Bird store claims senegals arent a good bird!

[Birdman666]

Well, the thing is, these birds are a tad "opinionated." And that's probably putting it mildly...

What happens is people assume they can just force their "opinions" onto the bird when the bird is clearly communicating the opposite...

You persist past what is usually tolerated, you get bit.

Same thing happens with amazons...

And somehow, it's the birds that get the bad rep.

On the one hand we want a feisty, attitudinous, playful big personality bird, but on the other hand we don't want to have to deal with that feisty, attitudinous, big personality, when the bird is saying "no" to us...

 

[Jaz27b]

Wowza this thread really got going hey
I disappeared for a while due to life not being so kind, but the good old sennie is still my top pick for choice of bird for myself when the time comes again.... And I Love that I'm still keen as peanuts on them Met a hahns macaw today.... And omg adorable. The owner of the parrot said he was great and very quiet and chilled out etc and would be perfect for an apartment..... But, as much as I love them, I'm still keen for a Sennie Heeeeeehehehehehehe

 

[RavensGryf]

Hey Jaz good to see you back ... and I say a Sennie is a great choice!

 

[kq_fan]

Well my mom would agree but my sennie was abused and neglected by a woman. I am the only girl he likes! He is very loud and that is not my favorite part but ear plugs and head phones help me with that He is sweet in his own aggressive way M friends are afraid of him because of his look. And well he does look a bit scary... But they see Lilo and fall in love! Every person that goes to my house have all said afterward that they want a bird because of how cute, funny, and smart my GCC Lilo is But I know we aren't talking about greenies... I love my Sennie and I will keep helping him with his anger and frustration to females.

 

[kalypso123]

I would like a senegal except that there is almost no of it getting along with my tiel because for a tiel mine is very sassy. I am looking into adopting a severe macaw from florida parrot rescue.

 

[Ally]

What?! Whoever told you this must have never owned a sennie! My baby Maxwell is two years old a most precious bird. He's perched on my shoulder right now, actually. And in my opinion, he's dang near perfection.
He's not loud and he loves cuddles and being sang to sleep and tasting food right off his mommys fork, haha. :21:
My Senegal is my best friend and I strongly recommend you get one and not listen to that silly pet store, lol

 

[Hawk]

What?????? The pet store owner doesn't have a clue, and then, sadly, some people do not either when they get a senni. Some do not research the bird and learn that yeah, they can be a bit nippy at times. But it's all about understanding the bird, and understanding each other when you have one.
My senni was a nipper, but he's out grown that as we both have a clear understanding now. If he cops an attitude he gets a time out in his cage. He's come to learn if he behaves he can stay out in living room and watch TV with me and the other parrots. He comes out all day from his cage so has quite a bit of freedom.

 

[Hawk]

Sennies make great pets. No, they aren't for everyone and certainly there can have plenty of attitude, but so can a lot of birds, like green cheeks or zons.

Exactly what Karen said .

No, they are wonderful pets Jaz. That is that man's personal experience with them, and I'm sorry, he hasn't had enough experience (with 2 unsocialized ones) to be able to say what they're like as a whole species!

Plenty of Senegals out there will lay on their back in their owner's hand, cuddle and snuggle forever, give kisses as well as be independent. About the attitude, sure they do, and they have a pretty large beak for their size too... But as Karen said about GCC's or Amazons, does attitude deter people from them? No!

Believe us Jaz, don't believe the bird shop guy who doesn't know what he's talking about..... BUT you know, he could be right and WE could be lying...:20: LOL

That's for sure....Mine will sit on my shoulder then with one foot roll over hanging there under my chin and say " HI"... Sometimes he'll bite myear lobe as if saying " hey..pay attention when I'm talking to you son"...LOL

Here's a photo of him and Greyson, talking thru the window, Birdell outside, Greyson inside....

Birdell: Hey peanut breath
Greyson: Hey Pineapple head, whatcha doing outside?
Birdell: you got to come out, it's so cool !


