Help! Need advice with my senegal.

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I have a 7 year old senegal that kind of adopted me at work. He wont leave me alone, he is obsessed with me. If I leave him he screaches, whistles, swings upside down in his cage, anything to get my attention. The worst part is that when he is on me anyone that comes near me he jumps off me and aggresivly attacks them, he has taken a chunk out of my boyfriends, arm, ear and back. I love tango so much but hes making my life very hard and dont know what to do. I need help please.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'm assuming you work at a pet store of some sort... and you have now taken the senegal home... is this right?

There are a few issues here, and a few ways of approaching them. They all start with him being too attached to you though. It is great to have a strong bond with a bird, but we need to be careful that it does not become unhealthy for them or us (which it may be in this case).

He will attack others to keep them away from you, but how does he react to others if you are not around? I doubt he will be really happy to see them, but is he as aggressive?

How old is Tango and how long have you had him?

Let us know a bit more about the situation and we'll see where to go.

 

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I was a tutor teaching animal care at a college and it shut down so all the animals had to be sold and they gave me tango as he was bonded to me and they were worried what would happen to him if he went to a new home. He is about 7 years old and was hand reared by a lady at the college, but he absolutly hated her, he bit her every chance he had. The day I started he got on me straight away and be obsessed ever since and that was about 2 years ago. I have had him at my house now for about 3 weeks. When I am not there he will let other people stroke him through the bars on his cage but wont let them pick him up, but if he sees me or hears my voice he will bite who ever is touching him. His hate seems to be more for my boyfriend though as tango only seems to fly at him and visiously attack him. I agree that this is all very unhealthy for me and tango as the attention seeking is driving everybody mad. Since he has come to my house he has started making all sorts of new noises to get my attention laughing really load, guinea pig noise, my ring tone off my phone and lots more.

 

[Ecclipse]

The reason he 'hates' your boyfriend is because Tango is jealous of the attention that you give your boyfriend - understandable that you give your boyfriend attention lol. I have owned dogs and everytime anyone took my focus away from my dog she used to get upset and practically climb into my lap or try pushing the person away with her head. If your boyfriend wants to try befriend Tango try not doing it while she is on your shoulder but by the cage with you in the other room. Does Tango have enough toys and stuff to keep her entertained even when your at home? Have you tried stuff like playing the radio when your not there and then playing it when you leave the room but still in the house? Im not a parrot behaviour expert but maybe Tango will begin to associate the radio with you not being there which would then reduce the noise because she will know it falls on deaf ears as your at work. Maybe try spending time with her at the exact same time everyday so that she gets that security in knowing that your going to spend time with her. My opinion here is that the issue lies with seperation anxiety which is then manifesting in Tango becoming extremely protective over you and being aggressive towards others. Is the cage in an area where she can be part of the family even when sitting in her cage? In SA we have a natural remedie called Rescue which is for humans but can be used on parrots. You can also get anti-stress which you put in the water daily. It calms them down and will maybe help to settle Tango - new surroundings and people (besides yourself) can be tough. Hope this helps...

 

[Ecclipse]

Sorry if Tango is a "he"...as I referred to Tango as "she".

 

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Tango is a he! ha ha. Thanks for your reply. Will look into everything you have mentioned and let you know

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Sounds like Ecclipse covered it pretty well.

Also though I think one good intervention would be for you to take a bird-vacation. Not a vacation WITH tango, but FROM tango. Just disappear, don't let him see or hear you; it would be best if you could stay somewhere else for a few days, and have someone else (perhaps your boyfriend) take care of tango.

It may not be fun for him (either one of them) but it's a bit of tough love. Tango can be most bonded to you, but he needs to learn to tolerate other people and deal with you being away. Let him see someone else changing his water and taking care of him for a bit.

 

[Ecclipse]

Good luck, keep us posted. Take care...

 

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Thank you for your advice. Will try and talk my boyfriend into trying all this! Maybe I should get him some full body armour first!

 

[Ecclipse]

Hahahaha - wouldn't be a bad idea - lol. At least you still have your sense of humor!!!!