yards separating the birds from the dogs so that the dogs can access the living room. I wonder if I can just cover it with some fabric somehow... or something that she can't climb...

 

[Sisco]

A TABLECLOTH!!! I'm going to Walmart tomorrow and I'll pick up some tablecloths and wrap the gate with that! I can buy double sided tape or maybe velcro strips to secure it to itself so it doesn't slip if she does try to grab it!

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

A TABLECLOTH!!! I'm going to Walmart tomorrow and I'll pick up some tablecloths and wrap the gate with that! I can buy double sided tape or maybe velcro strips to secure it to itself so it doesn't slip if she does try to grab it!

Great idea!

 

[MommyBird]

how about a big piece of plexiglas in that case?
plexiglas is my friend

 

[TikkiTembo]

We've considered installing a screen door between the kitchen and living room, just as an extra line of defense against fly aways and mixing birds. Obviously, it could be chewed if left unsupervised, but just a thought!

 

[Sisco]

how about a big piece of plexiglas in that case?
plexiglas is my friend

I like that idea! Can plexiglas be drilled?

 

[Sisco]

We've considered installing a screen door between the kitchen and living room, just as an extra line of defense against fly aways and mixing birds. Obviously, it could be chewed if left unsupervised, but just a thought!

I like that idea, too. We are wanting to add on a new room to our house and make a new entrance into the living room, and when that happens then I'll definitely be adding a door to the bird room from the kitchen and pocket doors in the bird room from the living room (or what will be the new dining room after the reno's are done).

 

[MommyBird]

I like that idea! Can plexiglas be drilled?

Sure can. I like to start with a hole by a thin bit first and don't push super hard, then go to the size hole you want

 

[Davi]

And, right now our whole house is suffering because of it.

A little background - Sophie is an OWA and she's a wild caught. My husband's aunt had her for 19 years and she wasn't treated very nicely. I don't want to speak ill of my husband's aunt, but she was old school in the parrot keeping idea...dominate and break the bird. She just didn't know how to be a successful Amazon owner. (Not that I do either...) However, Sophie is a lot more stubborn. Nonetheless, Sophie spent 19 years covered in a cage the size of a cockatiel cage in a corner. Now that we have her, she has spent the past 8 years being cage-less. I never locked her up. She spent her days on a cage and her playstands. She watches Elmo and other movies, eats, plays with toys, etc. She bonds with my little birds to the point where if I leave them out of their cage, she goes ballistic and must follow them around the house. That's not usually a problem, since she doesn't fly. I just scoop her up and put her back.

The most her hormones cause any issue is with screaming and we can handle that fine. With 2 roosters in the house, we kinda tune them all out. LOL

But...about 6 months ago we brought home a 6 month old GCC. Ugh! Sophie seems to think the GCC is her mate and fights anyone who tries to come between her and her mate. She has snuck out of the bird room and into the kitchen on a few occasions and attacked my nanday who is also the GCC's friend. Nothing major has happened, yet! The nanday can fly and she flies out of harms way.

So, now Sophie is back to being caged and it breaks my heart. My husband witnessed the last attack and said she was out of control and she had to go, but I reminded him that she is a wild animal and only following her instincts and there are things we can do to lessen those instincts.

That's why I am asking for help... we don't touch her since she is untouchable (I'm not even 100% she is a girl) so there aren't any no no touches from us. We don't have her in darkness 12 hours and I know that'll help, so starting tonight, bedtime will be 8:00 strictly. What else can we do? Are there supplements I can use to calm down her hormones? Do I need to know for certain if she is a girl before we try any supplements?

Please help. I feel humans failed her constantly by even trapping her as a young bird and forcing her into being a pet. I don't want to give up on her.

I can't say I have any ideas different from the ones already suggested (though the plexiglass sounds the most efficient to me). But I just wanted to say how heartwarming your message was to me. Parrots, by virtue of living with us in an unnatural setting to them, have already given up so much (and been forced out of so much). Amidst so much in "bad news" in this world, it's truly heartwarming to hear stories like yours, where the human(s) involved is trying their best to find an agreeable solution to appease all parties. I sometimes lose my patience with my own birds (who can drive me absolutely nuts sometimes) and your post is a great reminder that I always need to "keep calm and carry on loving my birbs", even on the difficult days. So thank you for that and best of luck with Sophie and your whole flock (feathered and otherwise!). She's lucky to have found you and I truly hope she continues to enrich yours and your family's life in her own unique ways.

