Is it unfair to Kili

[Michael]

Is it unfair to Kili that Truman gets all the attention? Believe me this is by no means intentional... it's just that he's naturally such a pain in the butt. Kili will just fly over and relax on her boing. Meanwhile Truman will fly around like a maniac landing/pooping on every place I don't want him. I have to constantly be doing flight recalls with him or giving him toys to keep him from getting into trouble.

Kili doesn't demand so much attention so sometimes I even forget about her being out cause she is being so good. Part of it is her personality and part of it that she's been tamed/trained to be less annoying over the years. I certainly do reward her from time to time for being good without her having to demand the attention, but it just seems like Truman gets a lot more for being bad.

[zazanomore]

He's still a baby. You're still training him to be as good as Kili.

I think it's kind of like when a family brings in a new baby. The older children may feel neglected, but the truth is, the baby needs that attention.

I think that over time, both birds will be equally well behaved.

Just remember to reward Kili for being good as much as possible so she doesn't start resenting Truman.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

She may or may not mind, but I guess you'd have to look closely at her behavior and health to determine if there is a problem or if she's fine with it. If you think she is missing the attention, and I would guess it occurs to you to worry either because you do have that feeling, or because YOU are missing the interaction -- why not have periods during which only Kili is out and she gets all the attention.

[lzver]

I don't think its completely unfair. Every bird is different. I know that Jessie requires one on one time with me on a daily basis, where Lucy is quite happy with a few head scratches and time out of her cage to do her own thing. Most nights I can have Jessie with my on the couch while Lucy is on her cage or the jungle gym. Now that Kylie is in the bird room it is a little more challenging. When Lucy is out, she is only interested in flying over to her cage so I have to keep a very close eye on her right now.

Like entranced suggested, maybe make an effort for one on one time with Kili on a regular basis. You could watch her body language while interacting with Truman to see how she is reacting. It could be that she's content to hang out and do her own thing.

[Michael]

She may or may not mind, but I guess you'd have to look closely at her behavior and health to determine if there is a problem or if she's fine with it. If you think she is missing the attention, and I would guess it occurs to you to worry either because you do have that feeling, or because YOU are missing the interaction -- why not have periods during which only Kili is out and she gets all the attention.

Well I don't think there are any health or major concerns here. There may have been some displeasure/rivalry early on but Kili understands that Truman is here to stay. They can get along to the point of not fighting when they aren't in each other's way. They are by no means friends but they can play on the same surface ignoring each other.

I don't see Kili suffering for it but I feel somewhat guilty that Truman gets a lot more attention. I'd say compared to before, Kili gets 25% less attention, whereas Truman gets 150% the attention Kili used to get. And none of this is excitement over novelty. It's just that he needs to be constantly busy or he gets really annoying.

I use this high motivation for toys/attention to train Truman, so he's not totally manipulating me. However, if I don't find an excuse to give him a new toy every 5 minutes, he flies somewhere I don't want him. It's not the flying that bothers me, just the difficulty of keeping him in one place.

Meanwhile Kili just sits it out. Kili can easily sit 3 hours straight on her boing playing, preening, and napping without bothering me. I wouldn't be that worried about forgeting her out of the cage. Truman on the other hand is a whole other story.

I'm completely aware of when Kili wants attention. It's pretty easy. She either just flies over to me or says "hello" a lot. I give her all the attention she requests but she has been trained to not request too much. I do intend on working Truman down to being less needy as well but just feel a personal guilt to be working with him so much more than Kili.

I try to get her more involved and put her down to play with toys with Truman. But after a few minutes she just flies back to her boing and chills out over there.

[lzver]

Welcome to the world of owning more than one parrot. There are some days where I just can't satisfy all of their attention requirements and I always feel guilty for it. But it sounds like Kili is handling everything in stride. As Truman gets a bit older and starts to mature a bit, maybe things will even back out again.

[Mona]

Hi Michael:

Kili is just mature. Young parrots are extremely busy. Mature parrots are more settled.

I think a good rule of thumb is to always give the more mature, "first parrot in your home" attention first. This is old advise but from my observations, I think it is good advice. Parrots pay close attention to flock dynamics. The "first bird" probably has an issue in a loss of status if they don't get first attention.

Having said that, I have five. Flock dynamics change all of the time. Some days, the birds prefer no attention...some days they want attention. I think a fun, healthy flock is balanced in the attention department. The birds want human attention but they are also very capable of getting along by themselves. Some days, they prefer "other bird" attention. This is the advantage of having them flighted. They are extremely easy to read as to what they want.

Senegals are not just "person-possessive", they are also "object-possessive". Some days, an object can be much more desirable to them than personal interaction.

Anyway, it's always a work in progress and the answer is just to be sensitive to their body language. The birds will let you know.

Fun topic but gotta go.

Thanks!

Mona