Desperately need good advice...

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Oh yay! I'm so glad things are improving! My husband has been going through something similar with Scotty. We got Scotty to be his bird, and he was great with him at the store and for the first few days. Then we slowly came to realize he has a strong preference for women and has some fear associated with being handled by men. My husband got bitten a lot while we were figuring all this out... but now things between them are very good. Scotty still ooohs and aaahs over me, and I can manhandle him a lot more than my husband can, but they spend all kinds of time together, play together and enjoy each other's company while I concentrate on MY bird.

[RachelReznor]

Hi there, just wanted to reply because your story really touched me. This is a really tough situation but I have no doubt that you will overcome it as you seem really dedicated to making things work.

The first thing that strikes me is that you're still mourning the loss of your beloved conure. This has been made worse by the realisation that you and her had an absolutely outstanding relationship and the fact that you have only realised the full extent of that relationship since acquiring your little sennie. This must be very difficult and would bring on a greater period of grieving. Secondly your new little bird is also going through a huge adjustment. he's just been weaned (probably the most stressful time of his life) and his environment has changed completely. So you have two highly intelligent emotional creatures going through a really tough time together. It makes sense that this won't be easy. He's picking up on your stress, you're picking up on his and you're both just getting more stressed together! I think why you noticed such success the other day was because it sounds like the two of you just spent nice quiet time together and built comfort. This is great!

You mentioned that you shared a grape together, this is a brilliant thing to do, keep doing this, sharing food will make him feel like part of your 'flock' and make him feel safer. Always if possible eat your meals around him too, at least where he can easily see you, you can give him healthy bits of your meal as well.

Another thing, in one of my books on senegals it mentions taking a nap (or pretending to) in front of them (obviously with them safely in their cage!). There was a long psychological explanation as to why this is beneficial which i cant recall in details, but i tried it with my baby when he first came home and it did seem to help. I still do it now, a year later!

Also just remember that he's going to have 'bad' days, just like you. So please don't feel discouraged when this happens. Sometimes it can feel like 'one step forward two steps back' when this happens. Just focus on the positives and when he appears to not want anything to do with you just respect this and leave him be (and don't take it personal!). Likewise, if you're feeling emotional and stressed that's probably not the best time to work with your bird either. Just take some time out for yourself. You also need to heal and adjust.

Oh and if it's any concilation my senegal prefers my boyfriend to me too! when he's home I cease to exist and he cries when he leaves for work in the morning, even though he is 'my' bird and i do all the work with regards to him, haha, like i said, don't take it personal. I think this is quite common actually.

I hope that helps even a little. Please please keep us posted on his progress. He looks like a beautiful little munchkin. Good luck!

[Morgiana]

Sharing food with Khepri (my sun conure) was honestly one of the most fun things she and I did together. We ate off the same plate whenever she could have whatever was on my plate -- me eating off one side, her perched on the opposite edge and eating off that side. I remember everyone telling me when I got her: "Never allow her to eat with you or share food with her unless you want to never eat alone ever again." To which my reply was: "AWESOME! Let's eat!" So if Bijou wants to share food with me, I'm thrilled.

I never heard of the sleeping thing. That's sort of strange sounding, but I occasionally nap in view of the cage anyhow. I'll be interested to see how that goes.

In the good news catagory, things continue to improve! My husband and I have formed a united training front and Bijou's preference has definitely evened out between us. Sometime soon, we're going to introduce my best friend and my two nieces to help socialize with "extended flock". (We've already introduced my parents briefly.)

We've also been looking for a clicker to start some clicker training, but can't seem to find one that we (especially me, with my smaller hands) can use with one hand without struggling. We could only find large ones. I tried playing around with a Snapple bottle cap, which clicks like a clicker, but I found it's sound inconsistant and very quiet, if not pressed in just the right place/way. I was going to look through some of the other threads here on the forums to see if there were any clickers people recommend for bird owners.

[patdbunny]

Morgiana, clicky pens works for us hobbits with the small hands.