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What are the "hot three"

lower027

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So can someone please explain this to me?
 

txdyna65

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Yellow Napes, Double Yellow Head and Blue Front
They are supposedly the spicier and harder to handle when hormones kick in.
Males are supposed to be worse about it than females. Im no expert on it, I have a
female yellow nape and she is only 1, so Ive not had to deal with any of it yet.
I believe its just a generalization, and each bird is going to be different.
 
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MommyBird

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refers to the males of the above 3 Amazons, especially during hormone/breeding season.
They are hot-tempered and posesssive then.
 

Wasabisaurus

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My male Double Yellow is a hothead in general. Someone who is meek and highly sensitive would not make for the best choice of parrot mom or dad for him. However, there are always exceptions - I've heard of sweet male DYAs and some female Double Yellows can be sweethearts too.
 

melissasparrots

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Adult male double yellow heads, yellow napes and blue fronts can be frighteningly aggressive at maturity. Females can be too, but they tend to pick their targets and not be so bad. Some of these males will throw everything they've got into a bite, fly across the room at you or generally just have a very short temper. They will go from sweet playful little testing the limits bites as juveniles to bleeding and scars over night. Speaking as someone who's 8 year old male just made that transition. And yes I have a new scar to show for it. None of my girls have done that to me though. My girls have tended to be worse as just weaned babies but get better with age. Boys, not so much.
 

Kiwibird08

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Hot, as in hot tempered! They're all sweet and lovable as babies too, then puberty hits (around 4-6 years old) and BAM! It's like having an out of control teen with the mental capacity of a toddler and a nutcracker on their face capable of leaving you in need of stitches or worse. Males are notorious, but females can get quite aggressive as well if they think they have found themselves a "nest" they need to defend (and or the human/object they perceive as their mate is "under threat"). Depending on how the human handles it, they generally mature and mellow out a bit around 12-15 years old (IF their bad behavior has not been, intentionally or unintentionally, encouraged during puberty). Then their hormonal cycles are only a few weeks out of the year, usually in late winter/early spring and not nearly as bad as the puberty years.

We adopted our male BFA at age 10, i.e. smack in the height of puberty and extremely aggressive. Very painful (literally!) age to adopt a hot 3 zon! He is now going on 18, and has mellowed out a lot. Gets a bit testy during the breeding season, but also knows we do not put up with vicious behavior. Overall he's a big sweetheart, friendly, outgoing bird. I also grew up with a wild caught DYH who gets nesty but not aggressive during breeding season. She hates men (likely due to men being the ones who ripped her from the jungle and stuck her in government quarantine), but is a real sweetie to women and children. It's not that hot 3 zons are inherently bad or evil birds, but when getting one, the potential owner needs to be aware they are taking in an animal who will reach an age they will most likely become pretty mean for a while and be prepared to work through it with them. If that doesn't sound like a bird you'd want, a more mellow smaller species of amazon may be a better choice. Lot's of great smaller zons too, most of whom have (ahem) better attitudes.
 

Tami B

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Learned something new.
Interesting.
Not birds for me then.
 

lower027

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Ok then I should probably seek a orange wing or lilac if I decide to rescue an Amazon one day. Can anything be said about red lored amazons?
 

Mockinbirdiva

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Hot headed, yes, true.. true … true. I best describe them as a pi$$ed off vise grip coming at you.
 

Mockinbirdiva

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My male Double Yellow is a hothead in general. Someone who is meek and highly sensitive would not make for the best choice of parrot mom or dad for him. However, there are always exceptions - I've heard of sweet male DYAs and some female Double Yellows can be sweethearts too.
No way Jose! Really? That would be nice. :D
 

Lodah

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How on earth anyone can Paront a Zon and live to tell the tale is beyond me! :aarules: My hat goes off to all of you! Thank God you all have nerves of steel and fingers to match! :backout:
 

Clueless

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I have two blue front Amazon males, both wild caught older fellows. One is a total sweetheart and my avatar is my mini Wasabi dude. Despite the picture, Secret can be sweet too......or total opposite. Consider, though, the rough life of being yanked from your home and transported to a small cage with people poking you. ...we are blessed that bird doesn't murder us in our sleep.

Amazons are awesome. Even Secret has let the amazon scent out recently so I'm thinking our next 5 years will show great change.
 

Kiwibird08

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Ok then I should probably seek a orange wing or lilac if I decide to rescue an Amazon one day. Can anything be said about red lored amazons?
OWA and LCAs are known for being mellow zons. Don't discount green cheek amazons (aka mexican redheads). Not terribly popular, but really good natured birds! I grew up with one of those too. He is a gentle bird, so patient and I am not sure if in his 40+ years on this planet, that he has ever bitten anyone (nipped perhaps, but never drawn blood and not and aggressive bone in his body). He is just a sweet creature. And chewing on the corner of the newspaper on his cage bottom is about the extent of his "hormonal problems" in the spring. You may also want to look into mealies if you like a larger bird. They are the largest of all amazons, but known for being much calmer birds than the other 3 big zons species.

