I need help with my senegal, i got him about a month ago, hes been really good, out of no were he attacked me.

[Kaycee]

What is best to feed him? Hes on seeds now, as thats what the other owners feed him, should i change to pellets?
Hes a good bird, I dont no why he attacked me. I have so many question.
Iv had a quaker parrot in the past, never had this happen to me before.
I asked the previous owner, she tells me he only bit her daughter. Then i find out this morning she only had him for 6 months.

 

[Skarila]

Hi and welcome!

And of course, welcome to the world of senegals, where sometimes they bite like a bulldog for absolutely no reason. Or is it?

Try to think back what exactly were you doing that you've gotten bitten. Were you opening an envelope? Did you just lean on the kitchen counter? Talking on the phone? Drinking coffee, scratching your nose?

Senegals are amazing little stocky parrots, with an incredibly strong beak which bite will hurt for the next week. They are very inteligent, funny clowns, and some are true cuddle bugs. However, they have this particular trait where they are extremely sudden and fast, and will atack and bite in an instant. I can tell you there is always a reason, at least in the senegal's eyes. It can be as dumb as just looking them the wrong way, blowing your nose, or taking your medicine. Try to find out what triggers him, and try your best to avoid that action right in front of the bird. Also many times they seem to bite out of fear - if they don't want to be touched, they will surely let you know. And you will wear a bandage for a few days.

Sudden movements can also trigger them. I'd like to ask, how old is the bird? They are known with their terrible two's, when they hit sexual maturity they are true little monsters that bite and attack relentlessly. I know that my partner's Senegal was that way, for a full year, and was almost rehomed. She did leave him a handful of scars on his hands and ear. Thankfully, she changed and calmed down, and is the sweetest little thing I have ever come across, but nevertheless she still has her cobra reflexes and bites. Often what happens is that her reflexes are stronger than her, and she simply knows she wasn't suposed to bite, and she will act all cute and apologetic. This happens during playtime, and she did bit my finger here and there quite strong, leaving me with a bruise for a week. If the bird is not apologetic, I probably deserved it.

In our case, no rustling with papers nor plastic bags, no packaging rustling in front of her, no pill bottles or small boxes which contain medicines, absolutely no touching when she's sitting on the chair, NO touching while she's preening, no sudden movements or arm flailing... Or trying to do a photo too close. Try to carry the bird into another room once you know there is a certain action or item that triggers him. You can also try to do it slowly and see how the bird reacts. If the bird was on the edge but didn't attack, praise and give treats! However, this is a really difficult task, and don't be desparate if the bird simply never learns not to be triggered by something.

Now onto the previous owners - what is the reason of rehoming? Keeping a bird for less than 6 months is weird, but not necessarily a huge alarm if the bird is good natured.

As for the diet, we personally feed Harrison's pellets, bit of seed mixe (safflower, milkthistle, tiny bit of sunflower as a daily treat...), Her usual veggies and fruits, and the boiled legume mix. The pellet diet has become lately more of a personal choice it seems, but if the bird is very active, if it is healthy and eating a great variety of seeds (not just millet and sunflower..) along with his veggies and some fruits, all should be fine. If the bird is a couch potato and refuses to eat more varieted seed mixes, and will pick out a lot, then perhaps a pelleted diet would be a better choice, or at least as a supplement.

 

[Kaycee]

Hi and welcome!

And of course, welcome to the world of senegals, where sometimes they bite like a bulldog for absolutely no reason. Or is it?

Try to think back what exactly were you doing that you've gotten bitten. Were you opening an envelope? Did you just lean on the kitchen counter? Talking on the phone? Drinking coffee, scratching your nose?

Senegals are amazing little stocky parrots, with an incredibly strong beak which bite will hurt for the next week. They are very inteligent, funny clowns, and some are true cuddle bugs. However, they have this particular trait where they are extremely sudden and fast, and will atack and bite in an instant. I can tell you there is always a reason, at least in the senegal's eyes. It can be as dumb as just looking them the wrong way, blowing your nose, or taking your medicine. Try to find out what triggers him, and try your best to avoid that action right in front of the bird. Also many times they seem to bite out of fear - if they don't want to be touched, they will surely let you know. And you will wear a bandage for a few days.

