Yossi

ROFL! Fun find, thanks for the giggle.

Some very good info there. I once fostered a rescued bird. Turned out it had Pacheco's. Only symptom is showed was some minor sinusitis. Most of the rescues did that came from the home they were confiscated from. It's very hard to keep totally separate water sources, food, and sterilize between going to them and my own birds so I didn't spread anything. Fortunately the disease was diagnosed within two days and the birds were moved to an animal hospital and removed from all foster homes. I feel fortunate the bird was removed before I had time to become lax or an accident happened. Everything I used for that bird either went with it or was disposed of. I had to sterilize the room I kept him in too. Heartbreaking, but happens.

What a beautiful bird. Unusual with the thigh patches. Love that last picture. Such birdy friends! That's always the itchiest spot.

Really enjoy your journal. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures and information.

Thanks for the update. Good news all around.

Most pet behavior problems are really problems with the owners, not the pet. Your husband is proving to be one of these "problem" owners and he's perpetuating the issue with his reaction. I hope he reads those articles and takes the advice to heart. Good luck!

I bought plastic baby ring of keys for Buddy. Cost less than a dollar, non-toxic and easy for him to handle. He now counts the keys... 1-2-3-FOUR!! and then throws it. Great fun, cheap with bright colors birds love.

Now I"m hungry, thanks. Nice pictures!

A bird owners worst nightmare. I'm so sorry to hear she's lost, my heart goes out to you. I hope she comes back to you soon.

Yes, here it is, another Buddy story. It happens twice a year. That's a given. Never know exactly when but the signs are all there. First the heavy molt, extra shower requests and of course extra cuddly. Amazons are generally not cuddly birds. Unless they want to be, anyway. So here it is in all it's raging glory. Mating season. The crooning. The regurgitating. The rubbing of birdy rump on hand. The honking. The screaming. Oh and the biting of anyone who is not me. *sigh* I think I mentioned before that Buddy has a perch in my office so he's with me most of the day. 99% of the time he's content to sit there, just be in the same room as I am and chat. If I'm on the phone for work he knows he either has to go into his cage (it's a long meeting and I won't have time to take him down when he needs to eat/drink) or he has to be quiet because it's "mommy's turn to talk". During mating season the rules all seem to change. For two weeks twice year everything is done as if Buddy's having opposite day. He's not quiet when I'm on the phone. He won't step up to go to his cage. He won't sit on his perch. No. What he wants to regurgitate whatever he's just eaten onto my hands. He wants to sit on my shoulder and glue himself to the side of my face and not move. Oh and don't try to eat or drink, he's there first. Put him in his cage? HAH! You'd think you had a wild cat not a domesticated parrot. Bite, pull, scratch, scream. You'd think I was killing him, not putting him into his place of safety. Oh and it's always nice when the neighbors from 2 blocks away stop by to ask if you have a bird or something. To which I nod and state "for these two weeks, its' or something', thanks for asking." The hours spent scratching pin feathers open on his head (I've never had him sexed but he behaves like a girl). The hours spent washing my hands because he's "fed" me. And the money spent on foam ear plugs to help reduce the noise through 2 closed doors. Despite all this, he's still the light of my life. A treasure to savor even during the times he's the bird from hell. A joy to behold and a companion for life. He's a pain in the a$$ and funny as all get out. He's the best pet in the world and I wouldn't want him any other way. But I sure can't wait for these next two weeks to be over. And I get to do it all over again in about 6 months. Joy.

So Chico is a he not a she and the owners need to be trained, not the parrot retrained. At least that's my 2 cents worth.

LOL Salsa looks like a lot of fun! Love rough housing with my amazon. Like my dog, they play to win! Thanks for sharing the great pictures!

Almost got one of these guys. About the same size as my red lored. Not known as talkers, they're very smart and vivacious birds. The ones I looked at were like kids on a playground. The antics were amazing! Great pick for the week, thanks!

Love Mango rolling her r's in the video. Pretty funny. Thanks for sharing.

Blue fronts are great amazons! Great article thanks!

Welcome Ches and great job on doing your research. Let you sister know her bird can be trained and handed but it will take months of hard consistent and dedicated effort on her part. I'm third owner of my amazon and we're best of friends now. Good luck to you both.

You can thank Mawnee, another new member for pointing me here.

