Amazon Bites

[Gabriel]

This is a thread to warn people about the level of commitment, patience and skills required in having an Amazon.






The cut is deep enough to draw quite a lot of blood that drip to the floor...
6 drops of blood and two tissues wet with blood

Bodhi was flaring and eye pinning when he first meet Pixie, a friend's yellow crowned male amazon.
I believe its a battle of 2 male amazons

Silly of me to intrude and thats why i got my hand bitten--I didn't heed and respect the bodily language Bodhi is trying to tell everyone.

Smart Pixie got the msg though and saved both birds from a bloody battle
its often us humans who are not skilled enough in understanding their language and thus get injured.

I hope these photos can prepare people mentally that this can happen if they wish to keep a big bird such as an amazon, a cockatoo or a macaw.

Many baby parrots are mild and sweet when young.
When they reach sexual maturity, hormonal behaviours can kick in leading to screaming or aggression episodes like this.

If you think you will hit or punish the bird when it bites you, or chain it up on the stand or imprison it in a cage forever after it bites and you can't control the bird, then please think seriously before buying an Amazon.

And please, do not take an Amazon as a living toy that entertains you while mild as a baby, only to be used and sell away like a discarded electronic product past its operational expiry date.

Although there will always be some sweet and gentle zons, you can never be sure the one you buy is one of them unless a former owner tell you so.

Even then, there is no 100% certainty that the bird won't change its behaviour in the many years ahead.

It will always remain a possibility, if not reality.

So don't gamble with your luck or worst, gamble with the Amazon's life by "trying" the bird out.

[Casa Amazona]

Been there ... done that ... have the T-shirt ... have the hat ... have the scars.

When I get bitten (which happens less frequently as I learn the signals) after cleaning up the blood I always sit down and analyze what happened. Without exception, I've been able to understand that the 'zon was behaving exactly as 'zons do, according to their worldview, and that if I don't want to get bitten I need to "speak their behavioral language" instead of insisting they behave like a cockatiel, Cockatoo or another human.

[RMSacha]

Ouch! Well put Gabriel!

My Senegal, Olive, goes after us like that when it's time to put her in her cage for the evening! Or when she sees Joel wearing white walking shoes, she will jump to the floor, run after the shoes, and bite them as she shakes her head back and forth...

I think the best way to modify a negative behavior is with a time out... simply say "No!" in a medium voice, and place the offender in their cage--but it has to be immediately after the fact... not 10 minutes later, after you've cleaned up the blood, etc. Birds are aware of most issues--they perceive things differently but they feel what their companion humans feel. The most empathetic are 'toos and macaws...with Amazons being a close third or, perhaps they're equal to macaws...

Now, go put a band-aid on your owie!

Bob

[kateBird]

yes, well put Gabriel. we got our YNA (17yrs old) just 4 months ago, and he has been SUCH a learning experience for me. after numerous bite scars, a partially numb index finger (from a bad bite in the webbing between index and middle fingers), and almost losing the tip of a thumb, i look back on each incident, and realize that i was the ignorant one. i didnt understand his signs that were bluntly being given by my amazon.

when people see me walking around with my zon and they show interest in him, i warn them with my scars and say, "yes, he's beautiful and seems tame, but this is what he is capable of."

if someone cant handle this kind of personality and strength of their bites and keep their COOL (NO ABUSE!), then a bird is not for them.

after learning and listening to my zon, i havent been bitten for over a month. im sure it will happen that he bites me again one day (he gets really excited when he sees me), but im ready.

[RMSacha]

I think the strongest example I have seen of bite tolerance was by a friend who was looking at a Severe Macaw rescue--this bird grabbed onto his forefinger and went to the bone--no lie! This guy just stood there until the bird let go, then he went to the sink, rinsed it off, put a couple butterflies on it and said no to adopting it... He should have gone for stitches!

Bob