New to the Parrot ownership world!

[Jesscat]

If I am not aloud to put my email please tell me and I will remove it. I just want the best life for Joe. I am really scared rite now that I am doing a lot of things wrong. She is really good with communicating with us though so we know what she kinda needs. For example I had put her perches lower and she screamed a little that she did not want that. She also is upset we clipped her wings. I am the one that took her. She has acted her normal sweet self to my boyfriend but is kinda acting different with me. Not aggressive but not as sweet. Everyday though she is acting more the same then before I took her to get her wings clipped. I would love to get a answer to whether she is a juvenile though because her grey is super light. It could be from her being pied though. Even if I could give some one the pics of her and they could post them. Would be great.

[Jesscat]

Ok got it! You can view pictures here:



http://joethesenegal.blogspot.com/

[seagoatdeb]

Thnks for the pics, that looks like a pied Senegal all right. From all the info I researched on Pied Senegals it seems to be a recessive gene. There are theories about how it got there, and one of the theories it because sometimes Meyers can breed with Senegals, when they are located in Africa close to the same territory and more closely related to each other. The yellow spotting may have originated from one of those pairs, but however it got there, two normally coloured Senegals can produce a pied.

Here is a you tube link to one of the breeders who has had a Meyers and Sengal breed together. One of the parrots is a Meyers and one is the Senegal/Meyers hybrid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE0l0-NE3wI

[Jesscat]

Oh thank you so much for sharing! That's amazing the colors are very similar! That is so amazing. I am more confident now that Joe is a Senegal. I haven't seen to many pied even in pictures. I am also very new to parrots. The male Senegal and Joe look very similar.

[seagoatdeb]

Oh thank you so much for sharing! That's amazing the colors are very similar! That is so amazing. I am more confident now that Joe is a Senegal. I haven't seen to many pied even in pictures. I am also very new to parrots. The male Senegal and Joe look very similar.

You are very welcome. In the link I provided above there is a Meyers, and a Senegal/Meyers cross. Please keep us updated with pics of Joe, she is a cutie!

Here is another link of another Meyers/Senegal Hybrid, having a bath, I thought you might be interested in looking at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1dLUzbZLC0

Senegals can sometimes pop out as Lutinos/ (parrots mostly yellow)
https://www.facebook.com/HawaiianParrot ... 8867294737

[Pajarita]

I can't see the chest on the picture you provided so I can't tell you if you have a male or a female. You could tell either by looking at the chest (long green V -almost all the way to the vent- means female, short green V means male) or by looking at the tail undercoverts (shorter feathers that reach 3/4 of the way of the long tail feathers), if they are yellow, it's a male but, if they are green, it's a female. It's easy to tell the gender with senegals because they are sexually dimorphic (meaning the males look different from the females) so, obviously, the 'trainer' you got it from is not very knowledgeable about birds. I think this 'trainer' (did the person actually called him/herself a 'trainer'?) telling you the bird was pied and only one year old was trying to make the bird more attractive to you. In any case, going by the shape the plumage is in (namely, with 'holes' where you can see the down, a clear sign of plucking), I still believe that it's not a pied gene but plucking (DNA would not show a pied gene). My male Senegal was a perfectly normal wild phenotype (it means the way they look in the wild, without any color mutation) and beautifully plumaged bird until he started plucking out of sadness from losing his second mate in just two years and, when the plucked feathers started coming back, they were all yellow, even the grey ones on his head that had been plucked by his second mate (she did that to all the birds she preened). I have seen a couple of mentions of pied senegals and I have also seen pictures of them but I have never, ever seen a single picture of a pied baby Senegal, only adults. I have seen lutino babies but not pied - and that's what makes me believe that, although I am sure that there could be a pied mutation, in most cases, it's more a matter of how the feathers grow back after plucking than a genetic mutation. But who cares? I think they are all beautiful! The only thing that determining whether it is a true pied or an ex-plucker is that it would gives a more clear indication of age - and that is also not important because adult and even old birds bond as deeply as a baby would. As a matter of fact, you are 1000 times better off with an adult than with a baby or a juvenile because parrots usually change their allegiance once they reach puberty (before puberty, they regard their human as a parent but, when they become sexually mature, they no longer want the parent but a mate) so, if it's already an adult, it is, as Forest Gump said, one less thing to worry about

It is not recommended that you put your personal email on a posting. It's not forbidden but one never knows who might be lurking out there... If you want, you can always use the PM function to reach a specific individual but, personally, I prefer people asking their questions on the public forum because lots of people feel uncomfortable posting and simply look for a previous response to a similar problem they might have. Plus, when you post it in the public forum, you get more than just one answer and that gives you a better perspective.