Sudden movements can also trigger them. I'd like to ask, how old is the bird? They are known with their terrible two's, when they hit sexual maturity they are true little monsters that bite and attack relentlessly. I know that my partner's Senegal was that way, for a full year, and was almost rehomed. She did leave him a handful of scars on his hands and ear. Thankfully, she changed and calmed down, and is the sweetest little thing I have ever come across, but nevertheless she still has her cobra reflexes and bites. Often what happens is that her reflexes are stronger than her, and she simply knows she wasn't suposed to bite, and she will act all cute and apologetic. This happens during playtime, and she did bit my finger here and there quite strong, leaving me with a bruise for a week. If the bird is not apologetic, I probably deserved it.

In our case, no rustling with papers nor plastic bags, no packaging rustling in front of her, no pill bottles or small boxes which contain medicines, absolutely no touching when she's sitting on the chair, NO touching while she's preening, no sudden movements or arm flailing... Or trying to do a photo too close. Try to carry the bird into another room once you know there is a certain action or item that triggers him. You can also try to do it slowly and see how the bird reacts. If the bird was on the edge but didn't attack, praise and give treats! However, this is a really difficult task, and don't be desparate if the bird simply never learns not to be triggered by something.

Now onto the previous owners - what is the reason of rehoming? Keeping a bird for less than 6 months is weird, but not necessarily a huge alarm if the bird is good natured.

As for the diet, we personally feed Harrison's pellets, bit of seed mixe (safflower, milkthistle, tiny bit of sunflower as a daily treat...), Her usual veggies and fruits, and the boiled legume mix. The pellet diet has become lately more of a personal choice it seems, but if the bird is very active, if it is healthy and eating a great variety of seeds (not just millet and sunflower..) along with his veggies and some fruits, all should be fine. If the bird is a couch potato and refuses to eat more varieted seed mixes, and will pick out a lot, then perhaps a pelleted diet would be a better choice, or at least as a supplement.

Thank u, to answer your questions, beaker was on the bar, I walked over as i have in the past, put my hand down said step up. Hes always had no issues. He steped up then bit me, so hard that even today i still have no feeling in between my 2 fingers, i think he hit a nerve.
He finally let go then when i walked away he came at me again and bit me in the back of the arm, hard enough to bleed.
Iv talked to the ones that had him, and all she says is strange he never did that here, he would bit my daughter. Thats all she will tell me.
I want to give him a chance, he is a really good bird, we have only had him now for not even a month.
He is really good with my husband, flys to him as soon as he gets home from work.
At night he is put in his cage.
The only thing iv did different since i got him is i bought him a treat stick. Im not sure if that is to much for him. As most of it hit the floor of his cage.
I lost my quaker not long ago, he was a good bird, was always out of his cage, and never bothered us. He was happy.
This guy after attacking me, im a lil scared now, i want to trust him. I want to give him a chance.

 

[Birds lover from Hawaii]

Thank u, to answer your questions, beaker was on the bar, I walked over as i have in the past, put my hand down said step up. Hes always had no issues. He steped up then bit me, so hard that even today i still have no feeling in between my 2 fingers, i think he hit a nerve.
He finally let go then when i walked away he came at me again and bit me in the back of the arm, hard enough to bleed.
Iv talked to the ones that had him, and all she says is strange he never did that here, he would bit my daughter. Thats all she will tell me.
I want to give him a chance, he is a really good bird, we have only had him now for not even a month.
He is really good with my husband, flys to him as soon as he gets home from work.
At night he is put in his cage.
The only thing iv did different since i got him is i bought him a treat stick. Im not sure if that is to much for him. As most of it hit the floor of his cage.
I lost my quaker not long ago, he was a good bird, was always out of his cage, and never bothered us. He was happy.
This guy after attacking me, im a lil scared now, i want to trust him. I want to give him a chance.

