New Owner, New Baby Senegal - I have questions...

[ReaGoerge]

I am very happy to announce that I have bought my very first parrot (I have experience with a pet bird before as a kid, family pet cockatiel, but this is the first time being responsible and I understand that the Senegal is more demanding)

I got him (at least we think its a him) a couple of days ago after researching what would be a good option for a first parrot, and I'm very keen to train him to be a "good" parrot and have watched and read a bunch of stuff on this site, but as I guess is normal I have questions, what's normal, am I doing this right, etc... I guess I'm also scared of getting him into the wrong habits...

He's pretty young, not sure for certain but maybe 3/4 months, at the very most 5 since he was definitely born this year (he has a band with 15 on it) and was hand reared so he has no problem with people, although he wont really let you pick him up or really step up (I managed to basically trick him to getting on my finger a couple of times, didn't bother him too much but he was quick to get back to his perch).

I want to train him with the clicker, and targeting stick which I now have, and get him on a two meal a day routine using pellets, fruit and veg with parrot seed mix as treats....

So first Q - do baby birds of this age take more naps as he seems to do?
- he seems to wake up play (I can do some clicker training) then eat then maybe he wants to just rip a wooden stick up then he'll take a nap, he'll be up for a few hours at a time I guess then sleep an hour or two) pretty sure he slept through the night (only been with us for one night)

Which leads me to the second Q - Should I be training with him every time he wakes up? (obviously can't do that when I'm out but I can do some days)

And third Q - should he be eating things throughout the day every time he wakes up or should I remove all food between morning and evening meals? (He seems to want to, if he shouldn't how do I stop him from being upset or just how do I deal with this? or... is this just something that baby's need/do?)

OK so next kinda topic fourth Q - during a "training session" simply hand feeding him and clicking the clicker as he gets the treat I moved the food a little further away so he needed to come to my finger to get the food, but he's seems a bit unsure of his footing, he's not completely confident moving around the cage it seems, is that normal for his age? Or because of the new surroundings maybe?... As a result of moving the food away he wanted to get it still, but seemed unsure about moving forward so he kinda screamed way louder than his usual chirping (it was quite surprising) was it too soon for me to do this? Should I just be practically putting the seed in his beak at this point?

Another thing is that we let him clime out of his cage, since we can open the top, but I guess it was a mistake even thought he seems to really like it out of the cage, since he decided to take flight a couple of times, but again very uncoordinated and potentially dangerous, crashing into things not being able to land back on his cage so fifth Q - Should we not let him out until he's better trained, or any tips for this?

I think thats most of my questions so far I'm sure more will come up, the only other query I have is how to get him to eat more of the pellets, I noticed he can't eat them so easily (maybe because he's young) their quite hard so I soaked them in a bit of water and he ate an ok amount, but should I mix them with other things he likes? Only thing then is he might just eat what he likes leave the pellets and beg for more food that he wants....

Any feedback/help on this would be very much appreciated!!

We fell in love with him as soon as we met him in the shop, and want to create the best relationship we can. I'd really like to keep his wings unclipped so that he can eventually be free to stretch them and go for a bit of indoor freeflight (maybe even outdoors one day).

It's only been two days so, maybe I'm being a bit of a worry wart, but thought getting some responses here might calm my nerves

Thanks guys!!

[liz]

Babies eat more often because they are growing and do take naps.

I don't think I would push a baby with training yet. Let him be a baby. He has things he needs to learn that don't need training.

[ReaGoerge]

Babies eat more often because they are growing and do take naps.

I don't think I would push a baby with training yet. Let him be a baby. He has things he needs to learn that don't need training.

Thanks for the reply!

I feel like even in the time between writing the post and now I've gotten to know him a bit better, what he wants and when, basically how to keep him happy... But how do you avoid him being spoilt and just always getting what he wants?

Also he clearly loves being out of the cage, at least for a little while, but how to I prevent him for hurting himself when he decides to take flight? Or is there a way to prevent him from wanting to fly way from his cage?

[liz]

I don't know how to keep them from being spoiled. Mine border on the edge of spoiled rotten and I love them.
Birds learning to fly is like babies learning to walk. They are going to fall down now and then. There must be something extra in them that we loose as we get older. If I fell like a baby, I would get hurt. They seem to bounce right back up.
Flying is the most natural thing a bird can do. They need that kind of exersize to be healthy. It builds their muscles and strengthens their lungs.
Keep him supplied with veggies. He has to learn what is good to eat. Eat it in front of him then offer him some of yours.
When I got Myrtle she was already a year old but did not know about anything but seed. First she watched to see Rambo would eat it. Then she watched me. Now she want to taste everything. I usually fill her a plate of legal food from my plate so she know she is getting the good stuff.

[Wolf]

I would not concern myself with training at this stage of your relationship. You have a new bird in a new environment and the thing that he needs the most of from you is the reassurance that he is safe and loved. This is best accomplished with just sitting with him and talking and singing to him and just generally hanging out with him. He seems unsure when you pull back on the food that you are offering, because he doesn't know how to react to you offering it and then pulling it away. You would do better by offering it at a short distance, say to where he may need to stretch to get it rather than pulling back. The offering it at a little distance says come and get it, while pulling it back says you can't have this wonderful food.
Everything that you do with this bird must be based on trust, you have to trust him and he must trust you because without this trust there will be no relationship as he will refuse to have anything to do with you. You need to learn his body language as this is his primary means of communicating with you and you must learn to respect what he is telling you. You never force yourself on a bird as you will end up with a bird that only bites you and especially with a Senegal , you do not want this.
You should make sure that except for when he is sleeping at night that he has fresh foods such as vegetables and fruit and leafy greens and whole grains to eat all day long. Seeds and pellets are ok for his evening meal at the start of dusk but not for all day as they are too high in protein and can cause liver disease. I do not feed pellets to any of my birds. Pay attention to when the birds living outside your home get up in the morning and when they disappear to go to sleep at night as this is the same schedule that your bird needs, you will also find that even as an adult they do take naps during the day.
Not certain that we have answered everything, but not to worry you can ask as often as needed.

[Pajarita]

Please do not handfeed with a clicker or make him work for it. Food is their right, not a privilege that needs to be earned or a reward for a job well done!