Gift from Heaven...

[SRseries]

Hi guys, my name is Reuben, nice to meet you all and hope to learn a lot here. I'm a new owner of a Senegal Parrot and the way I came to be was absolutely bizarre. This post will be a long one so please bare with me.

One month ago, as I was preparing for work, I walked pass my balcony door and saw a bird sitting on the railing. I thought it was a pigeon and didn't think much of it till I did a double-take and could not believe my eyes. There it was, sitting calmly and prettily at my balcony, a Senegal Parrot. I thought I would try to see if this parrot would respond to me so I covered my right wrist with a face towel(in case it bit me) and offered my hand to it. Within 5 seconds it inched closer towards me and hopped onto my wrist. Don't know how else to describe the moment except that it was an amazing experience. I named it Kiwi. I informed my apartment management and put up notices but no one has come forward.

So here's a few issues I'm facing which brought me here. I don't know how old it is or how well it was taken care off and to what extant it was trained? One thing is for certain, Kiwi is clingy with me. If it is out of it's cage, I can't walk more than 3 metres away before it flies towards me usually landing on my head(unless I put my hand up, then it will perch there). I would then place it on my shoulder and it seems alright for awhile until it starts biting my ears and neck. When I put it back ON the cage and walk away, again the same thing happens and this repeats itself. I thought by showing that if it bites, it doesn't get to be with me but that isn't the case. I also noticed that Kiwi steps up automatically without me saying it and doesn't start nibbling around unless I distract it with my hand.

For its staple, I give it edamame(Japanese green beans) and sunflower seeds. For treats, I rotate between pecan, almond, banana and red apple. I let it out of the cage for about 30-60 mins in the morning before work, then place it at my balcony and another 1 hour plus after work, then its dinner and bed in the room. On weekends its longer but it doesn't get to be out all the time. Since it spends a lot of time in the cage, I make sure to give it a treat every time I put it back as to make its cage experience pleasant. This has been going on for the last 3-4 weeks. So far I have only trained flight recall and its been progressing okay so far.

My issue is this: I wish to let it out more but all it wants to do is be on my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, I love it but trying to ignore the bites is harder than imagined. It will just nibble gently at first but if I don't distract it with my finger, it will gradually nibble harder and harder. I usually distract it by scratching behind and around its eyes, it stops and loves that. However, after a few minutes of that, it then begins to nibble my fingers instead but not very hard. If I stop that, it sits calmly for awhile, then back to my ears and neck. I've resorted to putting a towel around my neck but now it just bite my ears.

I know there are already guides on eliminating biting but I somehow feel it is very difficult for me. Here are a few questions which I hope someone may help answer with regards to my biting issue.
1)Does it matter that I wasn't its original owner and didn't raise it from birth?
2)I think I'm doing an alright job with its cage and food, so could it be because i only spend 2 hours a day with it?
3) Is one month still too early for it to be fully comfortable with me?

Thanks guys in advance and appreciate any advice at all.

Cheers

[owlyssa]

What a crazy story!! It seems like you were meant to meet your new feathered friend.

I don't have any advice to offer, but I just wanted to follow this post as I just purchased a baby Senegal and am interested in seeing how I can curb biting before it gets to be a problem. My Sennie is very nibble-friendly, but I want to attribute this to them being young and inquisitive. Still, it pays to be prepared!

[SRseries]

Hey there congratulations on your purchase. These Sennie's are so adorable.

My Kiwi is just of a different breed. Since day one, I just need to open the cage and it comes out on its own and wants to be on my shoulders. I'm having issues because I really don't know where to start given that this parrot seems to know me from another life I wasn't aware about.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum, Reuben and Kiwi! And, thank you for taking him in but I do wish you had put more of an effort in finding his previous owner because there is a heartbroken bird mommy or daddy somewhere near you...

Now as to your questions:

1)Does it matter that I wasn't its original owner and didn't raise it from birth?

No, it doesn't matter at all. I don't have a single bird that I raised from a baby and they all trust and love me.

2)I think I'm doing an alright job with its cage and food, so could it be because i only spend 2 hours a day with it?

I don't know what size cage you got for him but the recommend size is 5 times the height of the bird for the height, and 3 times its wingspan for the width - as to the depth, I don't consider anything less that 24 inches suitable for any bird.
The food, I am afraid, is not good at all. You mention soy (edamame are not Japanese green beans, they are soy pods with immature beans in them) and sunflowers as staple with nuts and fruits as treats so we are talking very high protein and not anywhere near enough produce. I don't feed soy to any of my animals (I don't trust it -it has side effects that I don't like- and it's a known allergen). Sunflower seeds are OK as long as they are only the grey striped kind but they are more suitable as rewards and a small part of their dinner. And, although red apples (they do need to be organic, all apples have been on the 'dirtiest list' since I can remember) and banana are good for them, they are not enough by themselves because parrots need to eat a large variety of produce all the time. I have two Senegals, one male (he must be around 20 by now) and one female (9 or 10 years old) and I feed them the same thing I feed all my parrots: gloop and raw produce for breakfast and all day picking and a measured amount of a good quality seed/nut mix for dinner. If you look in our diet section, you will find all kinds of useful information there.

Two hours a day is not really enough for any parrot, my dear. They are highly social animals and, for them, to spend hours and hours and hours on their own is sheer torture so, yes, he (do you know for a fact it's a he and not a she?) is, most likely, nipping you (bites break the skin and make you bleed, nips can be real hard and make a bruise but they don't break your skin so I think that he nips you and not really bite you) out of sheer despondency. Parrots, on average (different species have different needs as do individuals), need 4 hours of out of cage time and 2 hours of solid one-on-one with their human. They also need to be kept at a strict solar light schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk or they will produce sexual hormones all year round and become overly hormonal which often translates into screaming, aggression and, sometimes, feather destruction behavior. Senegals, for all their small size, can be VERY aggressive when not 100% happy. The most aggressive bird I've ever had is the male Senegal I mentioned above (he is no longer aggressive) and this is saying a lot because I had a rescue and I specialized in aggressive birds so we are talking amazons, cockatoos, ekkies and even a pair of macaws.

3) Is one month still too early for it to be fully comfortable with me?

Yes, most definitely. A month is nothing to a parrot. It takes them a loooooong time to feel 100% comfortable in their new home. Parrots are not explorers, they always stay in the same area they were born and surrounded by their immediate and extended family so, to them, the familiar is what is safe and good and strange places and people are not really 'safe' until they are completely sure this is the case so change is not easy for them.

As to his habit of flying to your shoulder... well, that's what parrots do, my dear. Unless they cannot fly (which is not good for them physically or emotionally) or have a beloved mate, parrots will always want to be on their human. Some species are a bit more independent than others but Senegals get very attached to their humans (they are known for been one person birds) and often look for the reassurance that another warm body brings to them. My senegals are not as clingy as that but I've had them for years (so they feel very comfortable and secure), they come out with the redbelly so all three of them fly here and there together and still they would come and ride my shoulder (or my head) very often.