Our first bird, day one, question one.

And its a biggun! Yesterday me and my fiancee purchased our first bird, she is a two year old Senegal Parrot. We bought her from a local bird lover who was selling his five birds in order to be able to focus on his bible studies. She is lovely and had a wonderful, sweet, comical personality. Her name is Kipy, and we are heads-over-heels. However, last night and this morning whenever my fiancee leaves (to walk the dog, take out the garbage, etc..) Kipy begins to alarm call incredibly loudly. We live in apartment and the calling can be heard clearly from the sidewalk (we are not sure about the other apartments). This is a HUGE worry for us and always has been, however, we were told that Kipy would be a great apartment bird by her old owner which is why we chose her. We already love Kipy, but we are both full time students, when we leave for class at O'Dark Thirty in the morning we really don't want Kipy's calling to be a concern for us and she is quiet as a mouse when we are in the room with her or she is on our shoulders. Can anyone help?!? At the moment her cage is a little small and has no toys, we are going to buy some toys for her today and a (BIG) new cage next month. Will that help at all do you think?? Any and all advice is welcomed! Thank you Parrot Forums! http://www.parrotforums.com/images/parrots/rainbow1.gif

Congratulation on getting Kipy. You have to remember you have just changed her whole world around. Everything is brand new.. especially her surroundings. I will take time for her to settle in to her new routine. Was she left alone with her previous owner?
Abby did that when I 1st got her, every time I would leave the living room, she would give out a flock call and when I left for work in the mornings. I took her a few days to adjust to being alone, Getting toys, a lot of them to keep her busy while you are gone will help.... just remember patience is the key to her adjusting.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Also the pic link you posted only shows a 1 inch x 1 inch photo. Try posting directly to the message.

Thank you so much Cowtown! That eased our fears quite a bit! We had moved her cage into the bedroom this morning away from us and the morning activity and she instantly went silent, so I think it was just a shock thing. Her cage is not at all suitable long term, but not ridiculously small, so we bought as many toys as we could put in there without crowding her. I think she is happy now, she is preening and lets out a few light chirps when we walk by.

We would have bought her a new cage today but as college students we are not at all wealthy, and she came completely out of the blue into our lives (we were planing on getting a bird in a few months so we could have everything ready, but found her by accident and could not pass her up). We will have her a nice new cage next month. We are looking at something like this; [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Wrought-22x22x60-Play-Top-Black/dp/B004WPSPX8/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1347808804&sr=8-11&keywords=Parrot+cage"]Amazon.com: New Parrot Bird Wrought Iron Cage 22x22x60 Play-Top *Black Vein*: Pet Supplies[/ame]

or this:[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-Wrought-Hammertone-3151BLK/dp/B000FRV3M2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347809028&sr=8-2&keywords=Parrot+cage"]Amazon.com: Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Select Bird Cage Black Hammertone 3151BLK: Pet Supplies[/ame]

Would either be suitable for our girl? We have done our research, but so much of it conflicts. We are willing to go up to about $350. So anything in that range is a go!

OH! Also, can you suggest good toys? We bought her a snuggle house, a toy she can shred, a rope toy, and a large multicolored paper ball toy.

Bogart will flock call for two to five minutes when I leave the room then goes back to whatever, I always make sure his cage is near a window but with a shear covering the window so he doesn't get a clear view outside but gets plenty of sunlight. If when I find he is being extreem in flock calling I will come back in and say "Hey I got to go make seed money now be good!" then leave again he knows he's been scolded and quiets down. Hope this helps you and as stated above give her a little break her whole world has just changed so she is more than alittle insecure.

wenz2712 said:

Welcome to the forum

Both of those Cages would be ideal!

You seem to have bought all the right Toys! You could also get a Swing, a Bell and a Mirror.. Also a few different types of perches.

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We were looking for a swing, but could not find one that would fit in her current cage. It's quite small, but as soon as she gets her upgrade, a swing she will have!!

