Agressive Amazon PLEASE HELP!!

Hi

I moved in with partner twelve months ago and he owns two parrots.

Coco, the amazon, took a dislike to me immediately. I am experienced with birds and quite fearlessly attempted to bond with him but he has attacked me several times and these are escalating in ferocity to the point where my partner is now considering getting rid of him. Coco is only six and we are hoping to have a family. He has already expressed a dislike for children in the past and research tells us he will become increasingly aggressive as he gets older and also that Amazon's are pretty much impossible to bring round once they take against somebody.

We would like to avoid, if at all possible, getting rid of Coco but the fact is his and our quality of life is affected by this behaviour and it can't continue indefinitely. He is like a lamb with my partner and a select few male friends but aggressive towards me and other people who visit our home.

Any advice would be welcome, I would hate to have to come back on the forum for advice on rehoming him.

Hey luci, welcome to the forum. Wish i had a crystal ball and could read the future, but i don't. My wife and i both have pet amazons that are closely bonded to us as individuals. Both are very handle able by either one of us. This has been a long time coming and took tons of time. My hen accepted by wife pretty quick but i took years for me to develop a good relationship with her hen who HATES men. I'm the "cat's meow " now. I understand your worries about future kids and a aggressive zon but you don't have to cross that bridge yet. I assume Coco is a boy, at age 6 he's just becoming mature (breeding age), this is when they start to get aggressive , Hormones start to kick in at times and it get worse. I don't think that's your problem now but it could be a factor. Your different than the other members of his flock that he grew up with, your the outsider( he thinks of you like you would think of another woman coming in to steal your Partner) . It will take time to gain his trust and loads of work from you and your partner. That being said it still might not work out. IMO it's worth a try. I'd be glad to help with advice if you want to go that route. PS let me guess, he's a OWA,BFA or a YC (BFA i bet)

Welcome to the forum!

Henpecked is THE Amazon expert 'round here.

I guess I'm not entirely sure why the aggression is necessarily a problem in terms of kids and so forth unless the bird is fully flighted. I can see how it might limit the amount of social time the bird is getting, but aside from that, is it truly necessary for anyone else to be able to handle him aside from your husband? DESIRABLE, for sure, but NECESSARY?

Have you tried having you do all the daily chores for Coco? Have you tried keeping your distance and just talking with him? What exactly did you do when you were trying to bond with him? Is he target trained or anything like that?

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Welcome to the forum!

Henpecked is THE Amazon expert 'round here.

Agreed.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I guess I'm not entirely sure why the aggression is necessarily a problem in terms of kids and so forth unless the bird is fully flighted. I can see how it might limit the amount of social time the bird is getting, but aside from that, is it truly necessary for anyone else to be able to handle him aside from your husband? DESIRABLE, for sure, but NECESSARY?

Yep. My hubs just doesn't care to handle the ones that don't seem to like him. He's not into donating blood.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Have you tried having you do all the daily chores for Coco? Have you tried keeping your distance and just talking with him? What exactly did you do when you were trying to bond with him? Is he target trained or anything like that?

Yep. When needed my family can at least feed the birds without blood loss. Some are trickier to feed than others without blood loss.

You can try very short sessions a day - like offer one item of super special favorite treat each day, and you're the only one who gives that favorite treat. Might win at least tolerance.

As for children, I had a baby when I had 7 parrots including a few "large" ones - CAG, a few cockatoos. The baby got bit by one of the toos. Finger flap of flesh hanging off. I felt terrible and was more careful afterwards. Other than that incident, there were no other bites or mishaps. The birds weren't allowed to go near the child when they were loose and the child wasn't allowed to go torture the birds (banging cages, etc.) Everyone understood the rules. When the baby was toddling, any birds that seemed curious and interested and did not display any level of aggression were allowed to get within arms reach of the child. Child was taught and allowed to gently pet the bird and/or offer treats. Child needs to be taught to be calm and not scream or squeal, poke or freak out with excitement like children can do. Growing up from birth with parrots, the kid learns pretty easily. And never, ever leave unsupervised.

Welcome Luci to Paradise!

You've already heard from two of the most knowledgeable members of our little group in Henpecked and patdbunny.

I agree that having you do the everyday feeding and watering, and using Coco's favourite treat only from you, is a great place to start.

You do not have to be best friends, only to have him more or less content with you being in his world.

My Maroon Belly Merlin does not like my wife at all, and will attack her when he is out. However, he has become used to sitting on her shoulder, and will let her change his water and food (sometimes). They are still working on it.

Good luck! It can be done, but will not happen overnight. Birds are long lived, and have long memories! I have had Arthur since October 2011, and he still frustrates me!

I can't speak to the issue of making friends with him, but I can speak to the issue of rehoming him.

