Something I wanted to add regarding Jardines, or the Poicephalus species in-general...I guess that the label the Poicephalus parrots are tagged with most-often is "Stubborn", "Strong-Willed", and maybe even "Nippy"...I had several people tell me that a Senegal Parrot would not at all fit-in with the rest of my flock (a Green Cheek Conure, a Blue Quaker Parrot, and a Cockatiel, as well as the 8 Budgies), because all of my birds are cute little cuddly birds who love to be held and scritched, and always want to be with me/on me, while a Senegal wasn't going to be anything like that...Well, I guess I love a challenge, lol...I'm way more stubborn than Kane is, lol, so I of-course did not listen...
I drove from central PA to the Raleigh-Durham area of NC to pick-up Kane from his breeder at 12 weeks old...almost a 9-hour drive one-way...so I packed-up my truck and left one Saturday morning (I lived in Charlotte for almost a year, and one of my best-friends from elementary school onward now lives in Raleigh, so I was stoked to go back to NC). I arrived at Kane's breeder's home around 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, who by the way was easily the most kind, caring, professional, responsible, and just helpful bird breeder I have ever encountered in my 31 years of being involved in the parrot world...He breeds a few different parrot species, Senegals, Red-Bellied Parrots, White-Fronted Amazons, and Quakers. He and his wife are both high-school teachers in their late 50's-early 60's and they've owned and bred/hand-raised parrots for decades. They invited me into their home, to not only interact with the 2 Senegal babies they had, but also with the rest of their own flock, as well as their breeders. It was amazing, they had a Blue and Gold Macaw and a Congo African Grey that were their dear family members and had been for decades, along with multiple smaller parrot species. Both Senegal babies immediately stepped-up for me without hesitation, but Kane jumped from my hand to my chest and snuggled himself under my chin, and we all looked at each other, and his wife then said "Well I'll just put this other guy back in his cage now...", lol...Kane was fully weaned, but had been crying late in the evening for a "comfort-feeding" since he weaned, so he gave me an ENTIRE FULL-BAG OF ROUDYBUSH FORMULA, UNOPENED! I told him he didn't have to do that, but he said "No, take it, you won't need it all, but just in-case". Then he ALSO gave me a full-bag, unopened, of the Roudybush pellets AND a full-bag of the Roudybush seed-mix that Kane had been weaned onto...I was just blown away, hell, when I bred Budgies and Cockatiels the most I ever gave people was a zip-lock baggie of the pellets I weaned them onto so they could mix them with whatever pellet they chose, lol...
Anyway, the point of this boring story I'm rambling-on about, lol, is that I put little baby-Kane in the carrier I brought, and we left for the Motel 6 just outside of Raleigh that I had made a reservation at (by the way, if anyone is ever in Raleigh with your birds and you need a cheap, extremely nice and convenient motel on the spot, go to the Motel 6 there that looks like a typical "Road Motel", you know, the place is 2-stories and the doors to the rooms are on the outside of the building, and you park right in-front of your room door...yeah, it was a beautiful motel, all brand-new renovations and just gorgeous, from the inside it looked exactly like the Marriot in downtown Cleavland at Key Square that I pay $200 a night to stay in when I go, but the room only cost me $70 on a Saturday night with my parrot!)...anyway, we got to the motel, I checked-in and drove to our room door, parked my truck, and carried the carrier into the motel, along with my bag, then I opened up the carrier door up on the bed, and immediately out walked baby Kane...I turned the TV on, laid down on the bed next to Kane, and he crawled right up onto my stomach, and snuggled right under my neck...The next thing I knew it was 6:30 the next morning (the drive wore me out), and Kane had slept the entire night on my chest, tucked under my chin...
We checked-out and started home to PA, and I had only put Kane in his carrier to get him out of the motel, then I took him out and put him on my shoulder as we drove to my friend's apartment. I had brought along an Aviator Harness but didn't think he would let me put it on him as his breeder hadn't done that training, but right on him it went without a fuss! So we all drove to the Duke campus in Durham, as I had never seen it, the "old" Duke campus and the Duke Forest is just absolutely, amazingly gorgeous!!! And Kane spent the entire day on my shoulder, walking around the Duke campus and being the best little bird, you would have though I had had him for years! And then on the ride home, which took forever, Kane sat on my shoulder while I drove, and moved right into the hood of my hoodie and slept the last 4 hours of the drive inside it...
And ever since that day I am so incredibly happy that I didn't listen to others who told me "not to buy a Senegal, or any Poicephalus species" because "they're stubborn, nippy, and aren't cuddly or friendly birds"...what a bunch of crap, lol...It's all in how you raise them and how you treat them, and what their home-environment and routine is like...if you treat your Jardine like he's a part of the family, then he'll be a part of the family. That's the best statement I can make to you...treat Coco the way you want him to treat you, involve him in your family life and activities like you want him to be involved, make sure his cage is located in the room where the "action" is in your house, where the people in your house spend most of their time when they're home (usually the living room, family room, den, etc. where the TV and Computer are), so that even if you're not directly interacting with Coco and he's in his cage, he can still see you, and he is still made to feel like he's a part of the family, just like everyone else in the household is, and you'll end-up with a sweet, loving family member...doesn't matter what his species is...