LOL

 

[WideO]

I had to think about this thread quite a few times lately. We are having so much fun with Oscar it's simply heart warming. Yes, we do know it's a half wild animal and hasn't been bred like most dogs etc., but if you respect that...

First of all, even though we are relatively new to parrots, it quickly becomes very easy to observe them to judge their mood. They sometimes want space, and it's probably vital to respect that. They also clearly seem to "announce" when they are unhappy about something, their body language is quite clear.

But apart from that... he has become the cuddliest animal in our entire little zoo. He is perfectly at ease in his cage, but almost always happy to interact vocally and ... physically. He loves being petted around his neck, and 9 times out of 10 it's us who initiate the stop. Even after 2 minutes, he still "presents" himself ("now here - and now here!") fluttering his eyelids and making content noises.

He's also very emotional and clearly attached to the both of us. Even though my wife is his obvious favorite when he's out of the cage, he has developed a strong bond with me, and just sweettalking to him is enough sometimes to either let him make the grinding noises or even the "throwing up" bobbing (which we don't encourage).

He loves talking and making all kinds of noises. Sometimes weeks go by without new words and then suddenly: boom, two more words or phrases - which he uses in the proper context.

He has become the house clown and loves the attention. The fact that he giggles or laughs himself sometimes causes all round hilarity which is hard to stop. (as us laughing makes him laugh even more etc.) The call-and-response sessions are also a lot of fun.

His intelligence is astonishing, he loves being around us, he even likes the constant coming and going of cats and dogs. He is not intimidated by them at all. The dogs want to be pals with him, but he chases them away from his cage. (We do however make sure no cats are around when we let him roam free - or as he calls it "play outside". The dogs aren't a problem, but as it's mostly him who can get a bit dominant towards them, we tend to keep them away during his out-time as well)

He never seems to feel lonely and can be perfectly content for hours on end playing with his toys or staring out of the (large) windows watching the other birds.

Maybe we were just lucky, but I would say that sounds like a darn nice animal to have around, no? Sure, he does get nippy from time to time (not very often though) but most of the time there is a logical explanation for it.

Needless to say we both love him to bits, and politely disagree with said show owner.

 

[Rockford]

I'll put it this way; if for some reason I could only keep two birds and had to rehome all of my other birds, my sennies would be the birds I keep. I wouldn't even have to think about it.

 

[Kae]

Senegal's are make great companions but if they are not given enough attention they will react the same way as other bird: Screaming, biting and aggressive behavior. Also, they are generally one-person birds from my experience but they can be taught to imprint on more than one person.

 

[RavensGryf]

I don't think it's just as simple as that. Not all the parrot species will react the 'same way' as each other. Some cage bound Senegals might not be constantly vocal, and the biting talked about in Poi threads aren't always because they're not given enough attention. They are independent birds, they love attention yes, but just as Amazons, Eclectus, Macaws, etc. are all parrots and have basic needs, it's not all the same things that make each species or individual "tick"... or react a certain way under a given circumstance. That's why it's a good idea for people to learn specific traits of the species they're interested in. Just sayin

 

[seagoat]

I have two Pois, and mine are a Red Belly and a Meyers. They are both the smaller pois around the size of the Senegal and not a large Poi like the Jardines. My Red Belly is a character and a half. She is a very good bird to have. She talks well, is good with her dances, and her ability to understand and communicate what she wants. She is 17 now. my Meyers is a sweet natured guy, very acrobatic, can talk, and very easy to have. My daughter has a Meyers too and he is a good bird and she also has a rescued Sennie who is very sweet natured and likes almost all people. I love the pois so much, and I cant believe the store owner was such a bad judge of character and it is the owners that usually are the problem, at one year is when pois will challenge, and after that they are very sweet again.

