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parrot gone quiet

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parrot gone quiet

Postby smithy » Sun Nov 25, 2012 3:31 pm

My senegal has been very quiet this weekend not talking or being his naughty self.I bought him some nut berries and wonder if I have upset his stomach.This evening he is much better he is eating and drinking and seems a lot brighter.His droppings are normal.If he is not back to his normal self I am talking him to the vets in the morning.Any one else experienced any thing like this?
smithy
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Michael » Sun Nov 25, 2012 11:57 pm

I wish! :cape: :lol:
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Michael
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby charlieandkiwi » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:37 am

My birds have done this when they're slightly injured or when it gets especially dark outside.
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby smithy » Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:48 am

Thankyou for your replies.I so relieved this morning he is back to his naughty self.........
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby pennyandrocky » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:30 am

mya :corella: did this to me once. i was afraid she was sick so i asked the rescue what could be wrong with her she told me sometimes they just need a break and to enjoy it while it lasts :D
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Daki_Senegal » Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:29 am

Hello bird lovers,

My senegl Parrot hasn't been in a good mood the past few days. He won't eat all his pellet, he only wants to eat his fruits and veggies. He has started acting a little bit aggressive when approaching his cage and he is quiet most of the day. He also makes a weird head move "up-down-up-down" but our vet told us that this is either his matting dance or he is eating non digested food. Turns out it's the second cause I saw him doing so. He is about 9 months old( we adopted him). Do you think we should visit another vet or is it possible that he is stressed due to our new bird? Our baby cockatiel is 2 months old and he is crying a lot.. He's been with us only 2 weeks now. I'm trying my best to keep Daki :senegal: happy, I offer him many bird toys, he's got a huge cage and we are trying to train him to do the basics (step up, go to cage, come ) but the last days he is not in a mood for any of these... I could really use some help.. Thank you :greycockatiel: :senegal: :roll: :?
Daki_Senegal
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Pajarita » Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:19 am

Hi, Daki and human. At only 9 months of age, he couldn't possibly have breeding behaviors so the reason for his head bob must be another. Why do you say that you saw him eating undigested food? What, exactly did you see? Because birds don't ruminate (animals that eat roughage do -like cows, for example) but not parrots. When a parrot eats, the food goes first into the crop (which is kind of an open pouch -an enlargement of the esophagus- where food is stored prior digestion), then it goes into the proventriculus (which is like the first stomach), from there into the ventriculus (aka the gizzard and second stomach) and finally into the intestines. So, yes, the food in the crop is, indeed, undigested but that is the way it's supposed to be. When they bring up food is either regurgitation or vomit, one is a breeding behavior (it's a 'controlled' action, they do it themselves and there is no real mess because they either feed another bird with what they bring up or they deposit it somewhere -like a toy, for example) and the other is a symptom of disease (it's uncontrolled and super messy because it comes out but projectile vomiting) but, like I said before, they don't regurgitate at 9 months of age because that's too young (they are not sexually mature at that age) and, in truth, they are not supposed to do this unless they are super hormonal, have a mate or are feeding babies. So something else is going on... On the other hand, it could simply be a call for attention or that the bird is hungry (birds that were not weaned or cared for properly when they are babies retain this baby behavior for life). Did you wean this bird yourself or did you adopt it recently? If so, how long have you had it?

You also say that it has been biting lately and that is also a sign that the bird wants more attention. Senegals bond very deeply with their humans and require many, many hours of one-on-one - which, to them, it mostly means they ride your shoulder. My senegals don't play with toys - and when I say they don't play with toys I mean never, ever... at least mine don't. All they want to do is be either next to you or on you (like, you are on a computer or watching TV and they are either on your shoulder or your lap or standing on the table next to your hand). My female senegal is always on my shoulder -well, not always-always, she also flies off and comes back several times during the day. My male senegal likes to perch on my lap when I am at the computer or hanging on to my clothes when I walk around the house. Senegals are not patient birds - they don't put up with lack of attention well and, when they are not happy, they make a point of letting you know.

