Senegal becoming possessive and territorial

o.k., I guess I was bound to happen sooner or later, behaviour problems
there are two separate problems so I'll explain the first one.

We've had our 9 month old Senegal Safari a few months now, and just this past week a few things have started to change.

cage dominance is the first one. when my daughter or I put our hand in the cage to have him step up to bring him out, he lunges and tries to bite our fingers.
He always wants out, but now enjoys trying to bite our fingers.
He does it more with my 10 year old daughter than with me.
I usually wait for him to come to the opening of the cage and then he steps up.
treats work very well, and wondering if other techniques should be used?
the second problem we've just started to encounter is he does not like to be removed from someones shoulder.
for example, he was on my husbands shoulder tonight, very content, I asked my daughter to pick up Safari and put him back in his cage. He lunged at her and tried to bite her a number of times.

I went over asked him to step up and he did without an issue. but gave me attitude when I went to put him in his cage.
He HATES being removed from whom ever he is with, but is not willing sometimes to step up either.

If he is spending time with anyone else and see's me, he comes right over to me to be picked up.
he's never bitten me, but does show displeasure sometimes, and I respect that. I'm more gentle with him than my daughter is, and I am assuming he prefers that....I guess I would too.
This has just started this past week, so before it goes any further, I would love to get some good advice.

First off, Senegal parrots don't do well around children. They can be very moody. Bird in general don't like to be taken out of their cage. It's always best to open up their cage and let them come out on their own. Senegals have a Jealous streak and this is one of the reasons they don't make good pets around children. To avoid him biting someone when he is removed from their shoulder, let that person who he is setting on remove him and either put him on his cage or a neutral place so the other person can interact with him without him getting aggressive or possessive.

thanks for the advice, I have been letting Safari come out on her own and then stepping up on my finger which is working out better.
He seems to choose whether or not he wants to step up while on someones shoulders or arms though

the problem is when we first got him, my daughter would just pick him up all the time.
not ask him to step up, put her hand around his back and pick him up.
I warned her repeatedly not do, and to encourage her to get him to step up.
He was quite tolerant of her doing it, until lately....guess he's had enough.
Even though she is 10, and is she is excellent around all our birds, but she still needs to follow instructions.
She has not handled him since last night, which is unfortunate, the two of them bonded instantly and I know and sense he enjoys being with her.
When she trains him to step up hopefully this will turn out positively.

You can sometimes quell the refusing to leave a shoulder by you (being the person the bird is on) picking the bird up & putting it on the other person. I use this method when I do a show-n-tell for school students.

If your daughter is starting to get nervous around the bird, she probably should stop trying to handle him. If he gets the idea she's afraid of him, he will exploit it & he will be harder to bring around, however, she should continue to verbally interact with him & possibly continue to feed, water & offer treats.....just no petting or handling until his attitude changes.

I have find that my alexandrine parakeet Ozzie is a little bit territorial, I've been taking him away from his cage and onto a play gym, a chair back or on my lap for a cuddles which he loves. And he seems to be less aggressive.

And try clicker and target training, it would often help to stop the biting.

Kippy my three year old Senegal has become a bit of a drama queen lately as well, she has been a tad bit territorial and quite bitey on top of just being her usual stuck up self (which I adore!). I believe it is combination of reasons in her case, I think she is mad at me for going back to school and is a bit lonely home alone, and I think she also has some of the wintertime blues. Plain and simple she has been a little turd for the past few weeks. Hopefully it will pass soon!

EDIT: Speaking of which, I just put her back on her cage and she bit the holly heck outta my finger through the bars of her cage. I'm talking latched on and chewed. I'm thinking of how to solve her cage defensive issues before they get too bad, but I'm drawing a blank. She still steps up on command, but has become a bit nasty concerning her cage. I'm thinking I will leave her on her perch while I am at school and then let her have cage time in the mornings and evenings. I know I can't take it personally, but it is so darn hard not to.

My sennie Rio went through the same thing around the same age. They are starting to go through a sort of birdie puberty as I like to call it. It is WAY worse in spring than any other time of the year as this is the time they would start building a nest and becoming territorial about it. They want to do what they want when they want no matter what you have to say about it.

Rio outgrew that particularly bratty stage about a year later. If she wanted to be left in her cage that was fine however if she was on someone or something and didnt want to come off I just got all up in her business and didnt take no for an answer, she was stepping up whether she wanted to or not.

This is also the typical point where sennies will pick their person and/or gender and hate everyone else. A stage Rio also went thought and is now over with. She used to hate men, especially my father, but now he is one of her favorite people and she will hang out with anyone that asks her to step up.

It is very important that your daughter learns to be more gentle, it could also be egging on the hostility.

mtdoramike said:

First off, Senegal parrots don't do well around children. They can be very moody. Bird in general don't like to be taken out of their cage. It's always best to open up their cage and let them come out on their own. Senegals have a Jealous streak and this is one of the reasons they don't make good pets around children. To avoid him biting someone when he is removed from their shoulder, let that person who he is setting on remove him and either put him on his cage or a neutral place so the other person can interact with him without him getting aggressive or possessive.

Click to expand...

Good advice!

Senegal success....since this recent post I have been working with Safari to step up more on command. I did this for 4-5 days, and is now co-operating more. I still get more 'oh I don't want to then rubs his beak on the side of my face'...what a ham but is more co-operative than before.

so the other night I suggested to my daughter that she cut a grape in half and give it to Safari thru the cage bars.He took it very gently, and I new at that moment there was hope for my daughter and Safari. If he was really ticked off at her he would have refused anything she offered him.

for days she has been offering grapes thru the bars, then out of the cage. Every time, Safari has willingly taken them from my daughter. Yesterday he stepped up on her for the first time in almost a week, she didn't ask him to, it came from Safari.
Today was another good day, he climbed up on her for cuddle time which was one of their favourite things to do together before this happened.
These two were quite bonded, and this has been an excellent learning lesson for my daughter.
We are taking is slowly so we don't back track, and only move forward with training.
Today she got kisses from Safari....here's a picture.

IMG_0642_zpsddcff642.jpg photo by bmckellar735 | Photobucket