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collie
Egg
Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Posts: 2
Location: northern ontario Canada |
| hi! |
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hi my name is collie and i have an 8 year old sennie my hubby and i have had him now for about a year and a half. Harleys favorite person in the whole wide world is my husband . Unfortunatly my hubby has gotten sick (Schizophrenia) and no longer shows any intrest in his bird! (he has a delusion that the old owner is trying to hunt us down). At his time i am trying to take over as i believe that he needs the interaction. unfortunatly i dont know much abou thim and he doesnt want much to do with me i try to let him out of his cage but he wont come out and if i put my hand in his cage he will attempt to bite me (he made contact a few times so i dont think he is faking it by any means) if i call hijm over to the side of his cage he will tip his heaad and allow me to pet him. if i sing to him he will dance if i leave the room he does that ear splitting shreech. if he is alone he will sing to himself (mary had a little lamb, and pretty bird ,his own made up song.)
the reason for the post is to get some much needed info as to what he made want to eat (fresh foods etc. at the moment i feed him a pellet diet and give him the odd treat ,probably not the best treats in the world for a bird but he loves cheeses and dorritos. on occasion i will fry an egg and share it between him and my pet rat or cut up an apple or carrot or what ever fruit or veggie i happen to have in my fridge at the time. these treats i give him i just stick between the bars of his cage all over.
I would like to have him come to me or even just get out fothe cae and play but dont know what type of toys are ok or how to get over the fear of being bitten again! when he tries to bite me i usually tell him that biting is bad and walk away from the cage and leave him for a while!
another question i have is how do i teach him to talk to me like i said i have heard him talk, but he wont talk to me it seems he will only say what he wants when he wants i ahve patiently been singing a few nursery rhymn like songs to him but he only seems to dance when i do (and ppl walk ing by my house think i am kinda nuts singing row row row your boat at the top of my lungs over and over again. i was just wondering if thee may be some "trick " to getting your bird to converse with you instead of at you?
sorry for the novel and all the questions but this seems to be the place to drop the questions and have a fw answers instead of just reading all the websites and seeing the same info over nad over again but no details! |
Wednesday July 6, 2005 6:08 pm |
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Fluffy Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10073
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Hi Collie!
Welcome here! I hope you'll like this site! 
You can make Harley his own homepage & weblog if you want to.. Click the link below to find out how.. (We'd love to meet Harley!)
http://www.fluffies.org/en/viewforum.php?f=32
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. schizophrenia is not an easy thing to deal with, especially not if it's one of our loved ones that is diagnozed with this!
Can I ask if Harley's wings are clipped? This may help a great deal to gain 'control' of Harley's behavior.
Though birds may have a favorite person, well trained birds should not attack other persons..
If you could tell me this, I would be able to help you a little I think.
Have you ever taught Harley to step up on a perch? It may help you regaining your trust!
What kind of pellet do you give Harley? Just curious!
Please don't feed doritos (I think you mean the salt ones?) as birds don't do very well on a lot of salt.
Does he like yoghurt? You can give him a LITTLE bit of unsweetened yoghurt if you'd like. It's also healthy!
Have you ever tried branches with leaves as toys? Please be sure the branches you offer are from a 'safe' non poisonous tree..
(Willow, apple tree, etc. Please ask if you're not sure about a tree)
About talking to a person, well.. Iago also prefers to talk when I'm not around.. Perhaps it's because they're shy?
I don't know..
Perhaps you can reward him when he does say something with a treat.. (Keep a treat next to the cage in case he surprises you with a word or anything you like!)
I hope you'll let us know about any progress with Harley in the future..
Sue |
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Thursday July 7, 2005 11:19 am |
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debi
Flutterer
Joined: 30 Mar 2005
Posts: 117
Location: South Jordan, Utah |
| Hi Collie |
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Hi Collie,
My name is Deb and I have a senegal parrot that is 7 months old. She became very attached to me while I was recovering from knee surgery. I have had to leave the room so that my son can interact with her. Her name is Bella. I bought a book on Amazon.com. Melissa ( Lyssie722) told me about. It is called. " Guide to Senegal parrots and their Family" It was very inexpensive and it has really helped me with questions I have. I did not know anything when I first started coming here either. But everyone is so friendly and helpful. I think with everyone helping eachother things go much smoother.
