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I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Macaws, Cockatoos, Greys, Poicephalus, Conures, Lovebirds, Parrotlets, Parakeets etc. Discuss topics related to specific species of parrots and their characteristics, mutations, pros, and cons.

Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby alienlady » Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:49 am

PatrickAlan wrote:
alienlady wrote:What more could you ask ?


Huh? What do you mean "What more could you ask?".......

I meant everything is going well, what more could you ask for. Except I sent the message before I'd finished it.
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alienlady
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby Pajarita » Thu Mar 30, 2017 2:21 pm

PatrickAlan wrote:
Pajarita wrote:My African Redbelly male also poops in his food bowl. He likes to use it as his roosting perch at night but, as he only does it at night and I take all the bowls out at dawn when I open their cages for them to come out, it's no big deal. He also needs a bigger cage and I am working on that (large, good cages are expensive so I have no choice but to pace myself in buying them). But Jojo might be pooping there because of the placement of the bowl in the cage. Have you tried moving it or moving the perches?



JoJo is in a cage where the food dishes are attached to a bracket with a door that you open to swing out the food dishes to empty or fill --- so No, the food dishes can not be moved. She eats sitting on her food dish.

So Now, as recommended, I take out the food cup first thing in the morning, and wait for her to Poop before putting back the food cup with her Breakfast. So far it is working .....


There you go! :thumbsup:
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby PatrickAlan » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:39 am

JoJo is really sweet, and I am enjoying having her in the home. There is, however, only one bad habit that she has and that is she likes to BITE my earlobes when she is on my shoulder. Now I have never been one to allow a Parrot to sit on my shoulder. I would always have a platform tabletop perch for them, but when holding JoJo she likes to climb up my arm to the shoulder and loves to Bite my earlobes ----- and when she starts, she will not stop. SO, I have had to stop allowing her to be on my shoulder. Has anyone had this experience or can recommend how to curb this behavior ?
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby Pajarita » Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:55 pm

Well, baby birds, just like human babies, dogs, cats, etc. use their beak to 'feel' things. I know it sounds weird that something that is hard an 'bony' could have any feeling at all but it does and they use it to learn and recognize different textures and... I guess you would call it degrees of hardness. The thing is that, just like human babies, puppies and kittens, baby birds don't know how much strength to apply without hurting so they need to be taught (have you ever had a baby bite your chin so hard that tears come to your eyes? or a puppy chew on your fingers real hard? well, it's the same thing).
Personally, I would not ban a baby bird (or an adult for that matter) from my shoulder because of nipping (bite is when they actually draw blood, nip is when they use pressure -sometimes real painful, too- but they don't actually cut the skin), I would teach it to recognize the exact degree of pressure she is to use without hurting me. I've never done this with a baby because the only babies I've had experience with were aviary species like cockatiels, lovebirds and budgies so, as there was no imprinting and they had their own mommas, there was no real need for it. But I have done it many times with adults that had never learned and what I did was simply touch the bird's beak with the tip of my finger and say: "Gently, gently". The touch of the finger distracts them from what they are doing and makes them pay attention to you and, as they release the pressure, you praise, praise, praise (you can also offer a little reward - maybe a safflower seed?).
I know it sounds much easier to just prevent the bird from going to your shoulder but parrots, being highly social, need the physical and emotional closeness that being next to our faces gives them. These are highly intelligent animals and they KNOW that our faces are US, they look into our eyes, they try to feed from our mouths, they kiss our cheeks, etc so, to them, our face is the 'thing' they love the most about us and the 'thing' they need to get as close as possible. Thus, their desire to be on our shoulders - which also happens to be high up and, ergo, a safe place.
The way I look at it is that the only way to have a happy and healthy parrot and the long term relationship you want to build with it is never to give them what they evolved to need. And they need the closeness and the love it implies. Take it away and the bird might grow up disaffected which doesn't only translate into a bird that will not listen to you (birds only listen to people because of their love for them -not like dogs that are 'programmed' for obedience and subservience) but also a bird that will, most likely, develop behavioral problems. Have you ever read about the orphanage Russian babies adopted by American couples and the emotional and psychological problems they had? Well, it was because they grew up without the physical closeness of a mother.
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby liz » Fri Mar 31, 2017 8:17 pm

I could never understand the "gentle gentle". Instinct is to use an exclamation. I say "ow". It depends on how bad the "ow" is and how to say it. I say "ow" when I think they are being too rough with me. I say "ow" with much more authority when it actually hurts.

If I get chomped but am preoccupied they say "ow" for me or ask me "ow?".

They are still in the bathroom with a flight cage outside the window. If I have not been there for at least an hour they have learned to make a ruckus to bring me in. When I get in there they are in two different places yelling like they are fighting. Run Momma run.
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby Skye » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:28 pm

My Skye knows how to nip without hurting! Birds are smart and can be taught to not hurt us! I'm glad someone explained how that is taught to a bird!!
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby Pajarita » Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:06 pm

liz wrote:I could never understand the "gentle gentle". Instinct is to use an exclamation. I say "ow". It depends on how bad the "ow" is and how to say it. I say "ow" when I think they are being too rough with me. I say "ow" with much more authority when it actually hurts.

If I get chomped but am preoccupied they say "ow" for me or ask me "ow?".

They are still in the bathroom with a flight cage outside the window. If I have not been there for at least an hour they have learned to make a ruckus to bring me in. When I get in there they are in two different places yelling like they are fighting. Run Momma run.


I do use the OWWW but only when they bite me -meaning, cutting the skin or making a hole and BLOOD coming out. The 'gently, gently' is to teach them to hold flesh (finger, nail, earlobe, whatever) with their beak without actually putting so much pressure that it hurts or even becomes uncomfortable. It's used when the pressure is a bit too much but not really painful so they learn to 'back off' a bit until they reach (and learn) the exact point. And they do!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby seagoatdeb » Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:13 am

I usually say "too hard" and "nice" to tell them about heir beak pressure. They do learn. sometimes when Gaugan my Red Belly is on my shoulder and Sunny my Meyers is on my knee and i spend just a little to much attention talking, petting or singing to Sunny for Gaugans patience, she will give me a gentle little nip on my ear lobe. Doesnt matter how many times she has done it i startle and off flies Sunny. She knows how to get what she wants that girl.
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Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby Pajarita » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:22 am

:lol: Well, how dare you pay that much attention to that interloper?! After all, both you and him should be grateful for her patience and don't push your luck...
Pajarita
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: I finally have my new Senegal Parrot

Postby seagoatdeb » Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:06 pm

oh yeah, that is exactly her attitude about the whole thing.
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