Okay, where to start.....Some of you may remember that we got our new baby Amazon(Fawkes) at the bird fair recently. We were sent home some formula incase he were to regress. The breeder told us that he'd just weaned him. And we were okay with having to maybe feed him some formula. However, we are on 3 a day formula feedings. The breeder acts totally surprised at this and has been very helpful. Even offered to take him back to finish weaning him. We declined this offer, and decided to hand feed him ourselves. Everything is going good. I'm just wondering when can I expect him to start weaning? He is 5mo. The breeder gave us a large bag of pellet mix and seed to wean him with. We also add in some Zupreme pellets, as this is what we will feed him when he does wean. He does eat some of it. Just not enough to go without a formula feeding. We also offer fresh food. He doesn't really eat any of it. We keep in contact with the breeder. He has told us to continue as we are, and the bird will wean when ready. Is there anything else I can do? Or will he wean himself when he's ready, as the breeder said?

Next, we are having some issues with Fawkes biting. He seems to get in a mood where he will attack our fingers. He is out of cage and on us when he does this.He is fine one minute and the next he's biting. He doesn't bite and draw blood. But hard enough to hurt. Is this normal with amazons? Also he is attcking me or my husband when one of my kids are near us. How can we get Fawkes to not do this? Just today, my son asked for a kiss and before I could give him one Fawkes bit me on the face. He didn't draw blood, but I'll tell you it hurt like hell.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jenn

First off, he has ust regressed in the new home and will probably take a little time to settle in and waean himself again, although Andie and the other breeders will know more about that.

I have an older 'zon and one big rule with him is he is not allowed anywhere near my face or on my shoulders. Watch him carefully and you will see when he is going to bite and can take steps to prevent him from doing it. That way he won't have a chance to get a reaction. If he's on you when he bites he may be in Amazon overload. Common signs are puffy cheeks, pinning his eyes, fanning his tail. If he gets like that you can keep a towel handy to drop over him and remove him from you until he's calmed down.
He's probably seeing the kids as a little bit of a threat to his time so you could try playing with him and the kids together so he associates the kids with good things not loosing your attention.

Not sure if any of that will help, just a few things I've learnt in the short time I've had Lucha. You may also want to consider joining the Amazona society. Their members message board is a great place to ask a question and have an expert answer.

Bird Trouble gave you some good advise... Amazons will push for Top bird ranking anytime they think they can get away with it. You have to be really firm with them as babies or you end up with a monster like Caesar and General...

I'm suprised that he's needing 3 feedings a day though. And I think I'd cut him back to no more than two, morning and night so it encourages him to eat some of the adult food.

His biting you and hubby when the kids come around is a definite jealousy thing...and he is seeing them as competition for attention and so he's biting you to make you move away from them so he can have you all to himself. And trust me...if he isn't drawing blood and taking chunks yet...he will soon be if you don't start working to nip the action in the butt.

I've noticed that baby 'Zons are beakier/mouthier than some other birds and are always chomping on things which is fine as long as its not flesh! And particularly MY flesh...(OK...insert YOUR flesh there)
Remember to push into the bite, up and back like your going to push you finger to the back of their head. And at the same time give them a firm lower toned NO "BITING"... If they are sitting on you or your hand do a small sharp earthquake and again...low firm toned "No Biting" And at this point its probably wise to not allow any type of beaking...except if he's using his beak as the 3rd hand and then only gently...and make sure you tell him "be gentle" You have to be really consistent with these guys cuz given an inch they will take a mile.

Also as Bird Trouble suggest...NO SHOULDERS....keep that guy down below your face; as you've read I've learned the hard way and pretty severely from my Caesar and even though I no longer allow him near my shoulder, the last severe facial bite he gave me was from when he was well below chin level and he struck up and into my lower lip which also caught my upper lip and did a pretty good number on it. He's also come with in about a quarter inch of my eye And as you already know...they're fast and when they are up on your shoulder you can not read body language. Nope, just from my own personal experience I would never trust an Amazon on my shoulder...nope nope nope!

I think I would also start working on an earthquake if he even attempts to flair a tail while he's sitting on you...Thats definitely a sign that he thinks he's tough stuff and when Caesar does it while I'm holding him I know what's probably coming next. They as mentioned earlier will pin their eyes and fluff out the neck and face feathers...and that can just be excitement, and being happy, sometimes they'll even hiss...But the flaired tail...that, in my opinion is a definite superiority sign. Makes them look bigger and more attractive to a mate and Also bigger and meaner to an adversary.

Andie can probably give you a lot better idea about weaning that little poop than I can so feel free to PM her...and ask her questions Or Email her at her AndiesArk address. She checks Email quite often even though she might not be on the forum.

Hope I've helped a little.

Thanks for that bit of advice. He will no longer be allowed on my shoulder. It didn't seem to be a problem until the kids come around. I haven't seen the tail flair out yet. But will be on the lookout for that.

Orginally we had him on two feedings a day but he would cry and cry. We also weighed him. He had lost a little weight, so we put him on 3. I will pm Andie about this.

There is a difference between a young bird begging for formula, and one that actually requires it. I really don't know how to describe the signs that a baby is just playing and begging, but perhaps another can. Are you still getting a feeding responce everytime? Or just take a little bit at a time. How much is it taking at each feeding?

The breeder has us feed him 35cc at morning and night. We give it at 7am and 7pm and 20cc at 1pm. We is always wanting more than what we give him. He does is head moving thing once he realizes there is no more in the syringe.

Maybe it is just me, but I would first remove the afternoon feeding, and perhaps lessen the morning feedings. Birds are smart, and not foolish. It might just be that all that eatting for him self seems to be just to much work. But if there isn't some one to do its eatting for it, it will figure it out. I would do like 20 in the morning and perhaps 40 in the evening (but still shoot for that 35 mark) if needed.

Well, sometimes they can hang on a while...at 5 months if anything he should be at one a day...and an evening feeding at that. What happens sometimes, when we think were "abundance weaning", we're doing more harm than good. IT is very important to force them to start working on solid foods. IF they don't, the rest of the digestive tract will never develope fully.

If Fawkes is starting to eat pellets and fruits, cut out the noon feeding...give him a week or so and cut the morning feeding, and then go on to start cutting back the amount given at night. When you see them drinking water, that's when I normally quit giving formula...The parents would normally cut them off in a simular way. You can also start putting the formula in a dish in the evenings instead of using a syringe.

Good luck!