I am sorry to hear about your husband. My nephew had that and it is frustrating for you and for him.
Deb and Bella |
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Friday July 8, 2005 3:40 am |
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lyssie722
Bappie
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 72
Location: Maryland, USA |
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Hi Collie:
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I have a cousin with a similar disorder and I was trained as a therapist so I understand the ramifications. I hope that he is finding help -- sometimes medication can do wonders.
I haven't had my sennie (Piper) for too long but I can answer some of your questions. Definitely don't feed him salted food or dairy products and please do not give him chocolate or avocado. But they like all sorts of fruits and veggies. Piper loves green beans and broccoli especially but you can give them kiwi, melon, peaches, leafy greens, and peppers. A lot of birds really love the hot peppers too. I also give Piper cooked brown rice and pasta (just boiled in water, no salt, no sauce). Scrambled egg is good and you can give Harley a little piece of whole wheat toast (not buttered). You can even make up a mix of pasta (I chop it up), rice, lentils, split peas, & beans (all cooked). It turns out like that food, "Beak Appetit" but much cheaper. Unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds & almonds are good treats. Oh, and grapes are awesome. Piper could eat those all day. Just make sure you wash all produce very well first. I feed mine pellets also -- Pellets are important. I use Roudybush. If you search the internet, you can get other suggestions. Buy that book as Deb suggested.
As Sue said, the stepping up command is really important so work on that, as well as clipped wings. You can always use a perch to get Harley out of the cage instead of your hand. Also, try taking Harley to places in the house where he hasn't been and talk to him showing him new things. I read in the "Guide to Senegal . ." book that this is one way to get an overbonded bird to bond to another person. In fact, there is a section in this book on how to work with birds overbonded to one person to get them to accept others. I think your trying to interact with him is important and the more you do it, the better he will get with you.
I can't address the talking issue because Piper won't talk yet. She does have all kinds of noises and whistles and I imitate sounds she makes and she and I go back and forth but I can't make her do a certain sound. I did get a book on teaching parrots to talk and it had a lot of great training tips but I think the first priority is to get Harley to trust you and build a bond between the 2 of you. Then you could start working on the talking with training sessions. My biggest suggestion is do as much reading as you can -- there is so much to learn!
Melissa |
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Friday July 8, 2005 7:18 pm |
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collie
Egg
Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Posts: 2
Location: northern ontario Canada |
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thank you all for the info umm i live in the bush on northern ontario but have only been here a year now and there are many many different bushes and trees and such . so he does have a perch that is made from a log out side cut down to fit in the holder of his old rope perch he killed my fear is the fact that being a city girl i am not sure of the trees i am looking at i asume pine is not good but what abou tflowers from the bush or a stick off of a blueberry plant (blue berries attached i am not sure if the leaves on these plants are safe for him or not . Harley gets alot more grapes and strawberries and fresh fruits and vegies then he does doritios! that is for surre as he gets the veggies and such as they grow . i have no started but have read abou the up command i am able to call him while he is in his cage and have himm come to the corner or spot that i want him i am slowly starting to call him to the open dorr and pat his head throught the dorr way with some success but am wondering should i let him climb out on his own then deal with him from the top of his cage or should i go in after him ?
As for his wings they have been clipped once but since living up here (the closest vet or pet store is over an hour away! i have been unable to get him done!
so at this time he has all his feathers . i will start to use the perch come as you guys have said and pray he doesnt bite me |
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Saturday July 9, 2005 10:22 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7970
Location: Australia |
Hi Collie
Welcome to the site. How is your sennie going? Can I just quickly mentioned something here.... I think that the ladies have all given you very very good advice. Try it and see what would happen with Harley. But also keep in mind, when you are trying retrain any bird lots of love and patience is the key! As all birds have different personalities, one way may work for one bird, but not another. So keep those love and patience coming, and you'll go along way!!!! Good luck.
Oh, can I just mentioned that pine is actually ok to give to bird. I've seen many many many cockatoos sit on pine trees and chew their day away. And I personally give pine cones to my bird Apollo.
Have fun with Harley.
Cheers
Bih |
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Sunday July 10, 2005 4:00 pm |
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