Now, don't worry about Joe/Jolene resenting you for been the one that took her to get her wings clipped. Parrots are very forgiving of their chosen human so, unless she doesn't choose you (which is entirely possible as we have no control over who they like and who they don't), you should not have a problem. It is possible that she decides she likes your boyfriend better (I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt she will choose one of the kids -senegals don't have the patience this requires) but, even if she does, with patience and work, you can get her to like you and accept you as a flock member which is, pretty much, the way she will regard everybody else in the household except HER human. Zoey, my female Senegal, was given up by her previous owner because of her aggression toward his wife. They tried everything, only the wife feeding her, clipping her wings, etc but nothing worked so the wife gave him an ultimatum and actually put her up for grabs in FB. I had known this bird and the owner for years through birdsites so I flew to California to pick her up and she became my little sweetheart. I can do anything with this bird... I think I could cut off her leg without anesthesia and she would still forgive me (she is perched on my right shoulder, preening/kissing my cheek, while I type this). But it took years for her to stop attacking my husband with the consequence that he is terrified of her and either keeps to his study when she is out or walks around wearing a hoodie So, please, please, please be VERY careful with the kids! Senegals are not known for been family pets (very, very few parrots actually are) and have real bad bites. They don't usually go for the warning nip like other parrots do, they actually bite a chunk off your flesh and are like little pitbulls, not letting go even with the blood gushing out...

The most important thing is to keep them from becoming overly hormonal or feeling that the humans are not listening to them. Parrots know what they want and are not like dogs, they are not hardwired for obedience or even subservience so outmost respect for their wishes is absolutely essential for a good relationship.

[Jesscat]

Well I do love this forum. I have already collected so much advice! The trainer is what I called him. He is a breeder. He breeds parrotlet's. He said he had rescued Joe. He said Joes feathers were in really bad shape so was her Beak. I really don't mind how she's pied or it very well could be from plucking. She is so beautiful either way.
I just want to make her as comfortable and happy as I can.
I tried to post a couple pictures on the blog. I think only one of them worked. When I post more I will let everyone here know. I am trying to figure out how to post them on the forum. I read the how to in one section. I have taken IT classes but I am still not that great with technology lol.

I am embarrassed to say I am afraid of her. For the most part she is super sweet to me. I did read a post on here about the big 60 year old Amazon parrot that the guy was afraid of picking up! I can't imagine, his story was truly touching. She has charged me a little. Mainly when she first got here. I have felt nibbles and a couple hard bites. The hard bites were always on a towel or something. I am really go to work on just picking her up. My boyfriend does it and she gives him little bites but goes rite up. I have watched a million videos on YouTube just trying to compare reactions with other birds.

[Pajarita]

Well, for one thing, I would not wrap my hand in a towel to stick it into her cage. Parrots hate gloves, towels or anything that looks as if it's not supposed to be there. Also, it's not really recommended that you put your hand in their cages unless the bird is deeply bonded to you (I can do it with most of mine and I have even taught the wild caught amazons to allow me to do it without rushing to attack me but I only do it when it's absolutely necessary). The best thing to do is to just open the cage door and walk away. I have birds that live in cages in human areas (living room and dining room) as well as some that live cage-free in their own room with 'empty' cages but there are perches on the outside of all the cages and, the ones that live in the human areas even have branches tied to the side of the cages going up so they can climb them (they love heights, makes them feel secure). Now, yours was flighted and now clipped which presents a danger to her as she could try to fly only to fall to the ground hard (which could mean a broken toe, foot, leg and even the keel bone) so I would not put a branch that could be a bit unstable and so high that she could hurt herself if she fell but I would put a perch on the outside of the cage. Parrots react much more favorably to somebody asking them to step up when they are outside the cage than when they are inside -to the point that the same parrot that would bite your hand when you ask them to step up from inside the cage would gladly do it when perched on top of the same cage.

