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MichelleWallace
Egg
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Aberdeen |
| Senegal Behaviour problems |
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Hello. I bought my senegal parrot Kiki last October,she was born in May 2005. At first she was very nervous, and it took months to build a bond, but up until 2 weeks ago had learnt to take food from my and my partners hands and fingers gently, and let me stroke her beak! Which i was over the moon about, and felt we were making a great firendship! Then 2 weeks ago, she tore the skin on my finger when i went to stroke her, and has been aggressive ever since: taking out the food or water bowl makes her 'pounce' at me/the cage/bowl, she snatches food from our fingers, and snaps her beak at us if we put our hand into the cage to try and stroke/treat her.
I have heard senegals can get aggressive as they reach maturity, is this true? Has anyone any suggestions, as I really want to move forward with Kiki, not have her nervous or angry. Thank you! |
Sunday July 16, 2006 11:16 am |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Hi Michelle!
I'm sorry to hear about Kikis recent behaviour toward you!
Yeah, I think any bird CAN get aggresive at maturity. And I have read that sennies, in particular have to be handled very often to keep tame.
The LAST thing you want to do is leave her be at this time. Maybe you could do some stepping up/down excercises in another room, away from her cage, daily for a week or 2. I do that once in awhile when my macaw seems to be getting a little nippy. It really does seem to reinforce the bond & help with the behaviour. Or, just spend more one on one time with her right now.
Good luck  |
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Sunday July 16, 2006 11:53 am |
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MichelleWallace
Egg
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Aberdeen |
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Thanks for your ideas, unfortunately I am not at the stage where I can handle her at all! I have wondered about the previous owners as she was so so nervous when I got her, apparantly they fed her wiht a spoon, but did not touch her....and this was when she was 6 months old when i bought her.
Am I doing something wrong? I have been nervous of pushing her too fast, which is why I have tried to let things go at her pace. Maybe thats where I am wrong? She comes and goes at her own free will from the cage whenever I am in, should this be restricted to when she is 'good'? This is my first parrot you see, my partner perviously had one, but his was nothing like this!
Both myself and John give her a stern 'no' .... though he does it more than me so i am more favoured!!!! Yay! Could my telling of have scared her? We did have John's siblings round last weekend (aged 5, 9 and 9) could this have unsettled her? Am hoping note, as we go on honeymoon next week (!!!) and his family have offered to look after Kiki as they previously had parrots.
I just want my baby to be a happy bird!!!!xxx |
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Sunday July 16, 2006 12:48 pm |
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Julie White
Flier
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 421
Location: Staines, England |
Hi Michelle, I'm wondering that if by letting her come and go in and out of her cage at will she is becoming territorial and defending her territory, especially her food dishes. I wonder if it might be better to give her more routine about when she comes out and when she stays in. Does her cage have swing out feeders so that you can change her food without putting your hand in then cage. If she hasn't been handled much in the past you will have to gain her confidence. Some birds can become dominant when allowed to be above shoulder level when being handled. What does she do if you try and change her food when she's out of her cage? You will get lots of good advice from people using this site and I've found everyone here very helpful. |
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Sunday July 16, 2006 2:29 pm |
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Fluffy Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10073
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| Re: Senegal Behaviour problems |
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Hi Michelle, I'm sorry to hear that she bit you that hard..
I wouldn't try to stroke her at this time.
Is there any way you can get her out of her cage? Then practice with her in another room? Behavior in a cage usually is very different from behavior outside the cage. (In another room) |
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Monday July 17, 2006 8:56 am |
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MichelleWallace
Egg
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Aberdeen |
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Thanks evryone for replying so quickly! She has feeders that i can change wihtout putting my hand in; however she still tries to pounce and bite through the bars. This morning she literally flew at the food bowl when she saw it, and crashed into the cage! Not good at all. When I opened the cage door, I chatted to her and she came out, allowing me to put the food in, then she immediately went to her food. Could the food be the wrong type? It is a parrot seed mix, and she eats apples - has refused all other fruits unfortunately!
I will try and control more her in/out time wiht the cage; what sort of timings would anyone suggest? She is allowed out in the morning while we have breakfast etc as she loves climbing and flying at that time, but once I am home from work/weekends etc I let her out, as she seems to have fun climbing on the branches on the top of the cage etc. She used to take food gently while on the top from our hands also.
As I cannot handle her, I can't really take her to another room - or is there an obvious trick I am missing?
How can I go about building her confidence in me? I thought we had been doing well gaining a mutual trust but this seems to have vanished!  Any ideas are gratefully recieved! x |
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Monday July 17, 2006 9:50 am |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
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Have you tried seeing if she will step up onto a wooden dowel or perch? If you could do that & just spend some time walking around the house, or sitting in front of the TV with her in the eves, talking to her, she may become more trusting of you, realize you mean her no harm at all.
A lot of people might disagree with me on this point, but if she's been with you since Oct, about 6 mos, I would say it's time to get a little more agressive about having some kind of physical contact with her. In my opinion, if you let a bird get TOO comfy having no kind of contact, after a certain point, they become very happy with leaving things that way, perfectly content to stay in or on their cage, letting you feed & water them.
And I'm not saying you need to be real forceful. But I would try the dowel thing at this point, if it were me.
In most instances a bird will think of the dowel, or perch, or stick you're holding as, not exactly your hand, but an extension of it, & a lot of birds will gradually learn to trust you in this way. Might be worth a try |
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Monday July 17, 2006 5:19 pm |
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MichelleWallace
Egg
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Aberdeen |
Thanks! I am going to try that today, fingers crossed! Will let you know what happens. I can see your point, she may just have got used to being unhandled etc, and this seems a happy medium.
One good thing, she let me change the water bowl wiht no attempt to attack today.  Yay!!!! xxx |
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Tuesday July 18, 2006 12:26 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
quote:
Originally posted by MichelleWallace
One good thing, she let me change the water bowl wiht no attempt to attack today. Yay!!!! xxx
YAY! That's a good start Michelle! I will keep my fingers crossed that things will keep getting better! |
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Tuesday July 18, 2006 1:30 pm |
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