Of course every bird is an individual and all species of parrots will hit puberty and experience hormonal behavior, but smaller zons tend not to be so rough on their humans with it. Plus, being smaller some people are a little more confident working with them (the hot 3 species can get rather large). Zons are great birds and I am personally quite biased towards them;) but I definitely don't think you should write the whole lot of them off because a certain 3 species are hot heads:D
 

Wasabisaurus

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How on earth anyone can Paront a Zon and live to tell the tale is beyond me! :aarules: My hat goes off to all of you! Thank God you all have nerves of steel and fingers to match! :backout:

And stubbornness and lots of wound cleaner and maybe bandages. W's hardly ever bitten me badly enough for bandages. Just a bit of blood and sometimes a small, tiny scar. There's one where I can see the lower and upper mandibles. Scars don't bother me. And W could not have had the best upbringing, so I can't blame him for being so grouchy.
 

Clueless

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And stubbornness and lots of wound cleaner and maybe bandages. W's hardly ever bitten me badly enough for bandages. Just a bit of blood and sometimes a small, tiny scar. There's one where I can see the lower and upper mandibles. Scars don't bother me. And W could not have had the best upbringing, so I can't blame him for being so grouchy.
Lovely thought, you're quite a special person.
 

lower027

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OWA and LCAs are known for being mellow zons. Don't discount green cheek amazons (aka mexican redheads). Not terribly popular, but really good natured birds! I grew up with one of those too. He is a gentle bird, so patient and I am not sure if in his 40+ years on this planet, that he has ever bitten anyone (nipped perhaps, but never drawn blood and not and aggressive bone in his body). He is just a sweet creature. And chewing on the corner of the newspaper on his cage bottom is about the extent of his "hormonal problems" in the spring. You may also want to look into mealies if you like a larger bird. They are the largest of all amazons, but known for being much calmer birds than the other 3 big zons species.

Of course every bird is an individual and all species of parrots will hit puberty and experience hormonal behavior, but smaller zons tend not to be so rough on their humans with it. Plus, being smaller some people are a little more confident working with them (the hot 3 species can get rather large). Zons are great birds and I am personally quite biased towards them;) but I definitely don't think you should write the whole lot of them off because a certain 3 species are hot heads:D
I saw a Mexican red head up for adoption. It said that instead of lunging when he doesn't wanna step up, he runs away. I thought that was interesting.
 

Kiwibird08

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I saw a Mexican red head up for adoption. It said that instead of lunging when he doesn't wanna step up, he runs away. I thought that was interesting.
Sounds like Barney:xflove:. Actually, he more squeals like a pig (seriously!) which can be a bit disconcerting but you can pick that bird up around the body if he's being uncooperative, put him home and he does nothing but grumble under his breath about it and wiggle his little feetsies as you carry him. Then again, there is rarely a reason to ever do that as he's so good he usually goes home when he's told and never gets into trouble. He has a lifelong "girlfriend" (the DYH) and isn't hugely people oriented because he's all about her, but that's because that is the dynamic my parents have encouraged and allowed. I think a people-oriented GCA could potentially be the "best" bird ever! Even strangers can handle Barney. I would need to have 911 on the line and a bucket of ice for my soon to be amputated finger to attempt to pick up Kiwi the BFA around the body when he's in a bad/defiant mood:wideyed: We have to us a stick to get him if he's hormonal and doesn't care to listen to us.

If you are looking to adopt a bird soon, perhaps contact the rescue and see if you can arrange to meet the green cheek. Each bird is an individual, so you may click with him right away or feel perhaps he's not the right bird. Always worth a shot though! You may find a lovable little bird you can't live without:heart:
 

lower027

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Sounds like Barney:xflove:. Actually, he more squeals like a pig (seriously!) which can be a bit disconcerting but you can pick that bird up around the body if he's being uncooperative, put him home and he does nothing but grumble under his breath about it and wiggle his little feetsies as you carry him. Then again, there is rarely a reason to ever do that as he's so good he usually goes home when he's told and never gets into trouble. He has a lifelong "girlfriend" (the DYH) and isn't hugely people oriented because he's all about her, but that's because that is the dynamic my parents have encouraged and allowed. I think a people-oriented GCA could potentially be the "best" bird ever! Even strangers can handle Barney. I would need to have 911 on the line and a bucket of ice for my soon to be amputated finger to attempt to pick up Kiwi the BFA around the body when he's in a bad/defiant mood:wideyed: We have to us a stick to get him if he's hormonal and doesn't care to listen to us.

If you are looking to adopt a bird soon, perhaps contact the rescue and see if you can arrange to meet the green cheek. Each bird is an individual, so you may click with him right away or feel perhaps he's not the right bird. Always worth a shot though! You may find a lovable little bird you can't live without:heart:
Unfortunately I won't be able to adopt for around 5 years probably since I am still living with my parents. But I'm going back to school for radiography so when I get a job, I'll be able to move out.
 
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