Senegal parrot home alone

[Bogette]

I'm wondering if anyone owns a Senegal that is home some days alone while you are at work. I currently have a 20 year old male Senegal that currently lives with my parents but will soon be living with me and my husband. Bogie and I have a very special bond together but he currently lives with my parents because they are mostly around for him. My parents are getting older and find that some of his behavioral and hormonal problems are making it harder for them. I won't be home everyday to be with him and look after him and I'm not sure what to do. Hire a bird sitter? take him somewhere for the day? or just leave him at home until I get back from work. Can anyone give me any advise on this?

[liz]

Get him a friend.

[Wolf]

I apologise for not replying sooner, I have been thinking about this since I first saw your post in housing. If I may ask, would your husband be at home during any of the time that you would be away at your work? What are his feelings concerning this bird? I do not mean any disrespect, but I find that things tend to work better when all of the involved parties are aware of the demands of keeping a parrot and are all in agreement. I am sure that you have already considered this and that my concern is totally unfounded, but I feel better by double checking.
Liz did propose a good option in as far as parrots always do better when they at least have another parrot to talk with when their humans are unavailable for what ever reason exists. I think that it could be the best way to deal with this type of situation, although I don't know if you had considered this or not as a viable option. If this would be an option then you would need space for two adequately sized cages and would need to find a suitable bird preferably of the same species and of the opposite sex and then there is the matter of the quarantine period and checkup by an avian vet. There would also be the risk that they would not bond with each other so you would not be able to keep them in the same cage if they didn't bond.
Breeding season will be over before long so his hormonal issues should begin to improve shortly after this happens unless his endocrine system is out of tune with their normal cycles.
I guess that I am hoping that getting Bogie a companion is a viable option for you as it would be the least stressful way to proceed at least for him. Other than getting him a companion bird, I honestly can't say that I like any of the alternatives. I just have not fully sorted out my own feeling on this, yet, but wanted to let you know that you, Bogie and yours are on my mind. I have heard you and am still sorting out my own feeling and will be back as soon as I finish sorting my thoughts on this out.

[Bogette]

Thank you for your reply Wolf. Bogie is not very fond of other birds he tends to try to dominate them and does not like when I'm giving attention to other birds, don't know if that is a male Senegal thing but it may be. Bogie loves being the centre of attention and loves his one on one time just being close and hanging out. Bogie and I are very close and share a very special bond. He does the most loving things when we are together he is very affectionate with me. Anyway, we just don't have the space for 2 birds and 2 bird homes (cages) so that is not an option for us. As for my husband, Bogie does like him and enjoys perching with him and hanging out but he will not do certain things with him so I would need to work on their relationship and trust. I have also thought about working with my parents and Bogie to establish a better relationship so they would feel less stress as they get older. My mom is 70 an my dad is 73 and like I said before, I have noticed that they just can't keep up with Bogie anymore.

your thoughts and advise is very much appreciated, looking forward to hearing from you.

[Wolf]

I suspected as much. Would both of you be gone at the same time on the days that you would be working? That,I believe is my last question, and with that answer I will try to answer yours, by sharing my thoughts on this matter.

[Bogette]

yes, I forgot that... I work 3 days a week Wed to Fri all day and my husband works full time 5 days a week. I was also thinking to ask if my dad would be willing to come over to my place a couple times a week for a few hours to give Bogie some company and play time. Other then that I'm out of ideas and ways to make this work if it will work.

[Pajarita]

I've only had (and still have) one male Senegal (had three females but only one male) and he likes the females. A LOT. My current female hasn't accepted him yet as a mate but she is fine flying around and perching with him and is even beginning to accept his perching on her cage all the time without trying to bite his toes so it might work out if you get an older female for him but, of course, if it doesn't then you would have to deal with the two cages which you say would not fit in your home.

[Wolf]

I only have a female Senegal of about 6 years old. She doesn't play with toys very much, but is very good at shredding things. She watches me put treats in various types of paper and cardboard and does a fabulous job at getting the treat, so if you were to teach Bogie to play with toys as well as how to tear things open to get at a little treat then perhaps you will be able to relieve some of his boredom and such. If you could get your parents to stop by a couple of days while you are at work to check on him and to give him some interaction, while he adjusts to the new environment and to your schedule that would help him a lot I think as it appears to me that he is bonded mainly to you and not to them. I can't say that this will be stress free for him, but I think that you are already aware that this is the case, but I think that you can make this work.

[Bogette]

Bogie goes through phases where he loves to play with toys and other times he just wants perch with you or watch what you are doing. He also loves to look out windows. He prefers wood toys he can shred and paper similar to your Senegal. He is bonded to me the most and I feel the same way about him. I am going to discuss this further with my parents this weekend. I also know the stress level for birds in a new environment and a different routine, Bogie does love his routines but enjoys doing and seeing different things when we are together. Thank you so much for your thoughts and comments on this topic. This move won't happen until after the summer so there is a lot of planning and thinking to be done. I've attached a couple of pictures of Bogie for you.

[Wolf]

Kiki, does like to destroy wood almost as much as paper and cardboard, but like yours it goes in spurts, depending on her mood at the time, I guess. but her favorite thing in the world to chew on and shred as much as she can is a piece of firewood. Well it is not actually firewood but it is cut to length the same as firewood but it is almost 12 inches in diameter. It is actually a piece of pine with the bark on it that is curing out for carving. I stood it up securely on top of one of the cages and she will spend up to an hour at a time removing the bark from it.
With the move being this far away you have time to try moving him to your place for a day and then as time goes on increase to two days and so on which might help to reduce the stress By the time you get up to three days at your home, one of these days could be a work day for you with a visit from your parents during the day while you are at work. This would help all concerned to see what is happening and evaluate this move to see if that is truly the route to take. I suspect that given the ages of your parents that not doing it is just postponing the move that will have to be done at some point.