Post by Captain Howdy on Mar 23, 2012 14:48:04 GMT
Some of you on here may know I recently got given an Orange Winged Amazon. Rocky.
After his first vet visit with us for his microchipping we got him DNA'd and he is most certainly a boy
He is believed to be around 5 years old turning 6 sometime this year.
It's not been plain sailing though, he came to me a week before christmas, he has a bit of a backstory as to why he came to me so I will attempt to condense it all for you so as not to bore you all stupid
From our knowledge he was bought as a chick by a family, they claimed to have had him 3 years when he was rescued from them. I say rescued as he was basically put in a cage, fed an inappropriate diet and not given the attention and love he needed.
He was taken in by the place I used to work (Some of you will know where this is however I won't post it on here), he was taken in order to be a cage mate for another bird they had there. However Rocky was aggressive and would bite everyone at any chance. Over the two years they had him the girls there who looked after him did a brilliant job and trained him out of his biting and he started to bond well with them.
Unfortunatly just before christmas his cage mate died, I had left by this time but whilst I was working there I got to know the girls who looked after him and we discussed the birds I kept and what they had there and how they might have to move the birds on and it was discussed that I would potentially be able to take one of them on. By the time his cage mate died they knew they would not be getting any more birds and they didn't just want Rocky passed from collection to collection, they wanted somewhere where they knew he would live out his life and even get a friend of his own species when the time was right. I was contacted the same day his cage mate died, we made arrangements and two days later I was going up from work to collect him. It was not a quick decision on my part I sat my family down and explained to them what it was going to involved in owning a Parrot especially one such as Rocky.
He came home with me and we set his cage up, we used one they gave us a temporary cage as I didn't have one suitable at the time, got his new cage the same week just before christmas and moved him in.
When I first let him out he sat on top his cage then went straight back in, he has taken time to get to know us as was expected. He does know a few 'tricks' however we went right back to basics with him, he was petrified of the perch when asked to step up and would bite it out of fear and aggression, so instead he was trained to step up onto my arm, however he has since bitten people when doing this so instead now the arm is raised and he must jump up to it.
He is a very lovable bird with heaps of personality we are seeing more and more everyday but he is not without issues. He does not like men and has bitten my dad on numerous occassions, in order to combat this I am getting some of my male friends to come round and meet him in a controlled environment, had one come round so far and Rocky was surprisingly well behaved with him and did not go to bite him at all.
He started off willing to step up onto both me and my mom but since refuses to listen my mom, went through a whole stage of having no respect for anyone else in my family, to the point they were not willing to get him out whilst I was at work after one particular incident where they let him out, he refused to go back in his cage later, when my brother attempted to eat his sandwich Rocky tried to steal it and wouldn't listen to them so they removed the sandwich and Rocky instead went into my brothers packet of crisps, he was still out his cage when I finished work hours later and as soon as I came into the room he was suddenly well behaved again.
This has led my brother to be wary of him and not want him out whilst I am eating however I have since kept him out again as Rocky is always well behaved for me, when I have my tea he gets his own dish of cooked veg or salad, his dish gets put next to me (he has his own table space for his food), he will happily come down and sit next to me eating his food whilst I have mine, he started off trying to get at mine but by being firm and using his own body language back to him instead of trying to make him understand in human language he soon learnt that it was mine and he was not to have any. To the point I can leave him out and go and grab a drink and know my food will still be untouched when I come back.
He adores Munchkin, and as a treat for Rocky I pop Munchkin in his travel cage and bring him down to sit by Rockys cage (out of reach) so Rocky has a bird to talk to, Munchkin obviously isn't bothered at all and tends to ignore him.
Rocky understands a lot more than people would give him credit for, which is always fun when new people meet him and I tell them to talk to him as he does understand them, he is exceptionally smart, he is currently learning colours which he is doing really well with and we are teaching him numbers as well, he is happy to be out the cage and just in the room with me or sitting on my arm watching what I'm doing.
He LOVES the hoover and happily screams along with it.
All in all I couldn't imagine life without him now, he has settled in a lot better than I was expecting and he does still have issues but with time, patience and love I am sure we can work on these.
To anyone considering buying a Parrot please please research them thoroughly beforehand, I expect Rocky to live with me for potentially and preferably another 55+years yet, I am 22 now so he is a lifetime commitment, he is like a child, he does jelous over things and play up to get attention but this is a child that is never going to grow up, he will affect my life for the rest of the time he with me. They do require a lot of attention and things to keep them occupied when your not there. There are always Parrots out there who are in need of homes, so please do consider a rescue, yes they may have issues but it is so rewarding the first time they show they trust you enough by coming over and stepping onto your arm because they WANT to be with
He is a picture of the gorgeous boy himself sitting on my arm:
After his first vet visit with us for his microchipping we got him DNA'd and he is most certainly a boy
He is believed to be around 5 years old turning 6 sometime this year.
