Scared rescued blue fronted Amazon

[Birdmama21]

We rescued a Blue Fronted Amazon named Tater Tot from someone who had no idea what they were doing! He was kept in a double stacked parakeet cage with no perches or toys and the dirtiest water and during cleaning was moved into a very small antique “tweety bird” style cage

He is very under weight, you can see his chest bone, he has a vet appointment scheduled in a few days! He HATES men and acts as if he was hurt at one point by a man, he acts like he wants my husbands attention but when he tries to pay attention to Tater it makes him nervous and he watches his every move, especially if his hands are visible!

Tater will step on a stick they gave us after a few tries that I am trying to transition to a gloved hand since he seems scared of the stick too.

Are there any tips or tricks to help this poor scared baby not be so scared? Or an easier way to transfer from the stick to a gloved hand? Tips to help with fear of hands in general would help too! I am having my husband back off for now since his biggest trigger so far is men.

 

[Oscarbird]

Are there any tips or tricks to help this poor scared baby not be so scared?

What a nice amazon you have there! Thank you for giving him a better life.
My bird was scared of hands for a long time. And yes, I do understand that amazons and lovebirds have completely different needs and intelligence levels. I let Oscar take it slow with me and when he was used to stepping up onto a toy I would cup my hands around him. After he was comfortable with that I would gradually let him be scooped up into my cupped hands and try to adjust them so he would stay on my finger. Sometimes he would get scared and we would have to start from scratch. Definitely do NOT rush it, I made this mistake once and Oscar had a panic attack (his wings weren't grown out yet) and he would loose trust in me. Now he's perfectly comfortable with my hands and loves scritches. He only started to step up in January of this year so he's still sorta new to hands and fingers. Good luck with your baby, I hope that this helps.

 

[Shezbug]

He will need to learn over time and with your patience and consistency that he has no need to be scared as nothing is forced on him.
Im personally not a fan of the gloved hand idea that many seem to use for their protection, if I needed my hands protected because the bird always bit or because of my fear then I’d personally just use a stick to transfer the bird from one place to another.
You could get your hubby to not bother attempting interacting with the bird but dropping a treat into a bowl for him every time your hubby had to pass the bird- this will hopefully start to make the bird realise your hubby is only the bearer of goodies and nothing threatening.
Time and patience are going to be your best helpers with this bird.

 

[zoo mom]

Tater tot is handsome.

@Clueless took in a couple of wild caught scardy birds.

 

[FeatheredM]

It will take a while for the bird to let go of the past, even humans have trouble letting go if you think about it, so just be patient and calm, be reliable and predictable, I think it's lovely that you took this poor bird in

 

[Clueless]

MC was scared of hands. Secret was supposed to be tame but that wasn't accurate at all.

We used a transfer stick (and I still do).

If you WANT to use your hand (absolutely NO REASON to in my mind), make a fist to tighten your skin (tuck your thumb).

He is scared spitless right now. Give him some calm and some peace to get used to his new home. Talk, sing, drop treats in his bowl. Don't stare at him, that's what predators do.

MC came out of his shell once I realized he wanted independence. I would open the cage door, move his stand over and out he'd come. Then I could roll the tree away from his cage. He would willingly step up on my arm and yes, we did the hand thing too but he wasn't 100% comfortable with it so we did the step up on my arm.

MC passed away from cancer over a year ago.

 

[Vmax]

What a sweet cutie! My Gussy was a rescue and we all had to get to know one another. As has been said, give everybirdy some time! He’s gorgeous

 

[BirdG1rl]

Thanks for taking in this Amazon! What a beautiful birb!