EDIT:We moved her back into the living room with us and the screeching began anew when my fiancee went to take a nap in the bedroom. Still kind of worried about my neighbors at this point. :/

Welcome and congratulations on your new addition to the family. Please remember that it is a parrot and parrots will occasionally be loud regardless of how great life is because that is what parrots do. Sometimes they scream because they are simply shouting out that they are happy to be alive. Remember that you are now a member of this bird flock and it will treat you as it would in the wild. If you "fly" away it will call to you because that is what birds do. I truly hope that you did a great amount of research prior to jumping into this life long commitment. Far too many birds are re-homed every day because people fall in love with the beauty of a bird and bring it home later to find out that the cannot keep if for one reason or another. With love, patience and daily training you will find that a parrot can be the greatest companion you have ever imagined while at times can frustrate the living daylight out of you. Please be patient but remember that it is a wild bird that you have brought into your home.

Just a BTW, you can purchase something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bird-Parrot-Cage-Toy-Hanger-Free-Shipping-/280432228520 in order to hand a large toy or a big rope swing from the outside of the cage if there is not room on the inside. I have one on both my cages and have a dangling rope that travels about 6 feet horizontally for them to travel from cage to cage while also having a circular rope swing that hangs from one hook.

MollyGreenCheeks said:

Welcome and congratulations on your new addition to the family. Please remember that it is a parrot and parrots will occasionally be loud regardless of how great life is because that is what parrots do. Sometimes they scream because they are simply shouting out that they are happy to be alive. Remember that you are now a member of this bird flock and it will treat you as it would in the wild. If you "fly" away it will call to you because that is what birds do. I truly hope that you did a great amount of research prior to jumping into this life long commitment. Far too many birds are re-homed every day because people fall in love with the beauty of a bird and bring it home later to find out that the cannot keep if for one reason or another. With love, patience and daily training you will find that a parrot can be the greatest companion you have ever imagined while at times can frustrate the living daylight out of you. Please be patient but remember that it is a wild bird that you have brought into your home.

Just a BTW, you can purchase something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bird-Parrot-Cage-Toy-Hanger-Free-Shipping-/280432228520 in order to hand a large toy or a big rope swing from the outside of the cage if there is not room on the inside. I have one on both my cages and have a dangling rope that travels about 6 feet horizontally for them to travel from cage to cage while also having a circular rope swing that hangs from one hook.

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Thank you for your honest concern, but we have done mountains of research on Senegals before we even decided we would like to have one. We are simply shocked at the volume of her flock call, and worried about our neighbors ears!! The ONLY concern we have at this point is the volume of her calls and when the calls occur. Middle of the day=perfectly OK where as 4 a.m.=Not so good.

Congrats on bringing a sennie into your home!

I have heard that sennies make great apartment birds as well, and recall seeing one in a bird store who's name was something like Radar.. .and for good reason! Man oh man, was he *loud*!!!

If you have the room for it, I would recommend first a cage that is 32" x 23" width and length, or a flight cage that is 32 x 21. I would especially recommend these sizes if you wont be home much during the day to allow him out to exercise. When you add in perches, dishes and toys, a 22 x 22 cage can get cramped pretty quickly, even with the bird in there! And the bird should have enough room to be able to explore the cage and flap their wings! A 22 x 22 cage hardly allows that!


I don't recommend mirrors, but I do recommend foraging toys! It's a great way to keep their minds busy once they figure out how to work them! And before leaving, you might try leaving a favorite treat inside the cage for her to eat.

Thank you for your honest concern, but we have done mountains of research on Senegals before we even decided we would like to have one. We are simply shocked at the volume of her flock call, and worried about our neighbors ears!! The ONLY concern we have at this point is the volume of her calls and when the calls occur. Middle of the day=perfectly OK where as 4 a.m.=Not so good.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the response. I'm so glad you prepared yourself ahead of time. I've seen too many people enter for forum and the first post is "Hey, I just brought home a bird this morning and am wondering what kind of bird it is and what do I feed it." I'm just glad to read that you're prepared. Good luck with the bird calling....

MollyGreenCheeks said:

Thanks for the response. I'm so glad you prepared yourself ahead of time. I've seen too many people enter for forum and the first post is "Hey, I just brought home a bird this morning and am wondering what kind of bird it is and what do I feed it." I'm just glad to read that you're prepared. Good luck with the bird calling....

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Oh no! She is eating her RowdyBush and I ate gallons of brain food on Senegals, she is our new baby.

New issue, since the addition of toys she no longer wishes to come out of her cage.