I also have an aggressive Amazon. He's not a lamb with anyone. He was starting to gentle down at the store where I was working and I'd hoped that by bringing him home I could make progress in that direction. Instead, he went in the opposite direction. When that happened, I considered rehoming him. After really giving it thought, I realized that this is his personality. It's not going to change if he goes to a new home, and one bad scenario is that someone will think THEY can tame him, fail, then rehome him again and begin a cycle. One other bad possibility is that he'd hurt someone and they'd have him euthanized. The list goes on. I decided that really, his living in a cage at my house isn't such a bad life for him after all. I treat him well, give him lots of toys he won't play with (haha!), he has great food to eat, bird friends to talk to, fresh air, a window, and I talk to him all the time. I'm even getting him a girlfriend.

Once you rehome a bird, you have no idea what could happen to them. I can't say I've never done it, because I have, but the more I learn, the harder I consider my options before doing it. Maybe you could change something around at the house to make it easier for him ro stay? Buy him a bigger cage and he could live there? Use your imagination...It could be that Coco, like Sam, would be better off with y'all, regardless of the circumstances, than being rehomed for the next 40+ years.

Just something to think about.

(ps, that was NOT to make you or anyone else feel guilty about rehoming a bird!! Sometimes it's for the best! I understand that! Like I said, I've done it too. It's just another way to look at options and what might or might not happen if that choice is made.)

Vicki, you have just perfectly described my relationship with Arthur, Thank You!!!!!!!!

RogerP wrote:

Vicki, you have just perfectly described my relationship with Arthur, Thank You!!!!!!!!

HA HA! You're most welcome, any time!

Hi Luci,
You couldn't have a better advice like the one Henpecked gave you

From my very small experience with 'zon:

You love me as I am, You take me as I am.
You love your partner, you better make a deal with Coco, and with time it will pay back. Just like that.

thanks everyone, its nice to have some advice from people who like it to work out.

PS let me guess, he's a OWA,BFA or a YC (BFA i bet)- Can anyone explain these acronyms to me please???

I do all the chores for both parrots almost daily, my partner leaves earlier than me and he goes out the house really quickly in the morning. because I walk the dog etc I am in and out several times before leaving for good so they dont make as much noise when I go because they never really know when I'm actually going.

I think the issue for us is that he is fully flighted (presuming that means he has the run of the house) and we live in house that is open plan on the ground floor so not letting him out means not letting him out at all because he is so aggressive and will attack. we both just worry about his quality of life and he is so determined to attack me he goes between the bars of the cage sometimes and lands in a noisy and undignified heap on the floor. He will attack my partner if he is out and I come home, i get him in such a rage.

I will happily carry on with him but my partner is obviously more acutely aware of the change in Coco's lifestyle since I moved in and he doesnt feel he will ever be any different, he feels he has already gotten much worse.

I will happliy try anything that can be suggested because I would hate to see him re-homed. I brought my own pets into the home when we moved in and I wouldnt like to get rid of them either.

On the plus side, at the least the African Grey will play with me! I like to think she's the smart one xx

luci_lewis wrote:

PS let me guess, he's a OWA,BFA or a YC (BFA i bet)- Can anyone explain these acronyms to me please???

Hee-hee. I'm not an Amazon denizen, but I've worked most of these out. OWA -- Orange Wing Amazon, BFA -- Blue-fronted Amazon, YC -- Yellow Crown, I think. DYH -- Double Yellow Head. Right.

Quote :

I think the issue for us is that he is fully flighted (presuming that means he has the run of the house) and we live in house that is open plan on the ground floor so not letting him out means not letting him out at all because he is so aggressive and will attack.

Fully flighted means all the wing feathers are in their natural state and he can and does fly. Having the run of the house is a different issue. You might want to consider trimming his wing feathers, which would allow him more freedom to be out and about on a playgym, etc. without risk of being attacked. They grow back in 6 months to a year anyway.

Some people claim trimming the wings makes them more humble, but I don't really like thinking of it as a way to subdue them, just as a way to limit how much trouble they can get into. It does make it easier to try some training without fear of being flown at.

Have you tried any training with him at all? Will he take a treat from you? When is the last time he saw a vet for a checkup? I wonder if there could be something medical contributing to the aggression. Have you tried removing anything that might trigger hormonal behavior?

You've heard from all the best sources, and I can't really add in more.

Our Caique, Rosco, took a few years to become neutral towards Husband (their relationship started off great until a bad bird sitting experience with "trusted" friends ruined Rosco's good demeanor), and he's still Jekyll/Hyde with me.

Husband still goes in daily and feeds/waters Rosco, and gives him treats, which Rosco tentatively takes. We've avoided a full blown flying attack for quite awhile now.

Like Vicki, it is frustrating at times, but I wouldn't want to worry about Rosco elsewhere as he has been with me since 4 months old. And it's him, not us, as our other two parrots (Cockatiel and Grey) are lovebugs. He's just an angry Cake