Newbie here

[MonicaMc]

Im not sure why I can't put a pic up of Disco like the above member ..... Any ideas?...... in the mean time My Disco Photo by Sariths_Baby | Photobucket

Disco is a senegal, not a conure!


Conures are South American species and Senegals are African!

 

[thekarens]

Im not sure why I can't put a pic up of Disco like the above member ..... Any ideas?...... in the mean time My Disco Photo by Sariths_Baby | Photobucket

Disco is a senegal, not a conure!


Conures are South American species and Senegals are African!

Definitely a sennie. I'm biased, but I think they are great little birds!

 

[RavensGryf]

Beautiful Senegal!
I have 2 Sennie relatives - Red Bellied parrot and a Ruppell's parrot coming after he's weaned. These little African guys are the best! Like Karen, I'm biased!

 

[bettietheripper]

Is it normal behavior for her not to want to be away from me? I have to kind of push her to explore, as all she wants to do is be on me.

 

[MonicaMc]

Monica, yes, that's pretty normal! Healthy? Not necessarily.... but it's what many owners, myself included, deal with!


If you see Pipa do something you want her to do, give her a reward! Such as playing with a toy. She probably wont understand at first why she's getting a treat but it can make her try to figure out why she got that treat and may try to do the behavior again to get another treat.

 

[RavensGryf]

I notice there are TWO New Member posts in one here

I think the conure by nature is going to have a bit more tendency to want to be with their human all the time if it's not taught to be independent.

The Senegal and Poicephalus family on the other hand while they can be cuddly, are generally naturally more 'easy going' about being independent.

 

[bettietheripper]

Well, my issue is, once again food. It's hard to give her treats when she refuses to eat almost everything. I tried introducing her to peas, and she just squeezed the peas, liked the juice, and moved on. She picks up strawberries, bananas, peas, etc and then walks away :/

 

[RavensGryf]

Well, my issue is, once again food. It's hard to give her treats when she refuses to eat almost everything. I tried introducing her to peas, and she just squeezed the peas, liked the juice, and moved on. She picks up strawberries, bananas, peas, etc and then walks away :/

She's still a young bird and not TOO set in her ways, but unfortunately if the breeder didn't expose her to vegetables and nutritious fresh foods right after weaning, then it'll be a bit more of a challenge. Keep trying with a wider variety of fruits and veggies (veggies in general have more nutrition than fruit). Lightly cooked, raw, cut tiny, cut small, cut chunky... Observe if she prefers it any way over another.

In the mean time I hope she is eating or will accept a good quality pelleted staple food (Harrison's and Rousybush are ones I've had good results with). I might have gotten lucky, but all my birds as well as past birds have loved their pellets and took to them immediately. Getting them on this healthy base diet is essential in case you just end up with an extra stubborn eater, who won't really touch much besides a very limited amount of fresh food.

Again, she is still a very YOUNG bird, which is good news, as they may be easier to convert than an older bird who has eaten the same thing for many years.
Keep in mind though, if she's picky and stubborn, it may take many days, weeks, months before you see her even take a small bite out of any of it. You will really feel like you are wasting a lot of money and vegetables/fruits... So, a good idea is to eat the rest instead of wasting it! This makes humans eat healthier too.
LOL, when I say eat the rest of it, I mean the extra that you didn't already cut up. The part that would otherwise go to waste. Not the part you already cut up and put into the bird's bowl! Bird leftovers haha :52: I would never suggest that LOL.

Also, you mentioned about giving treats. If birds aren't comfortable and trusting enough, they won't take a treat from your hand. BUT, Pippa does look like she's past that stage. Could be just that she doesn't have a wide enough palate yet - she hasn't discovered enough foods that she likes, or is unfamiliar with the look of the treat and doesn't see it as food.
One thing many people do, is pretend you are eating the food yourself and enjoying it. The idea is birds as flock animals will follow the 'monkey see monkey do'. However, this is not fool proof, it does not work on every bird.
If you are trying to use treats for training, of course it's nice and convenient for us to use, and really gets the reinforcement across, but you might have to just use profuse praise instead as a reward if she refuses to take treats.

Good luck!

 

[bettietheripper]

You are certainly right, she does react positively to the I-eat-it-so-you-do-too. That's how I got her to try peas...even if she didn't actually eat them, she straight out refused to even give them the light of day when I tried before.

She loves her pellets, her little seed treats, with honey and fruits, she loves papaya and orange juice, as well as pomegranate seeds. I try to mush and/or mix chunks of strawberries and banana with those other foods, in hopes that she will be "tricked" to eating them...but she intelligently picks out the stuff she dislikes, or doesn't care for, and munches on the things she does like. This is why I'm hoping she gets better with age, but it looks to me like she's a picky eater. I do praise 24/7, and over exaggerate with foods, in hopes that she tries them, but I swear she gives me that tween-blank look (you know, the "do you seriously think I'm that dumb?" look!)

I try to encourage her to jump, to walk around, to explore, and she tries, but is too scared. She poops whenever she attempts to jump/fly, out of fright/shock. She is very friendly, but poops on new people she meets she only allows me to pet her when she's relaxing or ready for a nap.

 

[Chelle]

Wow this is AMAZING!! I have a Sun (Skittles) that hatched on 12-29-13

 

[bettietheripper]

Wow this is AMAZING!! I have a Sun (Skittles) that hatched on 12-29-13

Aww, birthday buddies, kind of mine supposedly came from Georgia.

 

[songlake]

Here are some things Chili likes and she's slightly younger than your baby
scrambled eggs
dried papaya (wont eat it fresh)
Kale (loves it dried cause it makes a neat crinkly sound and it's fun to shred)
Lentils
Quinoa
Brown rice
Small cooked pasta
raw corn on the cob (it's a toy and food all in one)
Pomegranate
Okra

And some things I put in she may not like but is sort of forced to eat are
Sweet potato
Green beans
Carrots
broccoli
finely chopped spinach and fresh kale
chili peppers or pepper flakes
hibiscus flowers (check the Latino food sections of your super market for some neat things)
I add other things as I find them and think maybe she will like it. I've become a gourmet cook for the birds

You might also try bird bread with some very very finely chopped veggies cooked in. Skipper is picky and was a seed bird but he loves crunchy bird bread.

 

[bettietheripper]

Thank you so much, Song!

 

[MonicaMc]

She loves her pellets, her little seed treats, with honey and fruits, she loves papaya and orange juice, as well as pomegranate seeds.

Why not use the seed treats as rewards? Or what about using the papaya, orange juice or pomegranate seeds as rewards?


And try a training session first thing in the morning before she has eaten.

 

[bettietheripper]

That's true! I will definitely try that!

 

[bettietheripper]

I tried mixing bits of papaya with pomegranate and beets baby food (which I actually tried in front of her) and she would pick them out and put them side, while snubbing them. She is so picky!