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Hi, I have just adopted a blue front amazon, Jay-bird, we have traced him back thru 3 families and have his age at 93..He is in great shape, but he bites. His orig family died out and he was taken in by another family, They needed the extra room, so I adopted him.. He also came with a 30yr old Goffin and a 30 yr plus timnah..Yea, I took all three.. Any good suggestions for the amazon, he will eat just about anything, but pellets. He has no interest in them, but will eat his cooked meal, veges and fruit, and Higgens fruit and nut and vita seed. Have a great day.

Welcome! and thanks for taking care of so many in need. What does your avian vet think of your new old guy's condition after looking at blood testing results? Is his weight good and holding steady since he's been with you? It's completely possible to keep him healthy w/o pellets. Check out Yahoo's Feeding Feathers forum. LOTS of great info on avian nutrition.

Glad you're here

Glad you rescued all three parrots. If your Blue Front is really 93 years old then you may have a record on your hands. The oldest known parrot is a Blue & Gold Macaw who was once owned by Winston Churchill who is thought to be 104. The next oldest is a Cockatoo who lived to be 80 years old. So if you can verify your Blue Fronts age you would now have the 2nd oldest living parrot.

We have 3 Amazons and none of them will touch any type of pellet. We mix together several different parrots mixes together for them. They also eat everything we do in moderation and out Avain vet says they are all very health.

Their ages are 14-female DYH, 20-male Yellow Nape, and 50 or more - male DYH. Our 50+ DYH has a cataract in one eye and arthritis in both feet (which he had when we rescued him) otherwise he is very health (just had full check up in August) and a very lovey for an Amazon. We have had him 6 years this Christmas Eve and he still has never tried to bite and love to do nothing more then cuddle on my chest and be petting and scratched for hours on end.

All 3 of our Amazons are also completely potty trained.

Thanks for all your responses. I am quite alone taking care of my birds. Jay-birds family has all died out. We know that a polish man had him for 59 yrs, then he died, the son took him for a few years, but could not handle him and didnt know what to do with him..another family took him and had him for about 28 yrs. Then this last family had him for 6yr. and now he is mine. He is in good health. eats like a pig. but the last family gave him alot of bread. His feet are quite scaly and old. I catch him once a month and put salve on his feet. I am now trying a spray bottle with some oil so that I dont have to towel him..He is too old and I dont want to stress him. there are 56 other birds here, all types and sizes. I am getting sick of the phone calls to take unwanted birds, I need to rant a little, makes me mad.
thanks for caring and keep in touch
Janet

Vitamin E oil works great for dry feet. You can get it a Rite Aid for about 8.00 a bottle which lasts several years. We have to do our yellow nape about once a month his feet get dry.

Thanks mumbles, I will go tomorrow and get some. Have to pick up bird food order, like 200 pounds of it..yikes..thanks again

Does the Vitamin E make their feet slippery? Or do you let it soak in a little and then whipe off any excess? I think my amazons feet could use some and I would think it would feel good since he never gets to rest them. All my other birds have birdie huts to sleep in so they get to rest those little feet and legs.

Thank you for taking those guys in so that they could stay together.

I dont think I will spritz that much, just a bit.. We believe this bird was wild caught, and he cannot be touched.. I mean he will tear you apart if you try....I know, I have the scars to prove it. He speaks polish and I have gotten a few words to try with him..No one has spoken to him in 30 yrs in polish, so I hope he understands..

Our Nape's feet are very ticklish so we have to towel him to put the E oil on. I just put a bit on my fingers and rub it all over his feet. It does not make them slippery and his feet look great when done. Our Avain vet was the one who suggested E Oil because it would not hurt him.

Before we started using it he would be cleaning his feet like all parrots do but once in awhile get the wrong piece of skin. (Kind of like when we pull a hang nail off OUCH). He would start going crazy trying to make it stop hurting. We would have to towel him and rush to the vet to get meds to stop the stinging. Once he got it so bad his foot/knuckle was all black & blue.

We have been using the E oil for about 6-1/2 years now and he has never had a problem again. (Except for me putting oil on his feet, man are they ticklish.)

Thanks Mumbles - I will have to try that. My lilac crown will sit on a towel on the bathroom vanity and let me pick up each foot and trim the nails. He is a very gentle bird. So I don't think he will have a problem with it and I imagine it will make his feet feel much better. I will probably do it on the bed and then he can just walk around a little. He has one bad foot from an injury as a baby at the breeders, so he cannot grasp well with that foot. That is why I asked about them being slippery, I was concerned that he might slip off the dowel perchs

I love the picture of your DYH.

Thank you, the picture is Mumbles. She will turn 15 years old May 23rd.