Hello from Malta

[brfussne]

Percy is adorable!! Your Sennie looks very "bright eyed & bushy tailed!" haha Almost has a mischievous look to it!

[liz]

We never really know what their little bird brains are thinking until they learn enough words to tell us. Just keep in mind that they, like every other being, can have a head ach, belly ach or a muscle hurting.

When one of them gets cranky I give them the benefit of the doubt.

[chrisp]

Thanks for your comments.

Till now he has been very good natured. You can see the famous Senegal stubbornness in him sometimes Removing his food a while before starting training has been working wonders for me.

I have also started target training him in the last couple of days. At first he would touch the target out of curiosity. Now he is quite eager to touch the target because he knows that it is followed by a click and a treat.

At the moment I am having him target the stick in front of him, on top of him and behind him and he is doing very well. He hasn't got the confidence to move to a different area of the cage to touch the target yet. But you can tell that he wants to. So I am sure we'll get there eventually!

Also, I regularly touch his beak lightly with my index finger and he seems to be accepting it now, even if I don't treat him afterwards. So all in all, Percy is a very good (if sometimes feisty) student!

Chris

[chrisp]

Hi all. Took some fresh pictures of Percy this morning. Thought I'd share







Also, this morning was a weird one and I would ask you guys' opinion. When I got up this morning Percy was screaming constantly, which never happened before. I tried moving his cage to a different spot thinking it was due to my mum's cooking but he kept on calling. After I showered for work, I went to feed him some treats but he didn't want to eat. He had probably already had his fill of seeds which I left in the cage but usually he is always in the mood for treats. I tried to do some target training with him but he wasn't interested. Then I noticed that the floor had been washed and I thought maybe he didn't like the smell of the cleaning product. So I took him up to my room and he calmed down but still didn't want to eat any treats or target train. I tried to touch him and he let me, which worried me even more. He let me rub his chest and scratch his neck and behind his head. Usually he only lets me touch his beak and very occasionally his legs. He doesn't step-up yet. I was worried he was feeling sick or something since he let me touch him so much. He was way mellower than usual. Then I decided to try some veggies and I got some corn and broccoli from the fridge. And he accepted the corn. So I hung a piece of corn cob and a piece of broccoli in his cage and he started eating a bit of it. Funnily enough, after he started eating he didn't want me to touch him anymore. He seemed to be back to his usual self.

I am hoping that he was just a bit moody this morning. Or maybe he wasn't hungry and just wanted some company and someone to play with. What do you guys think? Is it normal for a parrot to wake up with a little bit of the blues occasionally?

Thanks,
Chris

[brfussne]

Is Percy on a seed diet?? Seed diets are very lousy diets for parrots and do not provide hardly any if at all nutrients that they need. If Percy is on a seed diet I recommend you switch him over to a pellet diet. Tops (totally organic pellets) are what i'm trying to switch my Black Headed Caique over to, I've also heard Harrison's and RoudyBush are good as well.

As for the cleaning products, many are harmful to parrots, especially the fumes. Be sure to keep Percy away from any cleaning products or fumes such as scented candles, burnt food, teflon cookware fumes, and cleaning supply fumes such as bleach.

My Caique can be moody as well. One minute she wants to step up and the next she doesnt. It depends on how shes feeling or if shes mad at me. The longer you have Percy, the better at reading him and his feelings you'll get. I just brought my Caique home on Tuesday so i'm learning as well.

[chrisp]

Hi brfussne. Thanks for the reply.

Percy is on a mixed diet at the moment. I give him seeds, and fresh vegetables daily. And I give him nuts and fresh fruit as treats, also daily.

Yesterday evening when I got home from work he was his usual self and I was relieved

Also, this morning he was a bit loud again. Not nearly as loud as yesterday. Although I am quite sure the cleaning product bothered him yesterday, I think in the mornings he is waking up in the mood for company and play. He seems excited. He comes to the front of the cage and looks at you, inviting an interaction.

I am trying to give him toys to play with in his cage to keep him entertained. He doesn't seem to like off the shelf toys. Maybe it's the bright colors. What I have been doing for him is tying a length of rope and attaching pieces of wood and pieces of paper at intervals (he loved shredding paper), and he LOVES it. He completely destroys one daily

A big hello to your Caique

Chris

[brfussne]

Hi brfussne. Thanks for the reply.

