Adopting a Senegal, Need tips.

[Moochyesh]

He is very sweet, he is shy and does not show aggression but is not "Tame" he dances and nodds his head. He is believed to be around 3 years old and he has nubs for toes, a mate bit his off i was told =[ He can still perch on a wide perch.

Really need some tips on helping socialize him and get him bonded to me. I have the patients and know this is a big undertaking but im up for it. I just need the best way to go about this as he is special needs... Thanks =]

[JaydeParrot]

I adopted two incredibly untame Senegals last year, both now happily sit on my shoulder and fly/ jump onto my arm when I call their names.

Depending on how tame your bird is, you may just be able to skip to number 4.

1. I'm not to sure what level of tameness that Senegal is, when you get him it maybe ideal to just put him in his cage and not interact too much for the first day, he might get overwelmed if you interact too soon, so giving him a day to get used to his environment could help.

2. The day after I did this, my Senegals started screaming everytime I entered the room. If this happens (and it's not food or boredom related), get some food for yourself a book, and sit with your back to the cage for however long it takes for the bird to stop, leaving or reacting will reinforce the behaviour so, be ready for a two or more hour wait.

3. Next, if you have a safe non metal skewer, put a piece of apple or banana on it, open the cage and push it towards your bird, it will learn to come to you for food.

4. (These are most important for learning to step up) Buy a perch rope from a pet shop and push it gentally towards your bird and say 'step up' to get it to step up, reward with banana (generally the most likely food item a scared Senegal will take from you).

Always end on a good note with your bird so it will want to interact with you next time, and if you know the bird won't step up, it may be best to let it out of it's cage in a smaller room, believe me it can take a good hour or more to get them back if they don't want to come back, I named one of mine Hide for that reason.

Hoped this helped.

[Pajarita]

A bird with no toes cannot step up to a rope or any other type of perch unless it's a flat surface so don't try No.4. A narrow slat would work for a perch but you can't carry it around because he can't hold on without toes (I have a tiel like that and she never perches anywhere, she stays at the bottom of the cage because she can't climb up or fly -she is also pinioned, the poor thing). You will need to put a solid floor on the bottom of the cage as well as little steps (not a ladder) and flat pieces of wood for him to step on at different levels. What you can do is teach him to step onto the palm of your hand.

[mrbowlerhat]

reward with banana (generally the most likely food item a scared Senegal will take from you).

...Says who? You'd have to tell that to my Senegals, they'd both rather throw the banana on the floor than eat it. Almonds, blueberries and apples though, they're crazy about.

[Pajarita]

reward with banana (generally the most likely food item a scared Senegal will take from you).

...Says who? You'd have to tell that to my Senegals, they'd both rather throw the banana on the floor than eat it. Almonds, blueberries and apples though, they're crazy about.

LOL - It is God's truth that they are individuals and have their own likes and dislikes but mine do like bananas, too. It's not their favorite thing in the whole wide world (for one this would be black grapes while, for the other, it's red papaya) but they do like them.

[JaydeParrot]

A bird with no toes cannot step up to a rope or any other type of perch unless it's a flat surface so don't try No.4.

Lol, good point, I'd never actually thought about that, so soes that mean that a no toed parrot would have to basically live in a fish tank like structure rather than a barred cage? Can they still sleep on one foot or do they have to sleep standing on two feet? What is pinioned? Sorry about all the questions, just never realised how much different life is for a no toed parrot so figured I'd try to get in a few questions...

Says who? You'd have to tell that to my Senegals, they'd both rather throw the banana on the floor than eat it. Almonds, blueberries and apples though, they're crazy about.

I was talking more about untame senegals, I found mine were more likely to take banana as a reward because they were too scared to grasp anything with a tougher texture. I get what you mean though, every Senegal's an individual, mine also like apples but hates Almonds .