Senegal in the classroom?

[tdmsu]

I am considering brining home a Senegal in about two weeks. I am a teacher, and I realize that I should put the bird on a schedule this summer while I am home that will keep him happy even when I am back at work. My question for the experts is: would a Senegal be happy if I brought him to my classroom (high school social studies)? Or, is this species too sensitive? I obviously would not allow students to poke at him or anything, but I was just thinking about ways to maintain our relationship besides the time out of cage when I get home.

Thanks for your advice!

Paul

[Pepper's Pa]

Having been a public school teacher for nearly 30 years, I would not recommend bringing your Senegal to your school. My reason has nothing to do with the personality and behaviors of Sennies or a worry about his security from the students. My concern is that many schools often use fairly harsh cleaning products and any residual fumes may prove to be very toxic and potentially fatal to your Sennie. Also, unknown to many teachers, their schools may be on a schedule of having insecticides applied inside their rooms. In my school’s district, this was done early on Friday evenings, when the staff were long gone and weren’t aware of what was taking place.
I’d ere on the side of health and safety and keep him away from your school.
Your Sennie should be fine being left at home. Develop a schedule where he has some time out of his cage with you in the morning and a couple of hours when you are home in the afternoon and evening and he will be fine. Have plenty of toys and foraging opportunities in his cage each day. Leave a radio or TV playing for him for some additional entertainment or position his cage so that he can look out a window if he chooses. My Sennie enjoys watching the world outside a window.

[tdmsu]

Thanks for the head up, Pa!

I did not consider environmental factors. I will keep him/her at home, and just build a schedule during the summer and stick to it.

Also, thanks for your website - I've found it very helpful!

Paul

[rockybird]

I would also be worried about the students. My mother used to teach high school and some of the kids put ex lax in her drink as a joke. It sounds funny, but she ended up sick because they put a lot in. I wouldnt trust the kids around the bird. When I was 13, I had a pet parakeet that I kept in my dad's office while I worked there in the summer. My dad's law partner's 14-year old son was there that summer too. My dad caught him pulling the feathers out of the parakeet's tail. My dad slammed him up against the wall and threatened him if he ever saw him do that again. :) I dont think these people are evil or mean, but just very immature and unable to see the consequences of their actions to the other person/animal. I think the boy ended up a very successful good person.

[Sabauda]

I concur with Pepper's Pa that your Sennie should do very well with some morning one on one time with you, then evening hours. Although I'm often home for many hours a day with our You-You, it's certainly not a constant, and he has learned to play independently during long my long work days. Even when I'm home all day, he is quite happy for much of the day in his play area, entertaining himself with his (many!) toys and games, and chittering quietly away to himself, practicing his favorite sounds. I strongly encourage independent play - and it makes your special together snuggle time even more special for the both of you!

[Lindann]

For Max, we do everything that Pepper's Pa suggested, plus we have a couple of Bird-Sitter DVD's that Max seems to enjoy. We have his cage by the window so he can holler at the crows, he has out of cage time for about an hour before we go to work and an hour at noon when my husband comes home for lunch, then he's out for pretty much the whole evening from 4:00 until his bedtime at 8:30. We have satellite TV so most days he has Cartoon Network for company. (We kept it running for our cockatiels and they absolutely went nuts whenever they heard the SpongeBob song!)
I'm a teacher also and I took Max to school one day just for a short visit. I teach preschoolers and they were surprisingly low-key and respectful around Max. By midday he was warming up and treated them to a couple of whistles and some sound effects before my husband came to pick him up. I don't think I'll take him again though; Senegals are feisty critters but he was a little stressed and slept for a long time after he got home. So I think you're making the right decision to keep him home where he'll feel secure. We don't use a lot of heavy-duty cleaning stuff in my classroom, but now I"m aware and I think home will be the place for Max.