Percy is on a mixed diet at the moment. I give him seeds, and fresh vegetables daily. And I give him nuts and fresh fruit as treats, also daily.

Yesterday evening when I got home from work he was his usual self and I was relieved

Also, this morning he was a bit loud again. Not nearly as loud as yesterday. Although I am quite sure the cleaning product bothered him yesterday, I think in the mornings he is waking up in the mood for company and play. He seems excited. He comes to the front of the cage and looks at you, inviting an interaction.

I am trying to give him toys to play with in his cage to keep him entertained. He doesn't seem to like off the shelf toys. Maybe it's the bright colors. What I have been doing for him is tying a length of rope and attaching pieces of wood and pieces of paper at intervals (he loved shredding paper), and he LOVES it. He completely destroys one daily

A big hello to your Caique

Chris

Some parrots do not know how to play, you may have to show Percy how to play! I'm teaching my Caique. At the parrot store I got her from she stood on a "T" stand all day with no toys and in her cage she only had one toy which I never saw her play with. She now has at least 7 toys in her cage right now. Have you tried to show Percy how to forage for treats and food? You can take a plain brown lunch paper bag and put a nut or some seed in it and fold the top over. Then open the top and take the nut out and show it to Percy. Then slowly put the nut back in and give the bag to Percy. He'll learn he has to get the bag open and crawl inside to get the nut. My Caique just learned that the other day. She now crawls in the paper bag to get her nut!

[chrisp]

That sounds like fun. I like the foraging toy idea. I'd have to hang it for him because he likes to stay on the higher perch when he is in the cage. he only goes down to the middle one for food and water. And never goes to the floor of the cage. I guess he feels more secure being up high.

In the past couple of days I have been trying to get him accustomed to staying outside the cage. So I let him out at least once a day. When he first gets out it's like he wants to make a break for it, and he flys all over the room Then I just let him calm down. The I slowly try and interact with him. trying not to scare him off. He does accept treats when he is outside but doesn't eat them. I guess he is too excited. When I need to put him back in the cage, I bring the cage next to him, show him the food, and usually he goes inside on his own.

Next weekend I'll go to the pet-shop and check out the pellets as you suggested. Unfortunately we're a small island here and shops don't stock that much variety of products. I have seen some, but they seemed to be targeted at specific breeds, say African Greys, Cockatiels or Budgies (the more popular breeds). Didn't see anything for Senegal Parrots specifically. Does it make that much of a difference? Would pellets designed for a parrot of similar size and food requirements be suitable?

Thanks!

Chris

[brfussne]

That sounds like fun. I like the foraging toy idea. I'd have to hang it for him because he likes to stay on the higher perch when he is in the cage. he only goes down to the middle one for food and water. And never goes to the floor of the cage. I guess he feels more secure being up high.

In the past couple of days I have been trying to get him accustomed to staying outside the cage. So I let him out at least once a day. When he first gets out it's like he wants to make a break for it, and he flys all over the room Then I just let him calm down. The I slowly try and interact with him. trying not to scare him off. He does accept treats when he is outside but doesn't eat them. I guess he is too excited. When I need to put him back in the cage, I bring the cage next to him, show him the food, and usually he goes inside on his own.

Next weekend I'll go to the pet-shop and check out the pellets as you suggested. Unfortunately we're a small island here and shops don't stock that much variety of products. I have seen some, but they seemed to be targeted at specific breeds, say African Greys, Cockatiels or Budgies (the more popular breeds). Didn't see anything for Senegal Parrots specifically. Does it make that much of a difference? Would pellets designed for a parrot of similar size and food requirements be suitable?

Thanks!

Chris

Percy may not be taking treats outside of his cage because he may still be getting use to his new home. As far as pellets goes, there isn't any specific pellets for specific parrots, but I do think that the pellets come in different sizes. Make sure you buy a smaller pellet for your Senegal. If you can't buy any pellets from your parrot/pet store look into buying them online. www.mysafebirdstore.com is a good parrot website to buy parrot safe products from. If you type in first in the checkout box, you get 10% off your order.

[brfussne]

This is a good website a user named GlassOnion posts about frequently for foraging. Check here for foraging ideas for Percy. http://foragingforparrots.com/