Need Help! Info on nesting boxes for Senegal Parrots!!!

Emily15

New member
Apr 28, 2018
20
0
Burkina Faso, West Africa
Parrots
2 Senegal Parrots named Senegal and Whitney
I own two Senegal Parrots named Senegal (very generic :))and Whitney. I'm pretty sure that one is male, and the other female. I have based this on their different characteristics and tips that I've found online. However, I have also heard that the only way to really know the gender is through DNA testing.

Anyways, I've decided to make them a nesting box and see what happens. It's very hard to find all the information needed, because my only source of knowledge is online (my parents are missionaries in Burkina Faso, West Africa). If anyone,knows anythingabout this, please answer the questions below. It would be a HUGE help.

I've heard wood is the best option for making the nest. Is this true?
If so, what kind of wood and how thick should it be?
Do I need to put any supplies inside the box? If so, what? Or do I give my Senegals the supplies and they'll put them in the box the way they want. Keep in mind that I love to crochet, so I have plenty of yarn. I just need to know if yarn is OK for them, or not.
What need to be the dimensions of the box?
What shape should it be?
where should the doors be located? How big should those be?
Where in the cage should I put the nesting box? I have learned from experience that the higher I put a perch, the more my Senegals love it and the more time they spend on it. So does this mean the higher the better?
Also, if eggs are ever laid, does the room need to be a certain temperature?

Again, it would be a great help if anyone can answer some.....or all......of my questions! Thankyou in advance for anyone who responds.


P.S. sorry, I wrote this kinda quickly, so I may have run-ons and other mistakes.....sorry!!!!!
 

Owlet

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2016
2,750
1,886
Colorado
Parrots
Lincoln (Eclectus), Apollo (Cockatiel), Aster (GCC)
Your concerns shouldn't be the box. Your concerns should be;
- What if the parents reject the eggs/chick?
- Are you equipped to care for a chick if there's rejection?
- Do you have experience hand raising a chick?
- Do you have all the supplies you need encase of emergencies?

etc
 

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
It is clear you have done little research, have no idea how difficult of a venture it is nor does it sound like you have anyone with parrot rearing experience to help guide you. At best, you'll turn your birds into breeder birds (i.e. no longer interested in humans and no longer "pet quality") and end up with a bunch of non-tamed, difficult/impossible to sell parent raised chicks, at worst you'll end up with numerous dead chicks due to lack of experience hand rearing yourself and lack of proper equipment to incubate and raise baby parrots and potential health problems for the hen as laying eggs is quite hard on a female bird and very careful diet and close vet monitoring is essential to maintain her health long term. In other words, JUST DON'T DO IT.

Please keep your birds as strictly pets! If you're struggling to train or socialize them, this forum can certainly help you learn how to teach them and earn their trust so they become excellent companion animals. They do NOT need to breed to be happy! Though they can certainly become very good friends with each other:)
 
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LordTriggs

New member
May 11, 2017
3,427
24
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
yes I would definitely agree with the others in not breeding them. If you have them tame and want to keep them tame breeding is a sure fire way to destroy that. Once babies become involved many birds forget everything they learnt about humans (not all birds but there's no real way of knowing if they'll stay tame)

plus as others have said you haven't looked at the vast amount of stuff you would need to have for them as precautionary methods. Plus you should have a skilled Avian certified vet that you have a good rapport with to check all the babies whilst they're being raised. To put it simply raising birds is a stressful, expensive, full-time venture which you need training to know how to do. In short, there's a reason pet birds are expensive
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Well said by the others above...Not to be mean to you, but as a long-time bird breeder and hand-raiser of over 20 years, if you don't even know whether or not your pair of birds is a male and female, nor do you know whether a nest box is best made out of wood, then you have no business breeding your birds. And i'm not saying this to be mean, i'm saying this to save you the heartache that is surely going to come your way if you do this.

First of all, do you know what to do if your female Senegal becomes egg-bound? Do you now what that even means? If not then please don't breed your birds, as egg-binding is not uncommon and is always fatal if you don't know what to do.

It's not uncommon for the female to reject the eggs, or more urgently the babies once they hatch, or for the male to try to kill the babies once they are hatched, meaning that you would have to hand-raise and hand-feed the babies from a day or so old, which is a skill that requires mentoring/teaching by an experienced breeder. ONE WRONG PLACEMENT OF A FEEDING SYRINGE OR ONE EXTRA PUSH OF FORMULA AND THE BABY WILL ASPIRATE THE FORMULA AND DIE INSTANTLY. YOU MUST BE TRAINED TO HAND-FEED BABIES, THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS. You also need to be trained/educated in how to handle all of the many conditions that baby birds develop while feeding, both while being hand-fed by a human and while being fed by the mother/father birds, such a SLOW CROP, CROP STASIS, YEAST INFECTED CROP/GI TRACT, INTESTINAL BLOCKAGES, I could go on and on. You need to know what supplements/medicines to add to formulas to treat what, when to start and stop them, when to take the babies away from the parents because they aren't being fed enough, etc.

And on top of all of this, YOU'RE IN WEST AFRICA? Where there are absolutely no Avian Vets at all for emergencies, like an egg-bound female, which usually requires emergency surgery or the female will die within hours, guaranteed. You most likely have no access to proper hand-feeding formula like we can buy here in the US or elsewhere, so what will you use to hand-feed the babies if it is required of you? No access to proper formula, supplements, medications, an Avian Vet, this is a recipe for disaster and heartache...plus you know absolutely nothing about breeding, hand-raising/feeding, or birds in-general, as you didn't even know about DNA testing for gender. Senegals are extremely hard to differentiate by their looks, as i'm assuming you're looking at how far the orange/yellow on their bellies comes up their chests. This is totally inaccurate and means nothing...If you knew enough about your birds in-general then you could tell if they were an opposite sex pair by their behaviors, vocalizations, etc. But you don't...Also, HOW OLD ARE YOUR BIRDS? DO YOU KNOW HOW OLD SENEGALS NEED TO BE BEFORE YOU ALLOW THEM TO BREED? UGH...

Please don't breed your birds...
 

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