Newbie doesn't want to make dumb newbie mistakes

[Cali]

Hello! I just got my first parrot- a baby Senegal. I did lots of reading and research before I chose which bird I wanted but still... so so much to learn.

She is so easy going at this point. She does beak us and then we distract or redirect her. My children are very gentle with her and we are all taking turns interacting so she can bond with all of us, although she does prefer me already (which is good since she is for the most part my bird.)

Please tell what NOT to do so I don't screw her up! We are being gentle yet firm. I am going to do clicker training with her. (Trained horses and dogs before but never a bird.) She pretty much lets my kids scritch her wherever.

She let my 4 year old girl put a tiny hand towel around her shoulders like a cape after we misted her today. My daughter insisted she was cold. LOL I was worried it would scare the birdie so I made her go very slow. But Keely just nibbled at the towel and snuggled in.

When she seems like she's done with the attention I make them leave her alone or we put her back in her cage. She is taking little cat naps and I can tell once she's ready for her rest, she has zero attention span for us.

Will we "spoil" her with too much attention? Any newbie mistakes I want to avoid so I don't create a monster?

[Michael]

Don't isolate the Senegal during early development because you're afraid of it liking other people (or by accident). Definitely socialize the parrot to as many different people as possible and ensure that its experience with other people is always a good one. Don't give other people the chance to do something the bird doesn't like and develop a dislike for everyone but you because down the line this can lead to major aggression in Senegals.

Don't clip the wings. Clipping leads to more biting and is unhealthy for the parrot.

Introduce the bird to as many foods, people, object, places as possible early on. Later on it becomes difficult to impossible. Start taking the parrot outside and in the car in a carrier or wearing a harness. Don't let it learn to think that its cage or room is the entire world. Prepare it for decades of life and all the changes it may bring.

And very importantly, while the bird is young let it learn to learn. If you develop clicker training, target training, flight recall, and basic trick training, when it comes time to introduce the bird to a new person, cage, toy, object, location, etc, it will have the tools to learn what you want from it by being familiar with the learning process.

[Cali]

Don't isolate the Senegal during early development because you're afraid of it liking other people (or by accident). Definitely socialize the parrot to as many different people as possible and ensure that its experience with other people is always a good one. Don't give other people the chance to do something the bird doesn't like and develop a dislike for everyone but you because down the line this can lead to major aggression in Senegals.

Don't clip the wings. Clipping leads to more biting and is unhealthy for the parrot.

Introduce the bird to as many foods, people, object, places as possible early on. Later on it becomes difficult to impossible. Start taking the parrot outside and in the car in a carrier or wearing a harness. Don't let it learn to think that its cage or room is the entire world. Prepare it for decades of life and all the changes it may bring.

And very importantly, while the bird is young let it learn to learn. If you develop clicker training, target training, flight recall, and basic trick training, when it comes time to introduce the bird to a new person, cage, toy, object, location, etc, it will have the tools to learn what you want from it by being familiar with the learning process.

Thanks! We are making sure everyone in the family pays her attention and then when the neighbor kids come over they do too. I do want to take her out and about town with me. So fun!

She came with clipped wings. I wouldn't have a clue about having a flighted bird. I'm scared that we would lose her because my kids are small and we always leave the back door open when we are home during the day which is a lot. They are in and out of the house all day long. I'll have to do more reading about having a flighted bird and think about what to do.

[Michael]

Don't leave any doors open, flighted or not. That is the biggest misconception about clipped parrots is that you don't have to treat them like a flighted parrot. Then people lose them. If you search this forum, you'll find someone who had a clipped parrot fly out a back door and down the street. Clipping can reduce their range but it is no replacement for good safety practices.

[Cali]

Wow that's scary! When she is out of her cage she is with us or we are right nearby. So do you put a harness on them when you go outside? She is a baby so I assume it will take a long time before she is trained to come back to me.

[GlassOnion]

Harness train her from when she is young. I personally know of a few people who lost their clipped birds because out of panic and with the right breeze, they can get to incredible distances.

[Cali]

Is there a particular harness you recommend? I will get one right away and train her now while she's young.

[Grey_Moon]

The Aviator Harness is the most recommended one.

It comes in sizes according to weight (with examples of species within the weight range---an x-small for your sennie) and comes with a dvd explaining how to train your bird to wear it. The most important two pieces of advice I can give is firstly DO NOT force the harness on your bird and give it as much time as it needs to adjust to the harness because once trained to it its a lifelong enrichment and secondly in the winter and cooler months keep your parrot adjusted to the harness because often they can sadly 'forget' their harness training and you have to start all over again come spring.

[Cali]

The Aviator Harness is the most recommended one.

It comes in sizes according to weight (with examples of species within the weight range---an x-small for your sennie) and comes with a dvd explaining how to train your bird to wear it. The most important two pieces of advice I can give is firstly DO NOT force the harness on your bird and give it as much time as it needs to adjust to the harness because once trained to it its a lifelong enrichment and secondly in the winter and cooler months keep your parrot adjusted to the harness because often they can sadly 'forget' their harness training and you have to start all over again come spring.

So far not much seems to phase her so I think now will be a good time to do it. We live in So Cal, so winter won't be an issue.