We brought our new birdie home!

[Panamaniac]

Hey all,

So after a lot of debate and some serious research and considerations (and having our heart set on a Caique), my fiancee and I were won over by a male Senegal from DJ Feathers in VA. We haven't chosen a name yet (any suggestions?) We were deciding between Popeye or Chimi (short for chimichurri), maybe even Charger... but don't think either of those is perfect.

He is the sweetest thing - lets himself be touched everywhere, lays on his back no problem - such a people bird. Born on Dec 22nd, so he is 10 weeks old (according to Tammy - fully weaned and eating completely out of his food bowls).

So we brought him home yesterday. I built the cage the night before and had it all set, so when he got home we put some food in and his water bottle (and his stuffed ducky, which he had in his cage at the store) and put him in his cage for a couple of hours, then took him out to be with us for a bit before putting him to bed.

After about 15 minutes of his chirping, I was suckered into taking him out. I know - I set a bad precedent - and he chirped again after we put him back a 2nd time - and finally just left him there and he eventually went to sleep.

So a couple of things we noticed - he isn't the best climber - generally kind of clumsy and has fallen to the bottom of his cage a couple of times as he's tried walking around (his wings are clipped). As I type this, he just dropped off of his top perch to the bottom of the cage (although this time he was kind of hanging upside down prior to doing it - making it almost seem like it was intentional?) He did make his way over to his food bowls though (that were generally in the same direction as to where he fell), so maybe it was what he intended? Is this normal? He is in a cage that is probably twice as tall as the one in the store - could this be the reason for his clumsyness? Can he hurt himself this way?

He also seemed to be making baby noises this morning, and kind of put his head up like a baby wanting to be fed. Maybe he's just getting over the weaning period? He has eaten his pellets, nutriberry and millet - so I'm not worried about him starving. One thing I haven't seen him do yet is take water out of his bottle - how often should he be drinking?

He sleeps a LOT. He took 2 naps yesterday before going to bed, then took another 45 minute nap after we had him out this AM (and is now asleep again). Is this a matter of him being very young and needing sleep, being in a new environment and being nervous, or just a matter of Senegals sleeping a lot? All I can figure is that its been a couple of crazy days for him, and it may be a bit colder in our house (enclosed sun room attached to our living room) than it was in the shop (and its a blizzard today, so that isn't helping) - maybe that's it?

Sorry - lots of questions. I haven't had a baby bird in probably 20 years, so not quite sure what he should be doing at this stage.

Pics enclosed of him about to go home (I didn't drive like that - we bought a little carrier for him) and of his cage (you can barely see him on the lower right side).

THANKS!

[Parrotpeople]

Awe, Congratulations!

[expressmailtome]

Congratulations! With birds so young it is not very uncommon for there to be problems with climbing and perching. Was the bird training and already using a water bottle?

Matt

[Panamaniac]

Originally Posted by expressmailtome

Congratulations! With birds so young it is not very uncommon for there to be problems with climbing and perching. Was the bird training and already using a water bottle?

Matt

Thanks Matt - yes, we were told specifically that he was only drinking from the bottle, although I've yet to see him go for it independently (he's been close and I've hit it with my finger and given him a bead of water off the fingertip). I'm not really sure how much he should be drinking - so I'll probably add a water bowl to the bottom of the cage today.

And now he's taking another nap... Are Senegals nocturnal?

[Panamaniac]

Originally Posted by Panamaniac

Thanks Matt - yes, we were told specifically that he was only drinking from the bottle, although I've yet to see him go for it independently (he's been close and I've hit it with my finger and given him a bead of water off the fingertip). I'm not really sure how much he should be drinking - so I'll probably add a water bowl to the bottom of the cage today.

And now he's taking another nap... Are Senegals nocturnal?

Oops - I'm mistaken - he's up and doing what I can only associate to a baby chirp asking to be fed... Earlier we fed him while he was sitting on us - is that a bad thing? Are we just associating his chirps to him getting fed?

I want to make sure we don't spoil him - it just so happens we got snowed in so he's had 1 1/2 full days with us.

My concerns are #1 for his health - ensuring his narcolepsy is normal and to make sure that he's drinking and eating enough (not so worried about the latter), and #2 for us to make no bad associations at this point - we've been doing a bit of an earthquake move when he bites more than just playfully) and saying "no" in a semi-stern voice - and I put him in his cage once after he was being really beaky and bitey (nothing painful, but more than what we'd like him to do). May have left him in there for too long as he fell asleep again, but after that he was a joy for 1/2 hour - we gave him a little dog bone to chew on which he loved, then played and cuddled with us, got a snack and then fell asleep on my shoulder.

I've been trying to find a "week by week" guide to Senegals, but have struggled to find anything. I ordered the "Guide to senegal parrots" which hasn't come in yet, along with the clicker and manual to start training him. I didn't want to push training yet and overload him as he's just starting to get used to his new home (which he hasn't really been exploring all that much).

Any suggestions?

[expressmailtome]

If you want you can mark with a non permanent marker the water level on the outside of the bottle. Use this to check if the water level goes down.

Matt

[Beardiedawg]

Here's a good website with some info about sengals. I got mine as an adult so no help about baby behavior. They really do pick you, don't they?!

Pepper -- A Senegal Parrot

[OsiViper]

Yea, Baby's are fairly clumsy when they are young when it comes to their feet.

My macaw was the same way.. best thing is toys and lots of them, different foot toys that they can play with, different size perches, etc. just to get their feet grabbing onto stuff and getting used to holding their weight.

If you have ever studied any kind of human development for infants its the same for them.. they develop gross motor skills first, just being able to move their arms around and grab something. Later on with practice they develop fine motor skills being able to pick stuff up with two fingers, writing, typing, etc.

It just takes time and learning on their part :)

[crystalusagi]

I wouldn't be worried about him being clumsy on his feet. Kelsey was really clumsy too, when he first arrived. He'd call off his perch all the time trying to get to his toys XD But now he's an expert. They just have to get used to it.

[charlieandmom]

He is the cutest. If he falls a whole lot you might want to lower his top perches a bit. So the poor little guy doesn't have as far to fall until he's a little older.