Hi Jayd and flock! At this time, Bud only has myself and our lab as part of his flock. When I first got Bud I had a breeding pair of orange wings, and 3 breeding pair of cockatiels. Job changes and a few other life changes forced me to give up the digs I had that allowed me the room for breeding pairs. I gave them to a breeder I knew at the time who was very good with her birds and had the room. Bud's been a single bird ever since. He's always been insanely jealous of any other birds anyway and would go out of his way to attack any that got near him (since he's bonded with me as mate). I've done some rescues from time to time and I can't let Bud see me handle the rescues. Jealousy thy name is Buddy the green monster!

Thanks everyone. If I hadn't been so tired I could have written so much more, so more Bud story installments to come.

Mawnee, you couldn't pick a better name? Poor kid. He's going to have his head in the stars all the time now. Congratulations on finally getting a name for baby! Hope to see you in that other place a little more often, you're missed.

They are beautiful. Very similar to the feathers Bud drops. I'll have to post some pics when he drops again for comparison.

Great posts! I love learning more about our friends. Thanks for posting this!

Great action pics! I can just imagine the growling that went with some of the attacks!

Buddy, my Red Lored Amazon has been my best pal for about 32 years. I got him when he was 5 and I am his third (but not final, since he should out live me) owner. We believe that he was a wild caught baby as when I got him he was open banded. I had the band removed when I got him and promptly lost it so I've never been able to trace his past with any level of veracity. The guy I bought him from stated he got him just after he was weaned, so it's possible the breeder just preferred open bands since they could be removed/ were easier to deal with (I think they're all unsafe, personally). When I bought Bud he was in a prevue hendrix "parrot cage" (too small for him to have his wings extended) and was eating mostly a seed diet supplemented with people food, mostly peas, apples and corn. I wasn't happy with that either. I felt like I was rescuing him more than purchasing him from a loving owner. To the guy's credit, he really did love Bud and he stayed in touch for years afterward to find out how Bud was doing. His wife hated the bird (it was mutual I think) and forced him to give Bud up. I promptly moved Bud in palatial splendor. A cage with room for him to do a full 360 with his wings out, plenty of toys and different sizes and texture perches. A play pen top and more food dishes than any one parrot could eat out of. It took me 3 months of concentrated effort to not only win him over to me (him going into his first mating season definitely helped there), but to move him from his junk food diet to a good quality pelleted food (I like scenic food, it's what the zoos and other professionals use for it's formulation and was the only one he'd take to.) and we broadened his exposure to "real" food. Bud now enjoys 3 squares a day with the family (he'd eat from our plates if we let him) in addition to his fruit and veggie treats and the constant presence of his pellets. I've been fortunate, with moving him to good food, his weight has not been an issue since. In fact, when change is introduced (work tends to move me every couple of years), he tends to lose weight and I have to try and fatten him up a little. Now with him in his middle years I find he doesn't want to play as much or as rough. Unless it's mating time. :rolleyes: So I have to invent ways to keep him moving. For instance, he only gets his people food on his playpen top of his cage. If he wants breakfast he has to climb out and up to get it. If he wants to crunch his pellets he has to climb back down and in. He's also started enjoying his heated perch more than he used to. With the warmer weather coming on, it's only plugged in at night. Some mornings I find him sleeping on it, others he's just near it. Smart bird. Unlike most Red Lored, Bud is a talker. A very good one. He has a fairly extensive vocabulary and does the best imitation of running water I've heard. He's won first prize in talking bird contests ( a funny story I'll relate one day from one of these) when I took him to bird shows against greys and double yellows! Having clear enunciation in a small amazon is rare, so I'm double lucky with Bud. The thing I love the most is he'll only say good morning in the morning and hello the rest of the day. He gets the difference. He's got the typical amazon birdatude: a 2 year old having a snit fit followed by an intense need to be loved. His cage is in the living room, so he's in the center of daily life. He also has a perch in my home office and has been known to interject words of wisdom during some conference calls. Most of the time you can just barely hear him in the background saying "uh huh" in agreement with whatever anyone says. LOL. He has no food or water in my office and he's smart enough to tell me when he wants to go downstairs. He's also potty trained and when sitting on my shoulder or "helping" me around the house, he'll tell me when he has to go so I can put him on a perch to potty. He constantly tried to drink out of my coffee cup the same time I'm drinking and will try to steal food off your plate if he can reach the table. So that's Bud in a nutshell. Thanks for the warm welcome. Look forward to getting to know you all, feathered and non-feathered.