 

[Senegaled]

A few months ago I found a 4 year old Senegal parrot that needed to be rehomed. His previous owner could do anything with him as she had him since he was a pup. She tipped him over and cradled him in the crook of her arm, she could bodily just pick him up, she spread his wings out to show how she clips them while he stands there, and he stepped up nicely from her hand to mine. It was after I got him home and he was away from his first owner that I realized that with at least this Senegal, I'd have to start from scratch in earning the bird's trust. I changed his name to Moxie because it was so fitting this little bird with so much guts. At first I couldn't get my hand anywhere near him without getting nailed hard. I keep working with him and now, a few months later, I can scratch him all over and spread his wings out. During this trusting process I've learned to read his bites, which seem to be in degrees of intensity. There is his soft instructional bite where, for example, Moxie wants to tell me that he prefer I scratch a different place on his body. There is a little stronger bite that seems to be a warning to not keep doing whatever it is I am doing. Then there is the defensive bite that can draw a bit of blood. I'm getting better at reading when one of those might come. It's usually when he's over due for his nap. No one else here is interested in taking time to earn Moxie's trust so he dislikes, will charge at, and will bite, anyone else who gets near him. This might be the kind of Senegal personality the pet store owner has had experience with.

 

[itchyfeet]

I had a similar experience when I visited some IRN aviaries. "Why would you bother? They're near impossible to tame up. They're useless pets. You can have better pets".

I left pretty gutted. Then I found Henry. He fit's our family like a glove - just what I'm after. In some circumstances, IRN's can be difficult, and not they're not for everyone, but considering our family, the situation, what traits I loved, what I knew I couldn't handle etc....they're for us

 

[anita1216]

We have a nine month old female sennie named Dax. She is a cuddler, purrs at us happily and will go to anyone when they ask her to step up. We work at keeping her well socialized and introducing her to new things. They are great birds!!

I love the Poicephalus family and we are now actively looking to add a Cape parrot to the family.

 

[Ginnybird]

I'd feel dubious about someone summing up any parrot species based on interaction with two individuals... Sennies included.

 

[DannyA93]

Omg you all have me wanting a Senegal! Lol I've watched parrot wizard on YouTube with his female Senegal Kili who is extremely well behaved but I figured it was due to his training techniques. ����

And out of curiosity those of you that have conures also, when you say "cuddly" do you mean like conure cuddly or just head scratches cuddly ?? Do you know what I mean?:22:

 

[snowflake311]

Hi I am new here. I have to comment on Senegals I had one for 15 years she passed away from an illness not really sure what it was. We had her since she was a baby. I drove cross country with her. She was DNA Sexed and was a female. After owning one I can see why someone would say they are bad pets.

To me she was a little baby. Never bit me. She would feed me and talk to me. She was my little buddy. To me she was great but I knew her very well. She was weird there were things you could not do around her. You could never drink with her on your shoulder unless you shared it with her. If you did not share she would bite you. She did not like forks and spoons. If she saw them watch out. She would go into a rage. She would get really excited if you ripped paper. She also disliked my mom the one that pretty much raised her. Kiwi was the birds name. Kiwi would for no reason fly on to my mom and bite her hard. For this reason I took the bird because my mom was going to get rid of her.

I had kiwi for years and she was pretty good with most people and strangers. I had a roommate that just loved kiwi and she loved him. I would not say they are a one person bird but they will pick someone to hate. At least mine did. She was pretty friendly to most people in fact.......

My senegal kiwi was a very strange bird. She did not play much. She was quite for a parrot. She did not cuddle but loved head rubs and shoulder time. She loved to try and feed me too. I miss her. Not sure I would get another one. Maybe. I have a special place in my heart for them. My mom would never get one.

NOT A good first time bird.

 

[whitejory97]

I wouldn't want to buy a bird there then.
I had a senegeal-and she was very quiet-and entertaining-and funny-
Andi worked alldaya dshewas fine. By herself -
You just have to pay attention to them when you are home-
And if I was to tired to play with her-she would be content if she just sat with me-
I loved that Senegal so much- that I'm buying another