It's not been plain sailing though, he came to me a week before christmas, he has a bit of a backstory as to why he came to me so I will attempt to condense it all for you so as not to bore you all stupid
From our knowledge he was bought as a chick by a family, they claimed to have had him 3 years when he was rescued from them. I say rescued as he was basically put in a cage, fed an inappropriate diet and not given the attention and love he needed.
He was taken in by the place I used to work (Some of you will know where this is however I won't post it on here), he was taken in order to be a cage mate for another bird they had there. However Rocky was aggressive and would bite everyone at any chance. Over the two years they had him the girls there who looked after him did a brilliant job and trained him out of his biting and he started to bond well with them.
Unfortunatly just before christmas his cage mate died, I had left by this time but whilst I was working there I got to know the girls who looked after him and we discussed the birds I kept and what they had there and how they might have to move the birds on and it was discussed that I would potentially be able to take one of them on. By the time his cage mate died they knew they would not be getting any more birds and they didn't just want Rocky passed from collection to collection, they wanted somewhere where they knew he would live out his life and even get a friend of his own species when the time was right. I was contacted the same day his cage mate died, we made arrangements and two days later I was going up from work to collect him. It was not a quick decision on my part I sat my family down and explained to them what it was going to involved in owning a Parrot especially one such as Rocky.
He came home with me and we set his cage up, we used one they gave us a temporary cage as I didn't have one suitable at the time, got his new cage the same week just before christmas and moved him in.
When I first let him out he sat on top his cage then went straight back in, he has taken time to get to know us as was expected. He does know a few 'tricks' however we went right back to basics with him, he was petrified of the perch when asked to step up and would bite it out of fear and aggression, so instead he was trained to step up onto my arm, however he has since bitten people when doing this so instead now the arm is raised and he must jump up to it.
He is a very lovable bird with heaps of personality we are seeing more and more everyday but he is not without issues. He does not like men and has bitten my dad on numerous occassions, in order to combat this I am getting some of my male friends to come round and meet him in a controlled environment, had one come round so far and Rocky was surprisingly well behaved with him and did not go to bite him at all.
He started off willing to step up onto both me and my mom but since refuses to listen my mom, went through a whole stage of having no respect for anyone else in my family, to the point they were not willing to get him out whilst I was at work after one particular incident where they let him out, he refused to go back in his cage later, when my brother attempted to eat his sandwich Rocky tried to steal it and wouldn't listen to them so they removed the sandwich and Rocky instead went into my brothers packet of crisps, he was still out his cage when I finished work hours later and as soon as I came into the room he was suddenly well behaved again.
This has led my brother to be wary of him and not want him out whilst I am eating however I have since kept him out again as Rocky is always well behaved for me, when I have my tea he gets his own dish of cooked veg or salad, his dish gets put next to me (he has his own table space for his food), he will happily come down and sit next to me eating his food whilst I have mine, he started off trying to get at mine but by being firm and using his own body language back to him instead of trying to make him understand in human language he soon learnt that it was mine and he was not to have any. To the point I can leave him out and go and grab a drink and know my food will still be untouched when I come back.
He adores Munchkin, and as a treat for Rocky I pop Munchkin in his travel cage and bring him down to sit by Rockys cage (out of reach) so Rocky has a bird to talk to, Munchkin obviously isn't bothered at all and tends to ignore him.
Rocky understands a lot more than people would give him credit for, which is always fun when new people meet him and I tell them to talk to him as he does understand them, he is exceptionally smart, he is currently learning colours which he is doing really well with and we are teaching him numbers as well, he is happy to be out the cage and just in the room with me or sitting on my arm watching what I'm doing.
He LOVES the hoover and happily screams along with it.
All in all I couldn't imagine life without him now, he has settled in a lot better than I was expecting and he does still have issues but with time, patience and love I am sure we can work on these.
To anyone considering buying a Parrot please please research them thoroughly beforehand, I expect Rocky to live with me for potentially and preferably another 55+years yet, I am 22 now so he is a lifetime commitment, he is like a child, he does jelous over things and play up to get attention but this is a child that is never going to grow up, he will affect my life for the rest of the time he with me. They do require a lot of attention and things to keep them occupied when your not there. There are always Parrots out there who are in need of homes, so please do consider a rescue, yes they may have issues but it is so rewarding the first time they show they trust you enough by coming over and stepping onto your arm because they WANT to be with
He is a picture of the gorgeous boy himself sitting on my arm:
