Why is my Senegal scared of sticks and anything black?

[pinkiepunksmummy]

My 18 year old Senegal Rosie (we re-homed her a year ago) is scared of sticks, ie. natural wood perches/a dark wood swing/willow twigs/foot toys....

She gets really scared, flapping, panicking and jumping/climbing as far a way as possible, then avoiding the area of cage until the items are removed.

When she came to us she was in an old cage with just a faded/chewed swing (circle of wooden beads), a wooden perch which she had chewed to a 3 inch stump and a cement perch.

We bought her a variety of new perches/swing/toys but the dark natural wood ones took her months to get used to, and the new black wire cage, she absolutely hated...cowering in the corner, so we got a new one and put the budgies in the black one and they seem very happy in it!!

She also hates black sleeves, black gloves, her new beautifully made willow and hazel swing, new handmade natural (pale) wood perch with treat dish attached! She is scared of the coloured paper foot toys I got her too, they are around four inches long and the width of a straw...I thought she'd love them, more effective for scratching yourself than a chilli!

We have removed the hated items and are trying to introduce them gradually so they are not so scary, but had to take away the flexible rubber perch because she literally ripped a hole in it and we were worried in case she ingested some of the pieces by accident. And the mineral perch that she ate the wrong end of now balances in the cage but can't be fixed to the bars anymore...would rather not just give her boring wood broomstick handle like she used to have She's on her second spiral perch in a year, because she shredded the first one! And her third swing! (But we don't mind because it is better than her feathers being plucked)

We're running out of perch ideas....is it okay to put the 'scary' new ones in her cage, and let her get used to them or is it best to put them in and out for a little while at a time?

[Wolf]

My Senegal is not nearly as bored or as afraid of things as yours is, but I would try to get natural wooden perches that are bird safe from local trees and shrubs that have not been sprayed as they are usually free that way. I would keep two or three of them where she can see them while she gets used to them whether you use store bought ones or make your own. Once she gets used to them start moving them closer until they are just outside of her cage and them start replacing worn out perches with these new ones. My Senegal, Kiki, prefers any toy that she can chew up and destroy over any other kind, but since she is out of her cage for about 4 hours each day she doesn't feel the need to chew things up nearly as much and it has done wonders for her confidence as well.
I also save the metal pieces from used up swings and toys and so on to make new ones for my birds using the reclaimed hardware. I have a small fixed income and so save at every level that I can.
Birds can be very strange when it comes to colors partly because they see so many colors that we don't, next to a parrot we are color blind. I would say that there are some bad memories in regards to the color black that have something to do with this aversion, so I would try to avoid dark colors around this bird.

[pinkiepunksmummy]

Thanks for replying...
It's weird because she is so bold about everything else..will go and investigate brightly coloured new toys straight away and new food instantly...will come to our hands, but dark things and sticks/long things she is afraid of. I think she might of been poked or held back with a stick/perch maybe.

The children (young teens) make her new toys from all the old bits and pieces, and we have bought her a rope style dog toy (plaited cotton the same as the spiral perches) which was only £1 instead of £15 for a parrot toy! And natural loofah on a rope for humans for £1.50 is a real hit, especially when it is hidden inside a cardboard tube. And she adores shoelaces, so we tie broken toys up with those and she has double the fun! (I obviously check everything is safe).

The shunned perch is currently lying next to her cage and I relented and have taken away the lovely new swing and put the old rope swing that is all scruffy and pecked and threadbare back in...she is in her element and swinging like crazy!

[Pajarita]

Please do not use anything made out of cotton rope or material. It's dangerous for them because if they happen to ingest enough fibers, they can cause crop impaction or digestive tract blockage which would required expensive surgery to correct if it doesn't kill the bird.

If she chews that much, she must be overly hormonal because sennies are not really big chewers. Is she been kept at a human light schedule and/or free-fed high protein food by any chance?

As to her been scared of dark colored things... well, just don't put anything dark in her cage.

[liz]

I would put the scarey stuff on the other side of the room where she can see it but not make contact. When she is out of cage she may investigate since she is not being pressured. If it is put in her cage she feels like it is being forced on her.