How to Breed Amazon Parrots

Acquire a breeding pair of Amazon parrots. Make sure you purchase young, healthy, unrelated birds from a reputable breeder. There's no way to visually determine the sex of an Amazon parrot, only through a DNA test. The breeder should have certificates with the results of the DNA tests. Amazon parrots bond best at a young age, and parrots that are not hand-tamed or imprinted on humans make the best breeders.

House your breeding pair in a suitable cage. Most breeders use aviaries at least 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. The walls should be made of 1 inch by half-inch 1.2 to 1.3 mm gauge wire. If you live an area where the climate mimics that of the Amazons' natural habitat and decide to keep the aviary outdoors, make sure that the roof is at least half or fully covered and that there's a layer of 7 mm square wire on the outside of the walls and roof to keep out mice, snakes and other vermin.

Set up the aviary for your Amazon parrots. The nesting box should be 9 to 10 inches square and 30 to 40 inches deep, depending on the size of the Amazon species you're breeding, and should have a ladder from the top of the nesting material to the entrance hole to help the parrots get in and out. The nest box can be lined with corn cob, decomposed non-toxic sawdust, shredded newspaper, clean dried grass or straw or aspen wood shavings. Never use pine, cedar or redwood shavings, as they give off toxic aromas. The nest box should also open at the top, so you can check for and remove the eggs. Also include plenty of perches and toys in a variety of materials for exercise and to prevent boredom.

Feed your breeding pair a healthy diet that includes a high-quality seed mixture, pellets, fruits and vegetables such as apples, bananas, oranges, pears, beans, carrots, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and sprouted seeds. You can also add a vitamin or calcium supplement to the diet to ensure that the female gets all the nutrition she needs.

Provide fresh water at all times and change the water at least once a day, as Amazon parrots often won't drink if the water is dirty.

Check on the nest at least once a day. Once the female lays her eggs, you can remove them for incubation (most breeders recommend doing this) or wait until the eggs hatch and them remove the chicks for hand-rearing. The chicks must be hand-reared to ensure that they become tame and friendly towards people. Amazon parrots breed in the spring, and the female usually lays between two and three eggs.