Senegal parrot male is very aggressive

[Pajarita]

What do you mean by 'the birds are marked'? Are we talking about a tattoo? Do they have a closed leg band and, if so, does it have a year on it? I'll be honest with you, papers mean nothing. The American Kennel Club (dogs) uses nothing but paper and people have been selling dogs that are not purebred with a pedigree certificate for as long as I can remember because everything is done through papers (easy to forge). With birds, the only thing that is a sure thing is a closed band with a year engraved on it and then only if the laws of the country prohibit selling bands with a different year on them (this is the way it is in USA).

But, if they are 6 or 7 months old, they would be going through their juvenile molt right now, are they? Because the picture did not look as if they were molting...

The other thing is their eyes. They still have greyish eyes but they are already showing all their irises (babies eyes are completely black) and it seems to me that they are already beginning to get a yellow tinge to them - and that doesn't happen until they are, at least, 1.5 years old.

And third but not least is behavior. A handfed baby Senegal is not bonded to another bird and would much rather be with a human than with another bird. And they are not aggressive at all. Quite the contrary, they are VERY cuddly and playful.

[steviema]

They have a closed band with the year engraved. Also a number to identify the breeder and so on.

The year of the male is 14 (he told me late 14). The female has a 15 on it.

Their eyes are still grey. No sign of yellow so far. Maybe I can try to make a better picture but they don't like my smartphone.

What I can tell you is that his feathers are getting more and more dark orange at the chest. Extremely within the last week.

Both are handfed parrots from the 3rd week on.

She is very playful and interested in me. Also she is asking for a scratch.

Just he is the total opposite. It's since the second day in my home.

What I know is, that he wasn't like this in the cage of the breeder. He also held my finger with his food to nibble at my finger. No bite.

Things have changed here.

For the moment they are sleeping / on seperate perches. I gave them some vegetables before during cleaning their cage.

The last couple of days he was so agressive, that he also jumped against the cage bars when I was getting to close with my face. I was trying to gentle talk to him.

The only time where he is not attacking me is during his meal.

Difficult "Gremlin"!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About food:

how much normal parrot food should they get per bird? Two table spoons full of food? This doen't look very much to me.

Today I gave them carrots, bananas and some gherkin. In the evening they will get some normal parrot feed.

[Pajarita]

So he could be 1.5 year old while she is definitely a baby. That makes a big difference at this point in time because at 1.5 years of age and if he was kept at the wrong light schedule and diet, he could very well be quite hormonal right now. But it doesn't change the advice. And don't go by what you saw at the breeder, it doesn't mean anything at all because even super aggressive parrots would not bite when very scared (think honeymoon stage!).

[Wolf]

So if he is a year and a half and hormonal, then he is probably going through puberty as well, and this is the time that they quit thinking as a baby bird and start thinking as an adult bird. This for the third time does not change the recommendations on how to proceed in order to help the bird get through this time. It just reinforces the need for these recommendations to be put into effect. All of this took time to come about, but due to birds holding things in and trying to hide anything wrong, itcan look like it is a sudden change, but in truth it is not. It will also take some time for this to correct, and then only if the recommendations are followed. There is no magic bullit to fix this, it is simple biology.

[steviema]

It is not about the recommendations. I accept them and I will do my best to fulfill them.

So, what about food.

Are two table spoons of normal parrot food enough in the evening?

In the morning and for the day I just feed them fresh vegetables, fruits and boiled wholemeal?

The cage is standing in the living room, therefore it is not possible to have an exact solar schedule in the evening.

Can I put a towel or a blanket over the cage?

[Wolf]

Not sure what wholemeal is, but I feed a cooked mix of about 5 or 6 different whole grains and vegetables, enough for all day long. Since I am not using a tablespoon to measure the seed mix that I am feeding at dinner, I can't say for certain, but it sounds pretty close. If he eats all of the seed mix before dark, I would give him a little more.
As for the light in the evening even if the room is on the wrong side of the house, if he is near a window, he will get enough of the light to be fine. You can cover the cage at night if you want to, I would just wait until full dark to do it.

[steviema]

I have to cover the cage because otherwise they would not be able to sleep without interruption. I am watching TV till midnight or very often 1/2 o'clock in the morning.

You just buy whole grains (wheat, spelt, rye and so on...) in the supermarket and put them into boiling water?

Do you also cook the vegetables or are they unboiled?

[Wolf]

Yes, I buy the individual whole grains and cook them in water until they are about half done, I want them to be soft on the outside but still hard on the inside. Then I add the mixed vegetables to this in equal amounts as the whole grains. I usually buy a bag of frozen mixed vegetables at the supermarket for this. I add them, still frozen to the hot Whole grains.
If you cover the cage after dark just make sure that their is some air flow in the cage so it doesn't get too hot near the top where the bird sleeps.

[Pajarita]

Hold the rye for now, some birds (mine included) don't like the taste of it but they all like wheat, kamut, oat groats, whole grain rices like black, red, brown or wild (which is not really rice). I cook them for about 40 minutes or, when I do it at night before going to bed, for 25 or 30 minutes and leave them in the hot water overnight to finish cooking. I always use a lot of water and, if there is any left over, I simply drain them in a colander and add small white beans (from cans and thoroughly rinsed under running water). I also use frozen veggies because they are not really cooked, just blanched, and ergo, more nutritious. I add chopped broccoli, chopped blue kale, white hominy, yellow corn, diced carrots, peas, green beans (sometimes chopped but, lately, I've been using the skinny and long French beans), cubed butternut squash, chopped artichoke hearts (either frozen of from cans thoroughly rinsed) and chunks of sweet potatoes I cooked in the Potato Express bag in the microwave. I put about two heaping tablespoons of this in their individual bowls and give them one piece of fruit, one veggie and one leafy green (today they got black cherries, yellow zucchini and escarole). I leave this for them to eat all day long and, in the evening, when I turn off the artificial lights, I take all this away and give them about two heaping tablespoons of their seed mix for dinner.

It doesn't matter where the birds are as long as there is a window in the room and you turn off the artificial lights until it's completely dark when you would cover their cage with a black out material (so no light shines in). You should also keep noises (TV) down to a minimum. Birds do get used to the normal household noises but they are like people and loud noises bother their sleep.