GoldenPhoenix
New member
I've been a member of these forums ever since I was a teenager, see my join date.
When I was young I had no idea what bird I wanted, and my experience was extremely limited. I also knew I should not get a bird until I was in a stable position in my life, in control of my own life. I also did various research over the years, I did not go into this with no idea what I was taking on.
At the age of 28 I am finally there, with my own apartment, a job I work on my own terms and I finally decided it was time to add a parrot to my family.
I already have four snakes and two cats, but I had a childhood and adult dream of having a feathered companion. Finally that has come true.
Meet Skittles:
She's a female Senegal Parrot.
I adopted her from a nearby bird specialty store. They had several birds available but I knew for my apartment situation I needed something smaller. She was actually on medical hold when she went on the floor, they weren't gonna home her until she was given a clean bill by an avian vet.
While we were waiting for her to get in I went in every single day for a month to spend an hour with her, getting to know her. By the end of it there were about 6 other people interested in her, but due to my daily dedication the store owners didn't even consider others and they sold her to me.
She had been surrendered to the store in early Feb, I started seeing her in early March.
That was a week and a half ago. She's been home with me since. She came with her cage, which she spends very little time in. My home is an open cage door home, she isn't shut in unless I can't watch her, its bedtime, I'm sleeping, or I'm out.
She is currently clipped, but I will be letting her grow her flight feathers out on her next molt, in the meantime I am working with her on training and in general learning who she is and learning how to be a bird mom. She has fluttered off her cage or a perch when she wants something that bad, which tells me she can and will fly if she had the feathers. This I am glad about for I believe parrots should be flighted.
I don't know how old she is, the previous owner wasn't sure either, she's had at least two previous homes that I am aware of over the last 2-3 years.
She's a really sweet bird, I have no seen any major behavior issues, she's a little disobedient when she wants something(all birds I think) and she is currently not allowed on my shoulder since she will not step up nicely when asked. We are working on that. She isn't terribly loud either, she has her moments when she sounds off at top volume, but if she's attention seeking I ignore it, and when she's quiet for a few minutes I make sure to reward her with her favorite treat, or her favorite interaction -- scritches!
She is very hormonal too as it is the season, and does her little Senegal dance for me, especially in the morning. She started doing this for me at the store too about a week before I brought her home. When she starts to display I make sure to put her back on cage.
She is currently eating volkmans hookbill seed mix, and I have been trying her on different fruits and veggies and seeing what she likes. She does like kale, broccoli and papaya. Eventually I want switch her over to a pellet and bird chop diet.
She looks scruffy because she is/was molting, and was also plucking in her previous home. Since I started seeing her, she's stopped feather plucking/barbering and her feathers are looking sooo much better since when I first met her.
Each morning I uncover her between 8 and 9, she so far is such a good bird and doesn't make a peep until she's uncovered for the morning, same at night, she goes to her sleep perch at 8 and glares at me until I cover her, I typically cover her for 12 hours or so to give her ample time to rest. That so far works for her.
Morning time gets fresh water, fresh food, and after she's eaten we train a bit, then I let her be on her cage to do whatever while I have my coffee(if I haven't had it yet) and then she comes and hangs with me at the desk while I work. Complete with scritches, chew toys and training in between.
The first week was a rollarcoaster, but now in week 2 I feel like we're starting to get into a routine. I'm seeing more personality from her every day as she starts to come out of her shell. She is adjusting really nicely, even day one when I had her in her carrier waiting for me to assemble her cage she was already vocalizing, looking around and being curious about my apartment. She's not even scared of my cats, and will confidently climb down from her cage, walk across the floor past both of them to come see me on the couch.
Overall, I think we're doing well, I will probably ask questions here and there if I need advice, and well, feel free to ask me some!
When I was young I had no idea what bird I wanted, and my experience was extremely limited. I also knew I should not get a bird until I was in a stable position in my life, in control of my own life. I also did various research over the years, I did not go into this with no idea what I was taking on.
At the age of 28 I am finally there, with my own apartment, a job I work on my own terms and I finally decided it was time to add a parrot to my family.
I already have four snakes and two cats, but I had a childhood and adult dream of having a feathered companion. Finally that has come true.
Meet Skittles:
She's a female Senegal Parrot.
I adopted her from a nearby bird specialty store. They had several birds available but I knew for my apartment situation I needed something smaller. She was actually on medical hold when she went on the floor, they weren't gonna home her until she was given a clean bill by an avian vet.
While we were waiting for her to get in I went in every single day for a month to spend an hour with her, getting to know her. By the end of it there were about 6 other people interested in her, but due to my daily dedication the store owners didn't even consider others and they sold her to me.
She had been surrendered to the store in early Feb, I started seeing her in early March.
That was a week and a half ago. She's been home with me since. She came with her cage, which she spends very little time in. My home is an open cage door home, she isn't shut in unless I can't watch her, its bedtime, I'm sleeping, or I'm out.
She is currently clipped, but I will be letting her grow her flight feathers out on her next molt, in the meantime I am working with her on training and in general learning who she is and learning how to be a bird mom. She has fluttered off her cage or a perch when she wants something that bad, which tells me she can and will fly if she had the feathers. This I am glad about for I believe parrots should be flighted.
I don't know how old she is, the previous owner wasn't sure either, she's had at least two previous homes that I am aware of over the last 2-3 years.
She's a really sweet bird, I have no seen any major behavior issues, she's a little disobedient when she wants something(all birds I think) and she is currently not allowed on my shoulder since she will not step up nicely when asked. We are working on that. She isn't terribly loud either, she has her moments when she sounds off at top volume, but if she's attention seeking I ignore it, and when she's quiet for a few minutes I make sure to reward her with her favorite treat, or her favorite interaction -- scritches!
She is very hormonal too as it is the season, and does her little Senegal dance for me, especially in the morning. She started doing this for me at the store too about a week before I brought her home. When she starts to display I make sure to put her back on cage.
She is currently eating volkmans hookbill seed mix, and I have been trying her on different fruits and veggies and seeing what she likes. She does like kale, broccoli and papaya. Eventually I want switch her over to a pellet and bird chop diet.
She looks scruffy because she is/was molting, and was also plucking in her previous home. Since I started seeing her, she's stopped feather plucking/barbering and her feathers are looking sooo much better since when I first met her.
Each morning I uncover her between 8 and 9, she so far is such a good bird and doesn't make a peep until she's uncovered for the morning, same at night, she goes to her sleep perch at 8 and glares at me until I cover her, I typically cover her for 12 hours or so to give her ample time to rest. That so far works for her.
Morning time gets fresh water, fresh food, and after she's eaten we train a bit, then I let her be on her cage to do whatever while I have my coffee(if I haven't had it yet) and then she comes and hangs with me at the desk while I work. Complete with scritches, chew toys and training in between.
The first week was a rollarcoaster, but now in week 2 I feel like we're starting to get into a routine. I'm seeing more personality from her every day as she starts to come out of her shell. She is adjusting really nicely, even day one when I had her in her carrier waiting for me to assemble her cage she was already vocalizing, looking around and being curious about my apartment. She's not even scared of my cats, and will confidently climb down from her cage, walk across the floor past both of them to come see me on the couch.
Overall, I think we're doing well, I will probably ask questions here and there if I need advice, and well, feel free to ask me some!