 

[Sisco]

Sure can. I like to start with a hole by a thin bit first and don't push super hard, then go to the size hole you want

Yay!! So, today while I'm out, I'll buy tablecloths to use temporarily, and this weekend if we can afford it, I'll get the hubby to buy plexiglas. We'll need about 5 pieces. Thank you!

 

[Sisco]

I can't say I have any ideas different from the ones already suggested (though the plexiglass sounds the most efficient to me). But I just wanted to say how heartwarming your message was to me. Parrots, by virtue of living with us in an unnatural setting to them, have already given up so much (and been forced out of so much). Amidst so much in "bad news" in this world, it's truly heartwarming to hear stories like yours, where the human(s) involved is trying their best to find an agreeable solution to appease all parties. I sometimes lose my patience with my own birds (who can drive me absolutely nuts sometimes) and your post is a great reminder that I always need to "keep calm and carry on loving my birbs", even on the difficult days. So thank you for that and best of luck with Sophie and your whole flock (feathered and otherwise!). She's lucky to have found you and I truly hope she continues to enrich yours and your family's life in her own unique ways.

Ohmygosh! That made me cry! Thank you!

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but since having parrots for over 12 years, I now believe that parrots shouldn't be pets. There's no way I can do justice with Sophie ethically. She was forced into the pet trade by terrible humans and nothing I can ever do will make up for that, but I will try my darnedest to show her that her life can be good. It's not the life she was intended to have, but it can be a good one still.

 

[macawpower58]

For a quick fix a storm window against the doorway will also work.
I keep my nosy little Too in her room at times that way. I just push something heavy against it to hold it up.
She likes seeing out, and I also hate closed doors. She plucks so her flying skills are gone for now.
I'd love to install a door between the rooms my birds are in. Big bird and small birds don't mix well.
I keep hoping to find an old screen door I can improvise with.

 

[Lady]

I'm super new to birds, so I don't know if I can be of much help, but our Amazon is also hormonal. 12 hours of darkness makes a HUGE difference for her. Any time we cheat on the 12 hours, we will have an extra cranky bird the next day!

How frequently are you able to give Sophie showers? We've noticed that on all the excitement of water fun and drying off wears our bird's little butt out and she's happy to preen and nap the rest of the day.

 

[Sisco]

I'm super new to birds, so I don't know if I can be of much help, but our Amazon is also hormonal. 12 hours of darkness makes a HUGE difference for her. Any time we cheat on the 12 hours, we will have an extra cranky bird the next day!

How frequently are you able to give Sophie showers? We've noticed that on all the excitement of water fun and drying off wears our bird's little butt out and she's happy to preen and nap the rest of the day.

Sophie definitely needs more showers. I'm not her favorite person, if there is such a thing according to Sophie, but hubby can do more things with her than I can, like showering in the tub. She does have access to a plastic tub of water and I spray her often. Maybe I should up the times I spray her...

Thanks for the idea!

 

[Sisco]

So, I have implemented a few household changes, I can't say that they are working just yet, but night time has been going smoothly. She's still very insistent that she have Daisy! She worries about where she is to the point that she's not eating until the evening. I was thinking of taking her food away at a certain time in the evening so she has to eat in the AM, but I do not like that idea at all.

I'm attaching some pictures of their room so you guys can get a better idea why a gate across the doorway or a door at the doorway won't work. Our daughter lives with us and she has 3 dogs of her own, plus my 3 dogs and before we put up the baby play yard and only had a baby gate across the doorway, they were in the kitchen ALL THE TIME. 4 of these dogs are pomeranians and I needed them out of my kitchen.

So, we made a hallway of sorts for them to be able to access the living room.

My house is a typical square farmhouse with the kitchen in the back and the living room and dining room (which is the room the birds are in) in the front. Eventually we want to add on and have a second way into the living room from the kitchen and close off the bird room.

So, Sophie climbs up the flight cage and goes across the hutch and down the gate to get into the kitchen. So far, the tablecloths are working, but I don't know for how long... she can fly, but usually she only flies when she is super scared of something. We get hawks out here quite often!

 

[webchirp]

How about a screen door? Super easy to make.