My new Red Lored parrot..story and questions

[tawny30]

hello there.
My name is Lorry :) and my newest avain friends name is Laura (laugh)

We have had a yellow collared macaw for 4 yrs..We love him to death but he is not hand friendly.

When I got married I had a citron cockatoo who was my baby and hated my husband. Indy (the citron) died a couple of yrs ago. I was devastated. He was my most adored baby and we did everything together ..well everything my husband was not involved in.

I went a long time without wanting another bird until about 6 weeks ago. My husband came home from work and told me about a customer. He said this guy had a Red Lored amazon that needed a new home. His sister in law died 2 yrs ago and they had 2 of her birds..One they were keeping..and Laura..the one they were not.

I at first said no nope..no way..but after thinking on it a few days I asked my husband if they found the bird a home..they had not...so we arranged to go down and meet Laura.

When I came in all 3! birds were in TINY cages built for budgies....Laura was on 1 on one of only 2 perches in the cage which was made of concrete..Her nails were so overgrown that that were like cork screws.

I began talking to her and she just quietly looked at me with such desperation and affection that the decision was made. I handed them the 100 they wanted for the ridiculously small cage and brought Laura home.

In the car she was happily saying "hello Laura" and laughing...we were partying before we even got home.

Once home we introduced her to the dogs which she loved..within a couple days we were stratching her and had her in a good sized cage. She LOVED it and began really to blossom.

She has learned new words like "good girl' and loves her mommy to death! We have seen NO agression toward anyone at all :)

We were told she was about 10 yrs old but on googling her band..It sounds like Laura is wild caught....which puts her pre 1992 if I read it all right..Her band says USDAM 347 which is apparently a USDA station in Miami...We live in FL so not entirely impossible since her previous owner lived here her whole life.

Anyhow I LOVE her and she is here forever but I have some questions:

1. When is their breeding season? and how much trouble am I in at that time with aggression? right now she is friendly to both my husband and I am wondering when the problems will arise. Since I am the favored parent.
2. Her band is from a quarantine station..so I am assuming I cannot get any info to get a guestimation of age. Is there any way for me to find out more info on this station? and perhaps about her?
3. I have her on what my mini macaw is on..Zupreem fruitblend diet with snacks of table food..Someone has said I should also give seed...is this true? when I got her she was entirely on seed.

Also any suggestions are welcome :) Since I am totally new to amazons!

[tawny30]

Ok after reading I have more questions!
1. Amazons are not usually touchy..my red lored is totally affectionate..grooming me with her beak and liking her neck scratched..are Red loreds normall lovie dovie?
2. She is also very CLUMSY when she walks..it takes her forever to get from one part of the cage to the other since she trips over her feet..I assume due to lack of exercise..Will this get better?
3. I do not know the gender of my parrot. She has a female name but I do not think without a blood test I can tell. I hear so much about males Vs females...Males being more difficult..should I find out the gender so I know how to handle the bird?

[tawny30]

And is my bird Uhm..Fat? I have heard that is very dangerous to them..Laura was entirely on seed when I got her..Now she is on zupreem fruit blend with a tiny bit of seed every couple days and lots of fruits and veggies

[DarwinTheSun]

Hi and welcome to the board from another newbie!
I don't have answers to your questions, but I wanted to say that I am reading a book right now that is all about this womans relationship with her red-lored amazon. It is really interesting! The title is "The Parrot Who Owns Me" by Joanna Burger. :)

[tawny30]

Originally Posted by DarwinTheSun

Hi and welcome to the board from another newbie!
I don't have answers to your questions, but I wanted to say that I am reading a book right now that is all about this womans relationship with her red-lored amazon. It is really interesting! The title is "The Parrot Who Owns Me" by Joanna Burger. :)

Thanks so much and that is HYSTERICAL :) as my Married name is Burgr ..makes looking to book up easy :) I will definitely read it thanks!
Hopefully they say they are wonderful :) Since this one is a real peach!

[Ollies Pages]

Originally Posted by DarwinTheSun

Hi and welcome to the board from another newbie!
I don't have answers to your questions, but I wanted to say that I am reading a book right now that is all about this womans relationship with her red-lored amazon. It is really interesting! The title is "The Parrot Who Owns Me" by Joanna Burger. :)

How can I stop my bird from biting my clothes...hes hand trained and a pretty nice little guy(I think) he came to us as a rescue bird from a pet store.Someone brought him in and they couldnt find out who he belonged to. He was in the paper for two weeks before we took him home.Hes very friendly with my husband and myself.But when he sits on my shoulder..he wants to bite my clothes... and it goes threw to my skin.DO you have any ideas on how to change this habit?

[Ollies Pages]

Thanks for your help.
Ollies New Mom

[Ollies Pages]

Anyone have any ideas how to get my bird to stop biting my clothes?

[listerfiend]

I can only comment on a few of your questions, but I'll do the best I can (I have a yellow-naped Amazon by the way).

3a. I give my YNA Zupreem pellets (Avian maintenance maybe? the exact kind escapes me) as well as a dried fruit mix and fresh fruit/veggies. From what I've heard seed isn't that great for them; you might want to give her a bit for now only to orient her, I guess. It is sad, though, how she was only fed seed.

1b/3b. It's helpful to know your bird's sex so that you can anticipate things like hormonal/mood swings, egg-laying, etc. You can get a DNA kit from Avian Biotech/ and it only costs about $25 for them to process it (via feather). I'm happy for you that Laura's adjusting well, and that she's so social and content. Watch out in case she becomes a one-person-bird, though; but with enough interaction that might not be an issue at all (Amazons are just more likely to be like that, especially YNAs, once again, I don't know about red-lored).

2b. I'm sure that once she builds up more muscle/gets exercise/limbers up she'll be fine. If you haven't done so already, I would take her to either an avian vet or a specialty parrot shop that offers grooming services to get her claws filed (as they could easily be hindering her). You *could* do this yourself, but it might be risky (could cut too close) and so it'd be easier to get a professional to do it (most grooming services also entail wing-clipping, if that's a concern).

Good luck with your new gorgeous bird! She's very lucky to have someone so caring as her new owner.

[tawny30]

Thanks so much for the tips :)
I did bring her down yesterday and they trimmed her nails :) which is a huge help :) but yup still clumsy...I am hoping that is just a lack of exercise :)

It is good to know the zupreem is good for them and great to hear that the seed is not so great. I really don't like giving her the seed and she loves the zupreem ..so I think I will move to just that.

She has an appointment with my avian vet tuesday so I think I will ask them to DNA sex her while she is there. :) I didn't know hormones were such a huge thing with them.

I am also shocked to hear they are not "cuddly" amazons they are but it sounds like Red loreds are a little unusual in that sense. She is a cuddle bug big time.
I try to get my husband to touch her as much as possible to try to keep her friendly with him also...but yeah..she already sorta is my bird :)