I am a bit worried about the one person bird aspect of things as I'm going to be at home a lot more than my other half, but I really don't want to discount senegals just based on that as I've always loved the look of them.
Ive heard they can give a nasty bite if they feel like it, I need to look into the right techniques for dealing with that so I'm ready!
Pixel sounds adorably cheeky
Just taken a break from cage cleaning so I'll give you a little bit of info!
I, like yourself, are home most of the time. My partner works full time and I'm only part time (with irregular hours) so I'm the one Merlin sees the most. Merlin is a one person bird - in the sense that he's either a mummys boy, OR a daddys boy. But it changes on a daily basis. It does not mean that he doesn't love me on the days he's being a daddys boy, just on that day, he'd rather be stuck to his daddy instead!
Sometimes it doesn't change on a day to day basis, sometimes it's more infrequent than that, but I know that at the end of X period, it'll be my turn.
It seems to be that during the wintery months, Merlin prefers Andrew, and during summertime he's a Mummysboy. But like I said, doesn't mean that he's STRICTLY only loving one person, just has an obvious preference. When it's "daddys turn" I just make the most of the time I have when Andrew isn't around for Merlin to be distracted.
Andrew does the same during the summery months, when I'm at work Andrew will spend that time one on one interacting with Merlin. We try and keep the love and the actual care giving as 50/50 as possible as we don't want him overbonding.
Charlie (our newest) is still very much a mummysboy. He steps up for me, eats for me, bathes for me... bites his daddy. But he's getting better. Right now Andrew hasn't had a lot of chance to interact with Charlie, whereas I've had plenty. Whether he stays a mummysboy we will just have to wait and see!
Biting; Now with senegals I've always said (and you'll probably see it on every senegal thread I've been on) that you need to have thick skin, both literally and figuratively. Senegal's pack a huge bite for such a small bird and they don't just bite, they latch on. Don't think it's a quick peck and it's all over, it's CHOMP AND WAIT. It's horrible. But, you can minimise biting with certain training. We've accepted that Merlin is going to be a bit of a biter regardless of what we do because he needs his beak to get around (he has a bad leg) and so bites onto everything and anything he can, so more often than not, we get a huge nasty bite, without him meaning to "bite". Charlie on the other hand tends to give us good warning that he wants to bite. He'll puff his feathers, he'll make a growl, he'll move away. If you ignore that, he'll bite. (Andrew's still learning that he is not like Merlin....
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BUT at the same time, Senegals are well known for their Jeckyll and Hyde attitude; many senegals even lowering their head for "scritches" just to lure you in and give you a good chomp! Merlin doesn't do this, thankfully. Charlie does to Andrew though.
So that's the "literal" need for thick skin. The figurative need would be that they can flit with their personalities. Like I mentioned with Jeckyl and Hyde before; they can be the most cuddy little birds known to man, then decide they want nothing to do with you at all. It can be real hurtful if you're not expecting it. During winter months (when Andrew's his favourite) I will admit I get a little bit sad to be losing out on my cuddlebug, but I appreciate it's just what Merlin does, but the first year was horrible because I thought I'd "lost him forever" to Andrew. I now know the ins and outs of his behaviour and appreciate that; so when you've learnt about your bird, you'll see what I mean, but up until then, don't take every "back turn" or "other favourite person" as a personal attack.
They are usually clingy little birds, they like to be in everything and be with everyone. We used to take Merlin with us to the pub! He's fly about, sitting with anyone and everyone who wanted him! (The pub had double sets of doors and was very 'animal friendly', as were the locals!
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Senegals are little clowns and if you ignore the 'jeckyl and hide' and their intense bite, or 'likelyhood' to be a one person bird. You've got the best little package you could get.
We (or most people! 2nd pic is of housemate with him.) can do next to anything with our Merlin.
and he really is a cuddle bug.
Merlin is noisey when we leave, he loves our attention but we've never had neighbours complain about the noise. But senegals, although "quiet birds" by definition - are not quiet. When walking home from work, I can hear Merlin halfway up my street. Neighbours are apparently oblivious to this, but I can hear him.
Senegals also go through "phobic phases" and it's so imperative that you work on exposure and socialisation straight off the bat. We had Merlin out in public from 10-12 weeks old (necessity for us) but everyone (all family members etc) should be handling him as soon as possible. Get him out in a travel cage, meeting people, different situations, get him on transport, be it car, bus, etc. Keep him exposed to new things and you'll have a really well rounded and non phobic bird. Merlin has 'phobic spats' about random things at home. But he's never afraid of new toys, new situations, new food, etc. He just dives on in there because he's been taught straight away that new does not always equal scary! It usually equals fun!
So overall, for the average senegals I'd say the traits are as follows!:
Cuddly/attention wanting
Cheeky
Nippy
Favours one person at a time
Sociable
Loud at times, (yes!)
Playful
Stomachs that seem to never end (they will want anything and everything you're eating).
If there's something I might have missed, please feel free to ask! Most of this information is from my own experiences with Merlin (and Charlie to an extent) but also from tons and tons of research on senegals before I got one myself. But, every bird is different!