Now, it's actually VERY good that it's eating lots of produce. I do not recommend pellets for parrots because I've been doing research for many years on their natural diets and there isn't a single species of parrot that eats dry food, their natural diets are always wet food (around 80% moisture). I actually have many reasons why I consider pellets not good for parrots and I can elaborate on them, if you wish. My senegals eat gloop and raw produce for breakfast and mostly nuts with a little bit of seed for dinner (they also get supplemented with multivitamin/mineral two or three times a week). But I am concerned about the baby tiel calling all the time because the one and only reason why this happens is that they are hungry or very lonely so, please, re-evaluate the baby's diet because, at two months of age, this is a VERY young baby and it's not really weaned (it should have two types of fresh, warm soft food served twice a day as well as leafy greens and cooked veggies as well as a good quality seed mix until it's, at least, 6 months old).
Pajarita
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Daki_Senegal » Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:26 am

Thank you so much Pajarita for spending your time giving me useful information! I will answer your questions.
First of all , abouts his weird head movements , I did indeed see undigested food (it was not vomit) for he brought back a piece of fruit I gave him the day before, grabed it with his foot and started eating it again. We have been having him for almost two months. His previous owner told us he got him from a pet shop and fed him on hand for about a month but I do not really trust his words because sadly I found out that he has many pets in his home but apparently he is not taking good care of them for he always tries to find new owners for them , especially for parrots. Nevertheless, I do believe that Daki is less than a year old because his eyes have a light yellow circle around his pupil instead of an orange that adults have.
At first he was only stuck with my bf and he seems to prefer males insted of females (I have read that this is normal). The problem is that my bf is not always around so I am the one taking care of him. Whenever he is out of his cage he wants to hang out on his perch, or at the table playing with his toys but not around me. He acts as if I am his food provider and nothing more :lol: . he enjoys petting him but mostly when he is inside his cage. Again he spends time with his toys. He only stands on my head when I am at the kitchen probably because he knows that there is food in there but if I do not give him any he starts bitting me.
After a lot of research we decided that we should provide him with a pellet balanced diet but since you owe a same bird and know so much, I would love to hear more about your suggested food diet. Daki has 2 tb o pellet every day along with 1,5tb of fresh fruit and veggies. I make sure that he tastes different things every day so that he doesn't get bored and gets all his vitamins.
I keep him out of the cage more than an hour and try to make that time of good quality. I hang around the room where the cages are and play music for them whenever I am not around. I do not know what else to do. We have been searching the web over parrot information and good human practice for these pets for almost a year before we got ours. I am keeping up all the advice but it is harder than I thought especially with the training. Maybe there are many distractios for him in the room , maybe he is always full and not in a mood for learning, I do not know waht to say. There is potential in him but maybe he is lazy or scared.. I do not mean to push him and I am waiting for him to feel ready for training.

Now as far as our cockatiel Ozy in concerned, we got him from a breeder by the time he stoped consuming something he called "cream". He feeds the babies on hand and has been doing this work for ages. Ozy eats seeds and pellet but doesn't seem to care about fruits and veggies. I tried to feed them all types of food Daki has but he won't have it. He has learnt the recall comand, goes to his perch and enters his cage willingly. I believe he is gettig better every day since I caught him today trying to sing along with Daki ( the sounds he made were different from his crying or complaining ones) and he is getting quiter. If you have any more advices about convincing him to eat everything that is necessary I am all ears.
Once again thank you for you time and advice.
Best regards,
Evi :thumbsup:
Daki_Senegal
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Pajarita » Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:52 am

Hi, Evi! Thanks for the reply with more details. Now, eye color was thought to be an indication of age but we now know that not all senegals get darker eyes (some say this is due to lack of direct sunlight but, in reality, nobody knows) and some are born with darker eyes. My own have light yellow irises and Sweetpea is now 24 or 25 and Zoey is 14 so your Daki could, very well, be older than you think - in which case, he could be overly hormonal so let's go to the light schedule and diet (two things that trigger sexual hormone release out of season - there are three environmental triggers: light, diet and weather but weather disappears in captivity because it's always good in a human home).

