My new senegal

[Fantur]

So, my 16 week baby senegal arrived last night.

I would really like some general guidance from you folks how I go about these first days as you only get one chance of a first impression!

He was hand fed and thus is very tame. Do I leave him alone in his new cage for a while or handle him right from the start? I would like to get the " this is a new place and I am terribly frightened" feeling out of him any way I can. Is it best to leave him be to take this all in or handle him alot?

Then there is the issue of eating and drinking. He has not touched the water bowl since he arrived last night (16 hours ago) and only eaten a few Cheerios from my hand (as they are his favorite according to his breeder). I have tried to put him close to the water and food bowls but he will not touch them.

Am I perhaps being overly paranoid?

 

[aliray]

How exciting. If he is already hand tame then I would start handling him right away. practicing step ups on my hand and holding him and giving little head scratches if he will allow them. Just don't push too hard and kind of let him set the pace. I have handled each of my parrots from the day they came home but they were all either 5 or 6 mo old when I got them. all were hand fed and somewhat hand tame when I purchased them.

 

[MonicaMc]

It may take a couple of days before a bird is comfortable enough to really start eating and drinking - please don't be concerned about this. Watch his droppings, as that will tell you the most of what he's consuming - or not consuming.

Allow him to set how comfortable he is. If he's frightened, you can give him a few days to settle in before really trying to interact with him. If he's at ease and ready to interact, by all means, allow him out!


In the mean time, try to figure out what his favorite treat is, so you can work on positive reinforcement with him. That is, don't force him to interact with you, but work with him in positive ways that he'll enjoy. Treats can be nuts, dried fruit, seeds, millet, safflower seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.

 

[momto3]

How exciting! I would let your new friend show you how much he would like to be handled. My avian vet told me only to handle my new baby birds once a day for two weeks so that I didn't stress them. I did not follow his advice because my birds were very used to people and wanted to be cuddled--so that is what we did. They were very stressed not being cuddled and handled! I found that sitting with them, reading to them, offering special treats, giving scritches and just hanging out were very comforting to them. They were much more comfortable in their cages after we had handled them and assured them that we were ok too. Both birds were more scared of their cages than they were of us. We didn't start step-ups until a few days after they got more comfortable in general.

Birds don't always eat in front of people. Just keep an eye on your birds droppings and see if there is any seed or pellets on the bottom of the cage. If you are really concerned, you could offer some yummy food from your hand. This would also help with bonding. Good luck!

 

[aliray]

One thing I forgot to mention is any new bird I have gotten I have always put in an extra dish of both water and food on the bottom of the cage until I was sure that they had found their food and water dish. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[momto3]

That is great advice! I did that too and have had several breeders tell me to do that.

 

[crimson]

congratulations on your new addition!....not much I can add to the other members comments.

you might try seedless purple grapes or almonds with no salt, my senegal Safari LOVES them,I use them for a good ice breaker when he's a bit moody/cranky, or training purposes.

 

[MeganMango]

congratulations!

 

[Jason]

I gave my red belly lots of options in her food dish. Then I paid attention to what she picked first to eat. Each time i tried this she picked sun flower seeds followed by the unsalted almonds. Next I removed both from her food totally and now just use sunflower seeds and almonds as training treats.

 

[Fantur]

Thank you all for great advice.

I noticed that he most often resides on the top branch in his cage so I moved his bowls up there. Now he is eating and drinking comfortably.

He is very tame and prefers to be with us. Has now started accepting treats from our hands and happily allows petting and head scratches. I use a clicker whenever he accepts a treat as to get him conditioned to the click resulting in something positive.

The only problem I am having with him is that he always flies on top of my head (I am the tallest in the family). I am worried that already, after just two days, he is picking his "favorite" in the family and will eventually become aggressive towards the others as I have read on these forums. We will try to all give him attention and treats to prevent this.

I know bird owners argue about pros and cons of wing clipping. We live in a large house and already the bird has flown to "hard to reach" places and into walls and mirrors. I am leaning towards getting him clipped this week to better contain him and keep him safe.

All advise is greatly appreciated!

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new addition

Do you have any pics?

 

[MonicaMc]

A parrot learning to fly is like a toddler learning to walk... there's going to be bumps and bruises. Clipping may also result in more flights into walls as he'll have less ability to maneuver in the air. I would suggest to read the pros and cons of clipping vs flight first.... and a couple of ways how to clip/slow a bird down.

Should you clip your parrot
Flighted Parrots - Thinking on the Wing by Steve Hartman    The Parrot University
Wing Clipping and Trimming by Steve Hartman    The Parrot University
Managed Flight, Not Wing Clipping



You may want to teach your new sennie to fly to you on command as well as going to other people to keep him socialized. This may help getting him to go to you when he flies to a spot you can't reach as well as keeping him friendly with others. Teach him some basic commands, then have the rest of the family also do these same behaviors with him.

 

[Fantur]

I have started training him now for his favorite treats, Cheerios. However I have two major problems you guys can perhaps help me with.

1) He always wants to fly to my head.

2) He screams constantly (once every 10 seconds), and I mean a high scream like a falcon swooping down. Not only while in his cage but also when with us.

Any ideas?

 

[momto3]

If you don't want him on your head, just consistently take him off. He'll get it after a few days. The key is to be consistent and not allow him on until you have trained him to only perch on your head when you let him.

I strongly suggest that you make sure that everyone in the household handles him---and trusted strangers after a while too. My Blue Crown, Roscoe, picked me as his favorite immediately. I was very worried about this since he is a family bird and we have to actively make sure that he goes to everyone. He squawks if anyone tries to take him from me, but otherwise he goes willingly to other people. He is so strongly bonded to me that it could easily be a problem down the road if we don't continue to work with it. I have heard that Sennies can tend towards one person birds...

Wing clipping is completely up to you and a decision that you will have to make. Many people on this forum have a strong opinion. I personally find that it is easier to work with our birds with their wings clipped, but that is a personal choice. Enjoy your bird!

 

[Fantur]

Thank you all for your advise.

I figured out what his constant screaming was about. Cheerios. They are his favorite treat I have used for training but he won't stop screaming until he is full.

He was weaned to a seed diet from the breeder but I am trying to get him on a pellet died. I do this by filling his food bowl 50/50 of seed and pellets. He prefers the seed.

How can I get him to stop screaming without basing his diet on Cheerios?

Fantur