Mealy Zons

[little_brodie]

Hello ,
My name is Cindy and I live in Singapore. I've just bought Danny, a 1 yr old Mealy Zon who's going through his first moult, for 3 weeks now. I'd like to learn more about Mealy Zons as i've not met anyone in Singapore who owned a Mealy Zon. Danny is a very playful,sweet and gentle fella who loves to be swung upside down and loves to dance around ...though he can be loud at times, especially when i bring him outside(park or playground) or to parrot gatherings ...
A breeder of BF/Double Yellow/Yellow Crown Amazons told me that Mealys are very loud and that i'd be lucky if Danny can say 10 words in his lifetime.
I hope i could learn more about the Mealy's personality, behavior and their talking ability and how to train them.Hope i'll be able to learn more here and gain knowledge in keeping parrots.

[Monica]

He is gorgeous! All parrots normally tend to be loud regardless of what's around them. A happy parrot is never silent. It really depends though on what environment they were raised in and how the noise (if any) was dealt with. I've been told though that budgies and cockatiels don't talk. I've seen one that talks, and I now own one that talks (but I haven't exactly HEARD him talk yet!). I've heard clips of budgies talking. Some say that they don't learn very many words or that they don't know how to use them in reference to every day life. From the clips that I have heard, this isn't so! Besides, it was a budgie years ago that held the talking record! So please, don't believe what someone else tells you, just believe what you see/hear if it happens!

I don't have a zon but I'm sure that someone will be here in a while!

[Rue]

...I LUV Mealy's!!! They're beautiful!!! I have a Green cheek, also not known for talking...

...I know she's capable of saying at least 'Hello' and 'Good Girl'...but she only seems to do that if she's at all stressed...right now she's rather happy, so all she does is squawk...go figure! :-D

[Machelle]

Hi there and welcome! I LOVE the picture of Danny! He's stunning! I'm a new mealy zon owner also. I just brought him home saturday and he's 2 1/2 years old. We are stil adjusting to each other but from what I've read, in general, they adjust easy to their surroundings. Caesar is very sweet and extremely comical. He's quite the tease. He's also pretty obstinant. So far I've heard him say: hi, hello, hi Caesar, step up, stop it, and mom. Amazing considering I've only had him 2 days. His previous owners said he also says party bird and cocktails anyone but we haven't heard him say that yet. From what I read, Amazons are the best talkers second only to african greys. The ability is definitely there but I think its up to the owner and the individual bird as to how large the vocabulary can be. Some birds can talk up a storm while others dont want to say a word. Some pick up words without training and some need the training. It really depends. I've been trying to do research on the web....that's where I've gotten all of my information so far. I've really enjoyed having Caesar these last 2 days so far. He is definitely loud. When you leave the room and he's alone...even if for only a moment, he screeches. LOL! His cage is right by my couch and when my husband left the room he screeched. and I jumped. LOL! I dont jump easily at all and I knew that he screeched but I still jumped. It was quite funny, actually. Just be prepaed for the loudness. Alot of people aren't. That's why the previous owners of Caesar adopted him out. But I can tell you that for me, his personality more than makes up for the screeching. Thankfully, he doens't do it that much, but when he does, its definitely ear shattering. Good luck with your new fid.

[little_brodie]

Thanx for the replies and encouragement guys..... and Machelle, i now know Danny is capable to talk more than 10 words if i were to socialise him more often and teach him. and also the screeching is to be expected in later times....:)... Danny has already learn to say "Hello" and pick up some sounds from my CAG(who talks non-stop)...
But i live in an apartment so i hope he doesn't make so much noise that my neighbors would complain. And in S'pore the famous Zons are the BF,yallow naped, double Yellow.... so basically there are very very few ppl who own a Mealy... some even call the Mealy as the "Ugly" "Dull" zon....
But to me, Danny is the most handsome of all, bigger in size than most, with a big personality and does not bite/nippy like other Zons at all...
I really hope to get to know him better and maybe we can work along the way...
I was even told/advised by my Bird-Buddies/breeders to rehome him when he's still young... But that's not an option for me...i could/would never rehome him, afterall, when i first bought him, i've already made a lifetime commitment...

[Beaks]

A mealy can talk as well as any other zon and are usually calmer than the other species.

They are no louder than a DYH .
The mealy makes the best pet/friend of all the zons.

John

[Freedomoflight]

I have a DYH, and he only has a vocabulary of 3 words :) He is 20 years old, and I have not yet heard him scream. Talking ability all depends on the individual bird.
Good luck!

[Willow]

I have 5 Amazons and one of them is a Mealy. The only one that talks clearly is the older of the Cubans - and he only talks when he wants t obitte me. The red lored mimics the cuban in a funny voice and the Orange wing talks but no one but mean can understand her. Maple mealy I have never heard talk although his previous foster mom said that he said pretty bird. Congrats on your new additions, little brodie and Machelle!

[little_brodie]

I noticed that he get really really loud when i bring him outside to the coffeeshop, park or simply parrot gatherings... He's not so bad at home and i hope he'd stay that way...I found him laughing,"Hahaha" along with my husband yesterday and he does say "Hello" but very rarely...:(.
When we talk to him, he'd just listen and mumbles away in rather a cute but loud harsh voice... he now shakes hand with us and let us scratch his head willingly, though he has no prob with us handling him in any other way.

Willow, how much does Maple weigh?

DYH, your Zon is so beautiful... and yes, i will not expect Danny to talk like Brodie, afterall his personality makes up more than his inability to talk( if he decided not to talk)...

Thank you John. I believe he's very calm comparing to Brodie, and i'm sure he'll make an excellent feather kid...:)

[Myst]

Mealy Zons are great - got mine when he was 1 year old. Best talker in the crowd (my adult Redfronts are close though) He can minic a 2 sided cat fight by himself, mimics most of the other birds, sounds like he has asthma (he does not) and keeps us laughing over all. Mine is "Birdzilla aka BZ" who was named by his breeder who says BZ is larger than any other mealies he has seen or owned. BZ waves, high 5's and shakes and after shaking he tells us "good boy" before we get the chance to speak. He even mimics our DYH Zon when he is harmonal, tells kids and other "Quiet"

You will love him. Mealies are known as the gentle giants of the zons - and mine is one! I haeve had them described to me as "the hyacinth of the amazons"