TLDR-Puff used to be at a bird store and got sold into the hardware store he is in now. I only pay visits and he’s only close to me.(or just look at Shezbug’s post)
May 9th 2019-met Puff at a pet store and due to that incident started to research parrots as I had no clue. about parrots back then
He took biting (actual biting that breaks skin and draw blood not those warning bites that are, well, warnings) as a great way to let people stay away from him and I didn’t care about anything back then.
However he and I had this certain love at first sight that went on and while he did bite me (a normal if not light bite that did draw blood though) when I tried to touch him (I had no clue about birds so I didn’t know any better even though the staff warning me I felt that I would be fine), we spent half an hour just me feeding him the seed mix there (didn’t know pellets existed back then and that store didn’t sell pellets either) and I was safe.
When I went back home that day I started to learn and as you can see I joined AA a week later. And for your information Puff stopped biting me completely (those that draw blood) after a week if not less for me just approaching him/trying to touch him. Also managed to floof him at that week. He is a gentle bird to me and also a rather clingy if not cuddly one compared to other Amazons. He would love a scritch anytime and would call for me/look in my direction when I come/leave/go check the other birds. He doesn’t scream and has a penchant for bells. And considering the fact that I was only staying with him not owning him his trust for me to return to him is amazing.(more about that later)
Around July 19-23 he was sold to the place that he is now in. I still remember what happened vividly and thank myself for following my gut feeling.
The day before he was sold the staff told me about it (I had been there for two months after all) so the next day I came there before the shop opened and spent a good 1-2hrs (forgot exact time) with him before leaving and as the said buyer didn’t come I hoped that the buyer didn’t plan to come and I was getting bored.
Point being, I was at the opening of the MRT to return home when I asked myself if I would be happy to leave and know that I would likely never be able to see him again. It was that moments when I realised that I would not be ok to leave without seeing him go. So I bought lunch and returned to the shop. I just finished my lunch and lo and behold the buyer(aka hardware store owner) came. It was heart wrenching to see the staff pull his leg through the cage bars to remove his previous chain and change into another one while he screamed in agony. But I couldn’t do anything. I had no right to do anything and could only stand there crying and trying to comfort Puff. After he was stuffed into the transport cage he was (of course) unhappy but even then allowed me to floof him and didn’t bite. He knew that it was me and that I was different. You all should have seen him thrashing in his bonds and then you will understand how big of a contrast it was.
I couldn’t say if life got better for him or worse at the hardware store. On the upside I had more freedom in the sense that I can change his diet, his perch compared to his previous was much better and the store was much bigger and has more air circulation compared to the previous place. On the downside the owner burns joss sticks every morning and evening (the previous store staff smoked though) which is bad for the lungs. Sometimes the owner would also do something that I would call ‘assert his dominance’ and force Puff (and the other birds there) to step up/touch them without getting bit which pisses me off because he doesn’t care about Puff he just wants to show that he can do it. The worst by far is the other time when I was beside Puff tying a bell to the Toucan cage beside him (I don’t know who put it there but was getting loose so I fastening it) and the owner comes marching over and decides to open his wings while restraining him (I didn’t know how he restrained him I didn’t look at what he did I snapped at him to stop)
Either way until now I’m still the sole person who was able to be next to him and I visit him 4-5 times a week.
Puff is about 8/9 this year and gender unknown. He is on a (about) 65-70% Zupreem natural 10-15% Zupreem fruit 5-10% Brown’s tropical carnival 10-15% sunflower seed (because when I’m not there the staff will always fill the pellet bowls up with seed even though there are still pellets inside...)