Hi Kaycee,

My 27 year old Senegal has recently passed away. We have owned him his whole lifetime. I agree with everything Skarila said regarding diet (I fed mine with Harrision's pellets) and temperament.

Our Senegal had never been real aggressive the only times he bite were whenever we forced him to do something he did not want to i.e. put him back to his cage or onto his play stand against his wish. From my own experience, I would recommend below:

* As soon as he started to bite, don't panic or try to pull your fingers away from his beak. Just calm down and make crying noises to tell him that you are in pain and speak very softly to him begging him to let go of your fingers. He will slowly let loose and you can then pull your fingers away from his beak. Just remember parrots can sense your emotion, if you panic he will too and will bite you even harder as he is scared and worried that you are going to harm him. After you pull your fingers out, continue to make sobbing noises and tell him it really hurt to remind not to do that to you again.

* If you are already nervous being near him, he can sense your nervousness too and both of you will be on high alert so the above method may not work for you now. I would suggest to take him to your vet to have his wings clipped. He will become much more mellow as he knows he needs to depend on you as he can't fly any more. I have once owned a blue masked lovebird who also bite hard, the breeder told me that his wing needs to be clipped and that will stop the biting issue and he was right.

Understand many owners prefer to let their birds fly free in the house. It may work if they are confined to a safe area and under supervision. My Senegal did not know he can fly but he was as happy as a bird could be as we spent a lot of time with him and he was out of his cage most of the time. You don't have to clip his wing as long as he stopped his biting frenzy and friendly to everyone in your family and not just to one person.

Even my Senegal wing had always been clipped but he still bite sometimes when he was not in the mood just like we humans. Otherwise he was the most cuddly, sweetest, friendly and funny bird we ever have. He even offered kisses to anyone came to our house including plumber, electrician etc. etc.

Please be patient and stay calm when handling your new friend. Once the trust and relationship has established, you will be rewarded by his unconditional love forever and ever. Trust me!!

 

[Kaycee]

Hi Kaycee,

My 27 year old Senegal has recently passed away. We have owned him his whole lifetime. I agree with everything Skarila said regarding diet (I fed mine with Harrision's pellets) and temperament.

Our Senegal had never been real aggressive the only times he bite were whenever we forced him to do something he did not want to i.e. put him back to his cage or onto his play stand against his wish. From my own experience, I would recommend below:

* As soon as he started to bite, don't panic or try to pull your fingers away from his beak. Just calm down and make crying noises to tell him that you are in pain and speak very softly to him begging him to let go of your fingers. He will slowly let loose and you can then pull your fingers away from his beak. Just remember parrots can sense your emotion, if you panic he will too and will bite you even harder as he is scared and worried that you are going to harm him. After you pull your fingers out, continue to make sobbing noises and tell him it really hurt to remind not to do that to you again.

* If you are already nervous being near him, he can sense your nervousness too and both of you will be on high alert so the above method may not work for you now. I would suggest to take him to your vet to have his wings clipped. He will become much more mellow as he knows he needs to depend on you as he can't fly any more. I have once owned a blue masked lovebird who also bite hard, the breeder told me that his wing needs to be clipped and that will stop the biting issue and he was right.

Understand many owners prefer to let their birds fly free in the house. It may work if they are confined to a safe area and under supervision. My Senegal did not know he can fly but he was as happy as a bird could be as we spent a lot of time with him and he was out of his cage most of the time. You don't have to clip his wing as long as he stopped his biting frenzy and friendly to everyone in your family and not just to one person.

Even my Senegal wing had always been clipped but he still bite sometimes when he was not in the mood just like we humans. Otherwise he was the most cuddly, sweetest, friendly and funny bird we ever have. He even offered kisses to anyone came to our house including plumber, electrician etc. etc.

Please be patient and stay calm when handling your new friend. Once the trust and relationship has established, you will be rewarded by his unconditional love forever and ever. Trust me!!

