Oscar's First Day Home

[Lorrah77]

Hi everyone!

I'm a brand new Senegal owner and was hoping for a little advice. I just brought Oscar home today, and have a few questions...

From what I've read, it seems that giving your bird space and time to adjust to their new surroundings is important when it first comes home. It was recommended to me that I wait 24 hours before I "play" with Oscar, and just let him take everything in. I've been quietly speaking to him when I go near his cage, and he has been coming right up to me, and if I move towards a different side of the cage he follows me over. It seems like when I'm next to the cage he is quite adventurous and curious about his new surroundings (plays with toys, eats and drinks, explores the cage), but as soon as I walk away he kind of "shuts down" and just sits really still and won't move until I come visit him again. I guess my question is how much attention should I be giving him the first few days? When is it ok to be taking him out of his cage for a bit? I don't want to rush him or do anything that might be traumatic for him.

Also, I was just wondering how long I should wait to introduce him to basic clicker training? How will I know he's ready? He's about six months old now. Thanks in advance for the advice!

On an unrelated note- I wanted to switch Oscar over pellets and read on the forum that some people tried contacting Roudybush for samples. I sent them an email last week and just received samples in the mail today! Great advice- never would have thought to try that! So glad I've found this forum. It's been a great resource already!

Laura

[Wolf]

Well it is to late to avoid causing Oscar trauma, It was unavoidable given the circumstances, as it was the move to a new environment. This trauma is very easy for you to see and in fact you have mentioned it already. When you walk away from his cage he freezes, this is the trauma. Oscar is afraid of this new place, and due to his nature you are his lifeline and he shows this by his ready acceptance of you. This is a good thing for both you and Oscar and will greatly assist you in the bonding process.
I noticed that you listed that you have a pair of budgies, so I do hope that Oscar is in quarantine and that he will remain so for a full 30 days. It really is for his protection and even after this quarantine period is over you may want to limit the proximity of Oscar and the budgies as there are further health risks to him from the budgies.
There will be plenty of time for clicker training in the near future. Right now building a strong bond based on trust is what is most important at this time. Take the time to just hang out with him, you know, talking to him and such. Make sure to use his name a lot and include words and phrases that you will be using to let him know that you are happy and pleased with him and that you love him. Watch what he eats over the next few days to see what he eats and in what order he eats what. This will tell you what his favorite foods are, take 2 or 3 of his favorite foods and don't feed these to him as part of his meal as they will serve as his treats. Once you have a treat picked out you can use them to bribe him to step up for you. It also opens the way for further training such as target training and other forms of clicker based training.
As for Oscar coming out of his cage, the first thing is to be sure that there are no electrical cords where he can get to them to bite them ( not a pretty sight ) and that there are no places that he can get that you would have a difficult time rescuing him from or that he can hide from you in. Make sure that he can not escape from the room, then you can open the door to Oscars cage and allow him to come out on his own. I suggest that you do this the first few times near to dusk and feeding time as it may make it easier to return him to his cage. Expect that you may have to wait until after dark to put him back if he doesn't step up or return to his cage on his own.

[Lorrah77]

Thanks for the helpful reply, Wolf! Oscar and I have been taking things slow, and he already seems to be a lot more comfortable today. He has been eating his pellets and fresh food, drinking, and exploring his new environment. I've been giving him seeds as treats, which he has been gladly taking out of my hand. He has been doing well with stepping up, and let's me place him back in his cage after we visit for a bit. I've only been taking him out for 5-10 minutes at a time so far, but he seems to enjoy it. Once he's had more time to get used to things I'll be letting him out of his cage for longer increments.

Here's another question: he came to me with his wings clipped, but I would like to let them grow back in. How long does this process take?

And yes....he is quarantined from the budgies in a separate room for the next month. Wouldn't want anyone to catch anything! Thanks again for all the advice!

Laura

[Michael]

Sounds like you are doing well already. Dont stress out over it too much. Just watch you're not stressing the bird too much, see what he wants to do, and take your time. If he comes right to your hand, its probably fine to take him out. If he's panicking and fleeing, then taking out may likely make things worse. Its all a matter of context.

[Wolf]

It really sounds like you and Oscar are hitting it off quite well, and in such a short time frame, that is great. Senegals are brave little birds, mine has absolutely no fear of any living thing so far, but is really timid when it comes to toys and such. I would take the next 3 or 4 weeks to just play with and have a good time building a strong bond with him Taking him out of his cage and get him used to being touched and getting accustomed to a reasonable approximation of what your schedule will be like and so forth. You probably be able to start working with a clicker with him but I would not go into it very fast as it could lead to problems later on. Those problems are caused by a thing called flooding which is basically doing too much too fast and he gets confused and nervous and then regresses and possibly starts refusing to respond and begins to develop bad behaviors. All of which is avoidable by just taking it slow and easy.
Depending on how much they clipped off of his wings, he could regain them during his first molt or it could take until his second molt to grow back.
I personally don't really care for pellets, they are a convenience for the human but I feel that whole fresh foods are much better for them. There is a lot of conflicting information available on pellets and a lot of differing opinions about them. Rather than attempting to persuade you one way or the other, I do suggest that you do your own research on the subject and make up your own mind about them. I will recommend that if you feed pellets that you take the time to find a high quality pellet based on your birds dietary requirements and avoid the pretty fruit loops looking ones.

[Pajarita]

If you are going to feed pellets (I don't as I don't think they are the healthiest option for parrots) feed him TOPs and nothing else.

[Lorrah77]

Thanks!

I will be feeding him a combination of pellets and fresh fruits, veggies, etc., with seeds as treats for trick training.

I appreciate everyone's advice! Learning more every day.

Laura

[Wolf]

Sounds to me like you are doing fine. Thanks for asking for information when you were not sure and I for one am looking forward to hearing stories about Oscar and your adventures in training and play.

[Lorrah77]

Thanks again everyone! Here's a picture of Oscar trying a banana for the first time...

[Wolf]

I have to wash my bananas really well because Kiki, my Senegal, actually likes the peel more than the fruit. She likes to eat the inside of the peel and when finished with eating, the remainder becomes this wonderful messy toy for her to shred.