MY NEW AMAZON

Question
HELLO,
I RESCUED A 4 YEAR OLD AMAZON FROM A NEGLECTED SITUATION. HE IS VERY HANDSHY. WILL HE EVER BE ABLE TO TRUST AGAIN? ALSO, HE IS USING SWEAR WORDS AND OBVIOUSLY WITNESSED PEOPLE FIGHTING.(I CAN TELL BY HIS TALKING).
THANKS MUCH FOR YOUR HELP
HEIKE

Answer
Hello Heike.  It is great to hear others taking our feathered friends out of bad situations.  It always does my heart good to know that there are caring peolpe out there.
As for your question, just keep working with him.  Start slowly, and you might want to use some leather gloves to avoid chunk being taken out of your hands.  It is going to take a long time, but eventually he will come around to trust you.
Try to get him to take treats from your hand.  Offer them to him slowly so that you don't startle him, and work your way from there.
I have an 18 year old Amazon that I've had for a little over a year now.  He won't step up on my hand or arm unless I am wearing lether gloves.  It makes him feel more secure while he's holding on.  He too was neglected, and he does swear sometimes.  I have learned to start replacing the swear words with other words.  
He (your Amazon) will probably always remember the swear words, and on occaision he will say them.  That is when you have to replace the word he says with another word that would be easy for him to say.

Pateince is the best way to handle him.  Remember, he was in a bad situation, and it's going to take a long time for him to get over the "trauma" that he's been through.

I am also sending you a link from one of my sources.  The methods do work (I have tried them on all of my birds), and they are very informative.

Please keep me informed on how it's going.

Good luck and God Bless.
Dianna

http://birdtricks.com