I need help with my Senegal please

[Canned1]

Ok… I’ve owned parrots for 35 years or more.. and I know what todo but NoNE of it is working! I have a 23 year old Senegal — female For sure. She is the sweetest bird … However.. she recently went Thru hell and back when she was bitten by a spider and had a gaping hole w. no skin or feathers all of a sudden on her entire abdomen. She had to have a big surgery and then have the stitches replaced 4 times,.., went through collar after collar after collar, a cone… ending w sometimes 5 collars at A time all sown on top of each other.., and a bird buddy ( like a flight suit made out of a sock to cover her abdomen to) …. often able to chew through them or get past them to rip out her stitches within seconds. .. Finally she stopped eating, plucked out her feathers and I had to hand feed her 3 times a day to keep her alive. So… she’s through it now (miraculousl! Thank you god and Amazing vet ! All her feathers back etc)… However .. now we have another problem. Of course I held her a lot when she was sick.. she would just cling to me and sleep on me as she was so unwell and traumatized. I had to really curtail that when she got well because I was afraid she would get ”matey”, and otherwise she didn’t need or want to be held like that any longer. I know all the tricks and all the advice and all the behavior for (curtailing hormones) and NoNe of them are working! I can ignore her ( until she screams which she’s doing a LoT MORe Of since I don’t hold her) and not hold her at all and only pick her up to put her in her cage.. thats it …and she still puts her wings, all matey and fluttery and dancy ( I can’t describe it but none of my boy birds did this) out and tries to regurgitate ( while not letting go of my hand). I pretty much have to ignore her and I feel So bad! It’s winter.. she’s covered up a lot, I’ve lowered the protein in her diet.. discouage the behavior non stop. I don’t pet her or hold her at all, but it doesn’t seem to matter. She’s constant trying to nest in her cage, so I even switch cages around! I don’t want another problem w her trying to lay eggs! I do all the recommended stuff, distract her, put her down , don’t hold , don’t pet anywhere.. now not even her head, make sure she doesn’t get too much light.. it’s downright cold in my apt.. but nothing .. I repeat.. nothing !!!!! is working. Help!

 

[zERo]

Welcome to the forums!

Wow, you and your bird have been through a lot together.
One thing, do you train her? Especially target or flight training, it’s very mentally stimulating and challenging for birds.

I’ll ask a few questions here:

How much sleep is she getting?
What’s her diet like?
Does she have access to any dark/nesty places?

It’s sounds like you’re doing the right thing by not petting her. Though, I’d avoid keeping her covered up often, as this creates a dark environment that could feel like a nest.