Now, your best tool for bonding and training her is a good diet and schedule because if you free-feed (you fill up a bowl in the morning and leave it there all day and every day) protein food (pellets, seeds, nuts, nutriberries, avicakes, treats, etc) she will not be eager for it - and food reward is the ONLY way to get them to do anything for you when you are not the 'chosen' one. The ideal is to get them to do something just because they love and want verbal praise and a head scratch but this doesn't happen at the beginning or with everybody so feeding her something like gloop and produce for breakfast and all day picking and only protein food for dinner is not only healthier to them in the long run, it will also help A LOT with the bonding and training. The thing with parrots is that they don't live in a hierarchical society where there is an individual or a pair that 'leads' the rest of the group so nature did not program obedience or subservience into their brains. They did program intense love and deep bonding but that only works after the bird gets to first trust you completely and then love you to pieces - and it doesn't work for every single member of the family group. So, the 'way to a man's heart is through his stomach' is perfectly applied to parrots. Parrots LOVE protein so if you restrict protein intake to just dinner and identify what we call 'high value' food items (meaning their very favorite things to eat), you will be able to offer it as a token of friendship and love and as a reward for training. In order to identify this high value item, what you have to do is give the bird a selection of things (it's usually a seed or a nut) like an almond, half a walnut, a pistachio, a madacamia nut, like that and watch which one she picks up first and second on three out of four tries (you have to do it more than once to be certain because as they all love these things, they sometimes go for whatever is closer to them in their eagerness). These identified items should be reserved for rewards or just love tokens.

So, start by establishing a steady routine (uncovering the cage at dawn, giving her breakfast 1/2 to an hour after dawn and sharing it with her, turning on the artificial overhead light once sunshine is coming in through the window, etc) and include your one-on-one time within this schedule (I suggest you do it after breakfast and before the noon rest) where you spend time with her. This 'time with her' doesn't necessarily have to be with her on you if you are still afraid of her, you can do chores, play video games, watch TV, etc. as long as these activities happen in the same room where she is kept and you pay attention to her by talking (you can sing, you can dance, etc) and offering a high value item as a treat every now and then. And then come back and tell us what you observed in her behavior and we will take it from there.

[seagoatdeb]

The parrot has yellow spots on the head, and i dont see how a parrot could pluck the top of the head. i believe the yellow spots are part of being a pied that popped out of a Senegal pairing, or a Senegal/Meyers cross and those may not be sexually dimorphic at all, because they dont have the standard Senegal colouring.

Jesscat, what i have done when i have a new parrot, is to tell myself that i will likely take a few bites and they will not cause me any serious damage, that helps me to not feel fear, which the parrot can sense. Just go slow, and reward good behavior with a treat or praise . It takes time for the parrot to learn your behavior and for you to learn the parrots behavior. Its all about the relationship you have with each other.

[Jesscat]

I have never picked her up from inside the cage. Sorry if I have been a bit confusing. I usually try and pick her up on top of the cage with a towel on my hand. I will try tomorrow after breakfast to just have her step up. Anywhere besides on top of her cage, (also in the cage) that she goes she will step rite up on my finger. From the floor, and the door of her cage. I do leave the door open for her to come out on her own and she does. She will go in her cage herself either for a meal or just a break.

She lands very well for getting her wings clipped. When I got her her wings were clipped, she could fly all over the house. I took her to get them clipped again because the guy I got her from said they could be again. I agree with not clipping them especially after reading others input. It was only the first day she had fallen off her perch inside her cage. We are going to make a perch for her for outside the cage. Until then when it's just me and her I put her on the top of a chair. She doesn't want to be there but gets comfy after a while. She was flying rite back to her cage before she got clipped.

I have been reading very careful what to feed her. She loves cooked broccoli and every time I cook a yam she gets ecstatic.

I POSTED MORE PHOTOs

http://joethesenegal.blogspot.com