All birds are photoperiodic -long word that means that their endocrine system is governed by amount and quality of light- so they all have to be kept at a strict solar schedule so as to keep their endocrine system working well and in tune with the seasons (this is what we call the circannual cycle). If you keep a bird at a human light schedule, their endocrine system gets all confused and can't tell which season of the year it is (molting? breeding? resting?), it also affects their eating and sleeping patterns (circadian cycle) and depresses their immune system (research avian photoperiodism, avian endocrine system and avian reproductive system). Male senegals that are overly hormonal tend to be aggressive (all animals react the same way to high doses of testosterone) and I well know how hard a male senegal can bite (Sweetpea is the only bird I've had -and I had an average of 240 in the rescue- that I've been afraid of).

Then diet, a diet high in protein brings them into breeding condition. Why? Because high protein is only available during breeding season (which is one of the reasons why they evolved to breed at a certain time during the year as they need the rich food to raise babies). Pellets usually have a minimum of 17% protein (no pellet gives you the exact amount of protein you are feeding -another problem with them) and that is not that very high for senegals (African parrots need a bit more protein than American parrots) but if what he eats from morning to night is mostly pellets, it would have an effect.

Last but not least, one hour a day out-of-cage is not anywhere near enough for them. They need a minimum of 4 hours of out-of-cage and, with senegals, that usually means the same 4 hours of one-on-one because they need A LOT of attention. Some species are needier than others... amazons, for example, are usually happy with an open cage so they can climb in and out but other species need close contact (like grays and senegals) and many more hours while others need not only the hours but also actual touch (like cockatoos and GCCs).

So, this is what I would do:
1) Keep the bird at a strict solar schedule. That means access to windows so they get the benefit of being exposed to the light of dawn and dusk -this means no artificial lights on until the sun is out and the rays are streaming into the room and, again, no artificial lights once the sun is halfway down to the horizon with almost absolute darkness after it sets.
2) Reduce protein during the resting season (what we call winter). See recipes for gloop in this same forum.
3) Allow much more out-of-cage time.

Mind you, this is not going to make a change right away because the longer their endocrine system has been screwed up, the longer it will take to get everything back as it should be. I've had birds that have taken up to four seasons to get back on track. Parrots are not easy pets. I've cared for all kinds of animals, dogs, cats, horses, birds and even wild animals that I had to raise and parrots are -BY FAR- the most difficult because it takes a loooong time for them to feel comfortable in their new home and you need to put A LOT of work into bonding with them. All my parrots came from somewhere/somebody else and, when they first come to me what I do is leave them in their cage for the first few days (even up to two weeks because it's case-by-case). This is not only to give them time to adjust to their new home but also because I switch them to my diet and want to monitor their intake to make sure they are eating enough. Then I open the cage at the same time I open all the other cages (when the sky is lit enough so there is a little bit of light) and take out their leftover dinner (so they cannot eat the nuts or seeds that were left from the night before). I clean their cages, put out fresh water and produce (one green, one veggie, one fruit - a different one each day of the week) - wait a bit and then give them their gloop when I put them back into their cages so they can eat their breakfast. I wait about 10 or 15 minutes and then open the cages again. When the sun is beginning to set, I put them back in their cages and give them dinner - after they eat it, they go to roost and sleep all night long. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? :D Nope! It's actually hard because you need to be there every single day at dawn and at dusk and that means being home latest 3 pm during the winter and getting up 4:30 am in the summer. Bummer big time! :lol: I've been doing it for many years so I am used to it but it's very hard at the beginning because your entire life revolves around this schedule.