Yes i agree, he is full of loves and kisses, i ask for a kiss he gives it. Im home all the time, this is why i wanted anotger bird after loosing my quaker, it was too quiet in here.
The lady told me is 3 yrs old. Im sorry i forgot to mention above.
Its funny how when i got him, I asked questions, and all she told me was they wanted someone to give him a good home, as they had no time for him. Told me all the good things.
I did message her last night and asked her to be honest with me. She has not got back to me, so this is were i feel she new something was wrong.
I want to be able be close to him. After reading your post, i have him on my arm right now while i write this, he is cleaning himself. Seems pretty relaxed. I hope we can both get to trust again.
We went camping aweek ago stayed in our trailer, it was cold that night, so i put him under the blanket he slept all night close and cuddled into me all night. So i no hes a good bird. Lol yup ppl might think im nuts, but his our pet and didnt want him cold.
Thank u for helping me,

 

[Birds lover from Hawaii]

Yes i agree, he is full of loves and kisses, i ask for a kiss he gives it. Im home all the time, this is why i wanted anotger bird after loosing my quaker, it was too quiet in here.
The lady told me is 3 yrs old. Im sorry i forgot to mention above.
Its funny how when i got him, I asked questions, and all she told me was they wanted someone to give him a good home, as they had no time for him. Told me all the good things.
I did message her last night and asked her to be honest with me. She has not got back to me, so this is were i feel she new something was wrong.
I want to be able be close to him. After reading your post, i have him on my arm right now while i write this, he is cleaning himself. Seems pretty relaxed. I hope we can both get to trust again.
We went camping aweek ago stayed in our trailer, it was cold that night, so i put him under the blanket he slept all night close and cuddled into me all night. So i no hes a good bird. Lol yup ppl might think im nuts, but his our pet and didnt want him cold.
Thank u for helping me,

Nice to hear your update. A word of caution is never sleep with your bird as it is extremely dangerous that can injure (if lucky) or kill your bird in your sleep. There were already two members warning us about their tragedies. It would only take a split second to end his life. Also, another word of caution is if you ever take him for a wing clip and nail trim, you need to monitor him closely to make sure he realize he can't fly anymore and slowly getting use to moving around on his own or with you.

 

[Kaycee]

Nice to hear your update. A word of caution is never sleep with your bird as it is extremely dangerous that can injure (if lucky) or kill your bird in your sleep. There were already two members warning us about their tragedies. It would only take a split second to end his life. Also, another word of caution is if you ever take him for a wing clip and nail trim, you need to monitor him closely to make sure he realize he can't fly anymore and slowly getting use to moving around on his own or with you.

Trust me i slept like i had a new born again. I woke up like 10 times checking on him. Its not something i do all the time. First time ever.
Another thing, can i ask. When i got this bird i noticed he is missing one side of his yellow feathers on his chest. Im sure that is not normal, i asked the lady and she said it is. To me i feel he was under alot of stress, or something else.

 

[Kaycee]

Trust me i slept like i had a new born again. I woke up like 10 times checking on him. Its not something i do all the time. First time ever.
Another thing, can i ask. When i got this bird i noticed he is missing one side of his yellow feathers on his chest. Im sure that is not normal, i asked the lady and she said it is. To me i feel he was under alot of stress, or something else.

 

[Birds lover from Hawaii]

Trust me i slept like i had a new born again. I woke up like 10 times checking on him. Its not something i do all the time. First time ever.
Another thing, can i ask. When i got this bird i noticed he is missing one side of his yellow feathers on his chest. Im sure that is not normal, i asked the lady and she said it is. To me i feel he was under alot of stress, or something else

Maybe I am an "overly cautious" owner but no matter how many times you woke up to check, it will only take a split second to end his life during the time when you just finished checking or you turned your back to sleep on the other side.

You need to take him to an Avian vet to check on the condition of his missing feather. It may be due to stress that he plucked his feather or may be due to a health issue ie lack of vitamins. I would not go back to his previous owner as they don't sound very trust worthy to me at all.

 

[Laurasea]

we have had so many birds get killed when sleeping with some one. It's never safe. We have one or 2 current posts about killed while nap or sleeping ..

