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HELP ME WITH MY SENEGAL PARROT PLEASE

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HELP ME WITH MY SENEGAL PARROT PLEASE

Postby Joris » Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:20 pm

Hi everyone, i have a senegal parrot who is ~4 years old, but we are not the first owners, the owner before us didnt take good care of 'Doortje' and eventually decided to dump her in an asylum. She had barely any feathers, after a few months they had grown back (not fully btw). When we adopted her she only sat in the back of the cage. She is more active now and she even sleeps in the front of the cage and i can give her treats from my hand (she does hesitate) and i've worked with the clikker wich leaded to the result that she now knows that when she touches the stick, she'll get a treat. But, my parents want her to be FULLY tame otherwise she'll go away. But where do i begin? How can i let her sit on my shoulder knowing she'll not bite me? How can i pet her? Do i just have to be more patient? These questions would i like to get awnsered. Thanks for reading! :senegal:
Joris
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: HELP ME WITH MY SENEGAL PARROT PLEASE

Postby Charlie *^* » Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:29 pm

Well I only have a sun conure and he was shoulder trained at first but was not finger trained so. This is how I got him finger trained! So whenever they get scared you quickly get them on your shoulder then give them a treat and make them feel comfortable around you! after a few weeks or so you should have a trained bird! (mind that I have a sun conure and he was already shoulder trained)
Zeph and Charlie :sun:
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Charlie *^*
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 22
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Sun conure
Flight: Yes

Re: HELP ME WITH MY SENEGAL PARROT PLEASE

Postby Pajarita » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:04 am

Welcome to the forum! Ok. let's see... target training is a very good tool but one that should be used AFTER the bird learns to trust you, at the very least -better still if the bird already loves you. So, what you need to do is to earn her trust -and this will, in turn, develop into love.

One of the most important things about keeping a bird from aggression is to make sure that the bird is not in physical discomfort or pain from having overgrown sexual organs -and this is essential when it comes to senegals because they tend to become VERY bitey when they are not comfortable. Ergo, the very first thing you need to do is to put her at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk because, if you keep her to a human light schedule, she will be overly hormonal and react with bites. Second is to feed her right. I feed mine [I have a male and a female and had two other females in the past -all of them given up because of aggression or screaming] gloop with raw produce in the morning and a measured portion of a good quality seed mix for dinner [they get one heaping tablespoon each of a cockatiel mix with two different nuts -like an almond and a quarter of a walnut or half a macadamia and a pistachio]. The other thing is to allow them hours out of cage and flight [senegals are excellent fliers which seem to take a lot of pleasure in zooming from one spot to another]. A bird that is not overly hormonal, is getting a good, nutritious fresh food diet, is allowed to fly and is kept to strict daily routines is a bird that will not feel the need to attack.

So, the first thing I would recommend you do is to sit down and think about all the things that you might need to change about her care and make a daily schedule of activities for her. This time of the year [winter], my birds get their cages uncovered and open at 6:20 or 6:30 am. They get their raw produce about an hour after this and their gloop about half an hour after their produce [this is done on purpose so they eat the raw produce first because, if I put the gloop and the produce together, they would go straight for the gloop] and I put them back in their cages to eat their breakfast for about 1/2 hour - then I open the cages again and they all come out until 1:30 pm. At 3:00 or 3:15 pm, I turn off the artificial lights and, at 3:45 pm, they get their dinner.

Now, she might not go back to her cage for her breakfast the first or second day but she will definitely go in for her dinner because all birds love seeds and nuts. Does she step up to a stick? Because it would be better if she did [easier for you because you can move her from one point to another without fear of getting bit]. During the time that she is out of her cage, talk/sing/whistle to her using her name and lots of praise and, every now and then, offer her a treat but don't put any kind of conditions [as in the target training when she has to touch the target] on it, this should be a gift, a token of friendship... something to make her like you and not a reward for doing anything. Parrots are HIGHLY intelligent and figure out very soon when something is given with a condition attached to it or just as a gift.

But, the MOST important thing when getting parrots to like us is to be VERY VERY patient. Nothing takes days, weeks or even months with them, everything takes years so if your parents are expecting a quick change, I am telling you right now that they will be disappointed because it won't happen and that they need to do more research about parrots so their expectations are realistic. My male senegal hated all humanity, in general, and me in particular because he had been kept in a cage for many years and, as soon as he saw my female, he fell in love with her so he resented the fact that she loved me. He attacked me relentessly several times a day, every day for 3.5 years and it took another 1.5 years for him to actually become my friend so, please, explain to your parents that she will not be able to change as fast as they want her to. Birds that have been abused or severely neglected are like children that have gone through the same thing - they WANT to change, they WANT to have somebody to love and who will love them back but it's hard for them to learn to trust again after they have been betrayed so they need a lot of patience and a lot of reassurances.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
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