Training is good but you need to bond with the bird before you start training because parrots were not created to 'obey' (like dogs are, for example), they all make their own decisions (flock are not hierarchical, all birds in the flock have the same status so there are no bosses) so you need to make the bird want to please you and he will not want to unless he loves you. So, wait on the training but do give him a treat every now and then. Not as a reward or a bribe but as a gift from you to him, a token of your desire to be his friend. They are VERY smart and excellent at reaching conclusions based on humans actions, words and tone of voice because they are also masters of the body language. I confess that I do not 'train' my birds in the sense that I do not hold formal training sessions. What I do is teach them as we go by repetition, encouragement and praise when they do it right. And it must work because my birds not only know many words and phrases but are also quite obedient - not for tricks or anything like that but useful things like going back into their cages ("Go home!") or not eating or touching something ("NO! Don't touch!").

Do not underestimate his intelligence or his need for love. I personally believe that senegals are one of the smartest parrots there are -my Sweetpea actually has cognitive speech- as well as the sweetest when they love you -my Zoey is the most loving little thing to the point that I can do anything with her. But they are also very stubborn and quite unforgiving when they feel you have wronged them. What I am trying to say is that you do much better thinking of him as a little person than an animal. He is most likely not only biting you because he is hormonal but also because you are keeping him in jail almost all day long... think of it... it's only the worst criminals that are kept locked in 23 out of the 24 hours in the day and, as far as he knows, he hasn't done anything to deserve this. Like I said, they do reach their own conclusions and, most likely, he is blaming you for his lack of freedom. Is keeping a bird out of cage for hours and hours and hours a pain in the neck? You bet! You have to monitor them closely or they'll eat your furniture, moldings, walls, etc, and no matter what you do and how closely you watch them, there will be damage. They will also poop and throw food all over the place. But, when they bond with you, there is no friend more loyal, more loving, more forgiving or more entertaining than them. So be patient and treat him right and you will have the best companion you could possibly hope for.
Pajarita
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Re: parrot gone quiet

Postby Daki_Senegal » Sun Jan 30, 2022 2:09 pm

Once again Pajarita I have no words to thank you for your information. Your birds are really lucky to have a caring owner that provides them with everything they need.

Today I took into consideration your saying and left Daki out of his cage for like 3 hours ( thought I should take it easy on him). At first he wouldn't pay much attention and hang on his perch or play with his toys. Then I decided to approach him, sat by his side started talking to him ( he understands when I call him by his name) singing together... After that he wanted to hang around with me on the couch, he would fly around and then come back. Maybe he was lured by the Banana I was eating :P but after he had finished his portion he came back for a few minutes. I suppose this is a good first step in rebuilding our relationship.

When it comes to the light scedules I do follow your guidelines expect for the times I need to use the TV but at that time I keep the lights off and cover their cages with dark materials. I have spied on him and he seems to be sleeping so I'm guessing it doesn't bother him.

The problem is that he didn't eat his portions today, he only had two slices of apple, a bit of a banana and some seeds which he didn't seem to enjoy that much. When he went back to his cage he did not touch his food but ate all of it when I offered it to him ( I am afraid that if this goes on and I have to feed him on hand like today he won't be eating on his own) His poop were not normal as they had a wet consistency and I counted 4 poops in 10 minutes which is not usual for him. After that his poop went back to normal. I have noticed that whenever he is eating fruits his poop tend to be wet the first hours but that changes after a while ( yes I am trying to draw conclusions even from his poop :lol: )

Nevertheless, he was playing with his toys, singing (less than normal maybe because I was cleaning the house and he was curious) , he even took a bath on his own in a bowl! :shock: ( we have been trying the spaying technique but he won't open his wings :roll: ). Maybe it is just me, worrying too much about him, thinking there is something wrong. Maybe he is just adapting to his new environment with a new baby bird.. The problem is that here in Greece there are very little vets that know some stuff about parrots (most of them have to deal with dogs and cats) and in our city there is no one that can actually help us. The nearest parrot vet is 5h drive from here and we will be able to take him there in two weeks ( I am sitting my exams in Uni and my bf is far away). Do you think I should adress a normal vet whatsoever?

PS tommorow I'll try your feeding produce advice..

Thank you once again my dearest Pajarita

Looking forward to your reply!
Daki_Senegal
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