He loves coming out of his cage. As soon as we open the door, he runs for it and comes out. Getting him back in can be a little more challenging. He steps up, then as soon as we make a step towards his cage, he flies off and lands somewhere else. This can go on for quite some time, and was actually painful as his nails were really sharp needles. We both have bloody scratches on our hands.
Last night, Thomas decided to do Basil's nails so that it would be more comfortable for us to hold him. For the first few days, we'd been letting him get the vibe in our house and didn't want to stress him out by toweling to do his nails or by holding him too much.
I'm so glad we did, as he liked being on us, which was impossible with his long, sharp nails.
He's not really a good percher; here he'd lost his balance and went upside-down. He gently used his beak to grab on to Thomas's hand and regain his spot.
He likes to perch with one foot on each hand, which can be challenging for us -- hard to get things done when one parrot is monopolizing both hands! I wish I had a video of me trying to open a door with the same parrot in both hands.
Here, Thomas's attempt to get him on one hand provoked some flapping to gain balance:
But was ultimately successful. Look at his left foot -- three toes are forward. He definitely needs some practice on perching!
Getting some head pets and affection:
He was very gentle and loving with me as well; I just didn't get any pictures of it. He's still a bit skittish, but that will improve with time. He's only been with us for 4 days and he doesn't know us, so understandable that he'd be a bit scared. He misses his family -- I keep telling him he only will stay with us for 6-8 weeks and then gets to go back home, but I'm not sure he understands.Also, I am loving that amazon smell. I wish technology was advanced for me to put the smell on the blog so those of you without amazons knew what I was talking about it. I cannot stop myself from sniffing him. How have I been living without this? I was thinking our next foster bird from the rescue would be a grey, but after this, it may be an amazon instead!
10 comments:
what a beautiful amazon!!!!
He is beautiful! I wish I could smell him.
I am very interested in Basil as a family wants me to take their Blue fronted amazon . 45 and just had an un expected baby. The very first thing I noticed is when he jumped up on my shoulder he gave off a sent I did not expect , and now you basically say that means he likes me ? To Kewl The next thing I noticed is he also has some trouble perching as he slipped off my shoulder twice flapping to get back. Sounds like we are talking about the same bird . His beak is greatly overgrown and will need attending to . So what do you know about BFA's
Looks like you will have lots of fun with him! He looks very sweet!
And yes, the zon smell is sooo awesome!
Thanks, guys!
D. Richard -- I do not have a ton of amazon experience -- just dealing with them at the rescue. This is the first time one has lived in my house.
One thing that I worry about is the fact that you have so many smaller guys at home already. An amazon could easily take the beak or foot off of one of your smaller birds, so you have to be extremely vigilant.
Because of this, we will never again have any small or very large parrots, even though I really miss having budgies and would love to have a large macaw. But it's not fair to the birds we currently have.
One thing I keep telling myself is that you can't save everyone. If I brought home every bird at the rescue that tugged at my heart and loved either me or my husband over the past 7 years, we would have several hundred birds.
Only you know what you can handle, but just really think about it before making a decision. So many times, I've seen people at the rescue who got in over their heads; taking in "just one more" bird, until they had over 20-30 and no one was getting the care and attention they needed. The annual vet bills alone!
If you decide this amazon isn't right for your home, don't feel guilty -- there are always more birds who will need you. I just don't want you to feel pressured as this should be a lifetime commitment!
Good luck with your decision! And I think you know this, but I mean this in the best way possible -- I hope my words didn't come off as harsh or anything!
I also love the Amazon smell and personality. We lived with my ex-SIL briefly, and she had a double-yellow headed Amazon that was hand-raised. He was a very sweet, talkative bird - and he smelled just like all Amazons. I still miss him...though not the SIL.
Oh and P.S. - I posted the cougar story.
Pionus have a really interesting smell too. Get a whiff of one next time you get a cjance. Pi owners become addicted. :)
Stephanie,
LTNS; glad you are doing well! I do remember a certain blue-head with a nice smell. I will now search out more for sniffing :)
OMG the Amazon smell is awesome! It is a sickly sweet floral smell and it actually smells "yellow" to me. :) So glad Basil is settling in nicely.
Loving the blog!
Ann
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