Burds bite occasionally, they have a reason. Don't take it personally, do learn behavior clues. Sometimes it just takes a pause, then they are fine again.

You've gotten such great advice above from other members!

Congratulations on your new freind!

 

[Skarila]

Trust me i slept like i had a new born again. I woke up like 10 times checking on him. Its not something i do all the time. First time ever.
Another thing, can i ask. When i got this bird i noticed he is missing one side of his yellow feathers on his chest. Im sure that is not normal, i asked the lady and she said it is. To me i feel he was under alot of stress, or something else.

On the pic it sure looks like plucking. This isn't even moulting, the senegal's belly shouldn't have a white patch at all.
Best to go have a visit to an avian vet (as suggested above) to run tests to outrule any illnesses as a reason to plucking. Plucking can be caused by stress as well.

The other members said it right - do not sleep with the bird. One person here on the forum did it "oh just one more time" ...which turned out as last time. On other FB groups I have seen countless of posts where people used to sleep with their bird, until that gruesome day to find their bird under their backs. This is not a joke, we all ask you to take it seriously.

I personally am against wing clips as I fear you could get a counter effect where the bird gets even more depressed. You already have plucking at hand, I'm not sure that an additional wing clip will help you much, for some people works, for some not. Keep in mind while people claim wing clips are temporary, it can take up to a whole year or two until your bird moults out the wing feathers. And the worst part is the new feathers are prone to break while growing as there are no other feathers to support it.

I just find wing clips cruel in general, senegals will be senegals, birds will bite, not if but when. If the bird is already quite tame and loving, start teaching tricks daily - I know our loves it and it is stimulating and rewarding for her. Few recall exercises and then we have a happy bird who loves to perch in her special high place in the shelves.

 

[Kaycee]

On the pic it sure looks like plucking. This isn't even moulting, the senegal's belly shouldn't have a white patch at all.
Best to go have a visit to an avian vet (as suggested above) to run tests to outrule any illnesses as a reason to plucking. Plucking can be caused by stress as well.

The other members said it right - do not sleep with the bird. One person here on the forum did it "oh just one more time" ...which turned out as last time. On other FB groups I have seen countless of posts where people used to sleep with their bird, until that gruesome day to find their bird under their backs. This is not a joke, we all ask you to take it seriously.

I personally am against wing clips as I fear you could get a counter effect where the bird gets even more depressed. You already have plucking at hand, I'm not sure that an additional wing clip will help you much, for some people works, for some not. Keep in mind while people claim wing clips are temporary, it can take up to a whole year or two until your bird moults out the wing feathers. And the worst part is the new feathers are prone to break while growing as there are no other feathers to support it.

I just find wing clips cruel in general, senegals will be senegals, birds will bite, not if but when. If the bird is already quite tame and loving, start teaching tricks daily - I know our loves it and it is stimulating and rewarding for her. Few recall exercises and then we have a happy bird who loves to perch in her special high place in the shelves.

Yes i feel something more with the white patch. As i did say, this is the way we got him. He does seem quite happy, he still talks alot,
Funny thing is yesterday when he was standing on my coffee table he was fluffing himself up, low and behold a wing feather fell out, yup it was a clipped one,
Iv had birds all my life and i would never have a birds wing clipped. They are supose to fly.
So if the lady said she only had him for 6 months, then who ever had him before her, must have clipped his wings, yup it was a straight cut.
I feel i have my work cut out for me with this lil guy, but i wont give up right now, id like to thank each one of you for helping me. He may have bit me, yes very hard, but at the end of the day, he is pretty dam funny. The things he does. Im trying to do my best giving him a happy healthy life.

 

[Flboy]

Hi!
It is NEVER for no reason! You have to step back, figuratively, and put on your detective hat! Or, in this case, parrot hat, to figure out what you did wrong! To you, it may be so insignificant, you aren’t seeing it! But to your little one, a major violation or threat!
As said by a highly respected friend, "It is never the fault of the parrot!"

If you ever doubt this, just ask the parrot!