New Senegal

[wdlodge]

Well... after much thought, reading, reading and more reading, I finally decided and got my senegal. I think it's a hen but we are calling her Rio in case she turned out to be a he, it's a good unisex name. I have scoured these pages every day looking for good information, and putting to use some of the techniques with my parrotlet. Now I have a Senegal... We have had her for 3 days now. She is sooooooo quiet. Eats well, sleeps well, plays with her toys in her cage. Her droppings look good and healthy. Morning do do omg! Compared to a parrotlet they are enormous. LOL But she is soooooo quiet. She is quieter than my parrotlets chatter. She will occasionally screech in late afternoon (like right now she screeched twice) which is loud, not deafening , but loud. But no real chatter, clicks, ect. She is only 3.5 months old. Maybe it's a combo of the fact that she has only been here 3 days and she is just a baby?

So my question is... Is it normal?

Any and all input is so appreciated. She is petty tame. While she loves to be out of her cage, putting her in and taking her out is no problem. I don't want to rush things but I also want to socialize her as much as possible while she is young and we are bonding, but I want it to be all positive so i am trying to work within her threshold, not pushing too much.

Thank you and I so look forward to your replies.

[Michael]

Congrats. Sounds perfectly normal for a Senegal baby. Don't worry, that's all going to change when she hits maturity around 2 years old

[wdlodge]

Congrats. Sounds perfectly normal for a Senegal baby. Don't worry, that's all going to change when she hits maturity around 2 years old

Oh yes I have read all about that too, Michael. I hope all my effort that I want to put into her will pay off when she matures.

[janetafloat]

I'm sure she'll start making more noises before then I expect she's just adjusting to the huge change in her life, though my Sennie isn't noisy at all, he does make a variety of clicks & whistles when he's contented.

[wdlodge]

I'm sure she'll start making more noises before then I expect she's just adjusting to the huge change in her life, though my Sennie isn't noisy at all, he does make a variety of clicks & whistles when he's contented.

She does a lot of watchig the activity in the home or out the window. Something that I am concerned about is, I know they need undisturbed sleep 10-12 hrs. She is out by the time the sun goes down. i do cover just the top of her cage down the sides a little for privacy and she seems to like it. We live in an RV and her cage is in the living room. My husband stays up later than I do, he sometimes falls asleep watching tv or listening to music. Will this disturb her? She doesn't seem to make a sound, but today I noticed she took lots of little naps. Am I worrying too much? I could place a smaller cage in our bedroom but I don't want her to feel caged in, any suggestions?

[Pajarita]

Yes, she needs to have undisturbed sleep. She's a baby. As they get older and get used to the noises and as long as they are low and soft, she could, maybe, sleep in the living room but, for now, I would find quiet place for her.

Sennies are usually quiet until they start PEEEEPING real loud -LOL

Give her time to adjust. I usually do not interact with them physically the first two weeks so they can get used to me, my voice, the other birds, the routine, etc but I deal with older birds and babies are different. Same as human babies, they need the warmth, the closeness of touching another body for long periods of time. I am not talking about stepping up or talking to her/him or anything like that, just quiet time together.

[Strawfrawg]

Congrats on your new Sennie. I have a 17 week-old male and he's very quiet at this point, though he does a 7pm fly all around the house (he knows bedtime's coming and is spending his last energy, I guess) that sometimes includes a couple of loud whistles and squawks. Otherwise, he only makes quiet sounds when I first wake him up and am making his breakfast (he sounds like R2-D2) and similar noises when he's settling in for a nap (self-comforting behavior?). My boyfriend's two female Sennies stayed quiet into adulthood and beyond except for talking and some soft whistling at birds outside, so you may get lucky and end up with a quieter bird.

My bird sleeps in his own bedroom, but can hear the TV from mine and seems to sleep well despite some noise. I'm sure it's tough to manage noise in an RV, so turning the TV low will probably have to suffice for you and if it's a constant in her environment, your baby may tune it out just like we do. Marvin doesn't seem bothered by noise at all when he naps during the day....which he does often. He actually seems a little weirded out if it's too quiet.

[Brittanyv326]

Mine is also very, very quiet unless one of her needs aren't being met. I know exactly what "my food bowl is empty, I am hungry" sounds like, what "I am bored and feel like showing off all my pretty noises cause I'm in a great mood" sounds like, what "let me out of my cage, I can hear you walking around!" sounds like, what "WHY ARE YOU LEAVING THE HOUSE, OMG NO!!" sounds like... and they all have their typical sounds for each. The only one that is ear piercing is the "WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME!!!" one when we go outside. But all in all, she can go hours without making a noise because none of them are out of nowhere (well the I'm bored one is but it's the most pleasant thing to listen to out of all of them). By the way, she also does the "I'm going to sleep" noise. She fluffs up all cute, gets low, her feet get warmer, tucks one, then rubs her top & bottom beak together while her eyes flutter. At first I was a bit concerned because it sounds kind of painful but then now I think it's the cutest thing ever.

Congratulations on your baby and keep asking questions, I know I did!!

[Strawfrawg]

Brittany...the sound of a "grating" beak used to pierce my ears, but now I love to hear it. If they're grating, they are happy and content and cozy. It does sound kinda painful. Sometimes Marvin's beak makes some pretty loud popping sounds.

Does Sadie do the little R2D2 noises when she is sleepy? I swear I could dub Marvin's voice over an R2D2 scene from Star Wars and you wouldn't know the difference. The range of sounds he is capable of making is awesome. But oh, that "Where are you going?!?!" screech...that I could do without. There's the screech, and the accompanying "I'm so abandoned!" groaning whine. It's all so dramatic! Like he'll never see me again....

[Brittanyv326]

Hahaha, I just listened to a recording of R2D2 noises and she was pinning the whole time, I guess she likes those! She doesn't really do them, the only ones she does are the whistles it does that sound exactly like her, but the mechanical noises - not really. She does microwave, alarm clock, camera shutter, creaks, dog whine (sometimes I think it really is the dogs), purring when I pet her (she's never been around cats), some of the outside bird calls she does now too.. She can make the sound of cracking a knuckle exactly, kissing, clicking, all kinds of noises we make with our mouths that are hard to describe. The R2D2 thing is hilarious, you totally should try to get that on tape! I would love to know what you mean. Glad to know what that is called "grating", I never knew what to call it. And I used to dislike it too, I don't know when I changed so much, lol. At one point, I had a list of Sadie's noises but now there's too many and I've lost track