My Senegal, George

[theocnoob]

George is a 4 year old DNA'd male Senegal and the sweetest bird I know. He loves people Always wants to cuddle and snuggle. He's very well behaved and all around a wonderful friend.

Here are pictures I took of him today.

His tail feathers got all yucky because he used to soak them in his water dish. They're coming back in.

 

[noblemacaw]

What a beautiful bird. Feathers look gorgeous. What do you feed him? So far my vet has not made me alter my bird's wet food diet. What I make in it does not cause heart disease so I am doing pretty good there. Mihijo's blood will be drawn tomorrow to check his cholesterol levels among the other levels as well. It is my hope that his levels will drop with the steps I am taking with his diet.

I admit I am afraid that my companion of 16 years will die from this. I know that is how I lost my Illiger's macaw Diego. I treasure every day I have with Mihijo and I ask him to get better every day. I am re-learning how to feed parrots so when my baby comes home I will be ready.

Noblemacaw

 

[theocnoob]

Thanks for the kind words. George eats Zupreem as a staple as well as the most complete variety of nuts and veggies I can manage and a bean mix with pasta and rice for dinner sometimes. He also gets a very small piece of apple and a few sips of orange juice every day. And lots of love. He mostly lives on a shoulder and is very low stress. That probably has a lot to do with it. He'll fall asleep sideways in your hand in five minutes. I think he's just too mellow to have bad feathers .

I have ordered Roudy Bush to try and also play to try Harrisons as they are highly rated. My issue with the Harrisons is that they bond their calcium to an aluminum silicate, which while it makes bioabsorption easy is also dumping silicates and aluminum into the bird and I am not big on that and want to do more research about how well parrots are able to eliminate aluminum because mammals handle it poorly. I'd like to see a calcium citrate solution with some kind of better catalyst as a delivery system. Lets not forget that a bird's bone structure is very light to begin with and if anything should be in a higher volume it is keratin and not calcium. Between beak feathers and skin, per weight, there is much more keratin on a bird and I don't see enough of it in current bird foods and am considering some solutions myself. Current ideas include fish scales/skin and some shrimps ground into a fine pulp with couscous and a bit of oregano, which he loves.JM2C
(I was a fish nutrition nut when I had fish. I got some serious results from my ideas which were often ridiculed but nobody could argue with the results).

Don't mind the circle it was to show where he'd injured is tail fin and torn it slightly the previous evening durring a husband and wife disagreement on an old forum years ago but note the exceptionally thick scales and fins for Angels.

I want to accomplish this with my birds. Damaged scales and skin also healed at, at very least, a 3X rate on this diet with fish. They also grew to a much larger and robust size than siblings fed a more common lesser diet.

I know birds are happier when they know they have nice feathers. They enjoy seeing their own feather quality in the mirror and the more they are happy and like you the more perfect they try to keep them. This makes me think thicker more luxurious feathers and beak would also be a morale booster in addition to a health booster for parrots.

 

[Spiritbird]

Lovely little guy. He looks to be in very good health.

 

[Hochimama]

Handsome looking senegal ~~ ^^

 

[kitt]

All I thought of at first was "look at those feathers" ...you have a beautiful bird, very nice.
My lovebird and hahns macaw are shoulder setters...they just want to be with people...my caique likes to sit with me on the couch and snuggle but not go around the house on my shoulder.
I love when the birds want to cuddle and be little "velcro birds"

 

[kitt]

What a beautiful bird. Feathers look gorgeous. What do you feed him? So far my vet has not made me alter my bird's wet food diet. What I make in it does not cause heart disease so I am doing pretty good there. Mihijo's blood will be drawn tomorrow to check his cholesterol levels among the other levels as well. It is my hope that his levels will drop with the steps I am taking with his diet.

I admit I am afraid that my companion of 16 years will die from this. I know that is how I lost my Illiger's macaw Diego. I treasure every day I have with Mihijo and I ask him to get better every day. I am re-learning how to feed parrots so when my baby comes home I will be ready.

Noblemacaw

I am sorry to hear about your baby being sick....I hope his levels improve. Big hugs.

 

[theocnoob]

All I thought of at first was "look at those feathers"

Thank you. I try to aim for the best balance of diet I can with my birds. Oh and also my Senegal likes to take showers quite a lot and asks to shower and preens himself a lot.
I am swapping to Broudy Bush (Confusing name similar to that its in the mail) and am going to try Harrison's and see who's results are best as both claim to be ultimate bird foods. Zupreem is good but I have a feeling something better is out there.
(Similar example) is that I had fish for seven years before discovering this ultimate food http://www.dainichi.com/home.html
That stuff is without argument the finest fish food I have ever used. Makes for a completely perfect muscular disease free thick scaled happy fish. I can't say enough about it. I want to find that in a bird food.

~Noble Macaw I am sad to hear about your friend and my thoughts are with you. I hope for a good outcome for you guys.

 

[theocnoob]

.my caique likes to sit with me on the couch and snuggle but not go around the house on my shoulder.
I love when the birds want to cuddle and be little "velcro birds"

My Senegal wants to go wherever you go. Folding clothes? He jumps down, grabs a shirt, and starts pulling on it trying to copy you. I really think that he really thinks he's actually a person.

 

[theocnoob]

Enjoying a muffin chunk.

 

[Hochimama]

Stunning ~~ ^^

 

[theocnoob]

Stunning ~~ ^^

What a kind comment

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHH0pWTpBEg"]Senegal Parrot enjoys a small snack - YouTube[/ame]
Video


About George:

George was born Nov 1 2007 in Hamilton Ontario, near where I live in Toronto. He was hand raised for four months by a breeder who has since become one of my close friends. Her level of love and empathy for birds are the primary factor in how wonderfully George turned out. George is a people bird. Preferring to ignore others, including his 2 siblings (1m 1f) he has always wanted to be with people and hates to be alone. Since I am on disability and always home, this is a plus for him. He only willingly enters his cage to eat and sleep if he is very tired, though he'd rather spleep while against your head. He loves to hide and seek and says many words and makes many sounds like washing machine, toaster oven, kiss sound. He has names for things. Orange juice is TWIP. Chap chap chap is tap water. Tic Tic Tic is water from a bottle cap or bowl. CLACK is nut. We understand eachother well . I learned some of his words and vice versa.

He is a great eater, trusting, and the most wonderful bird anybody could ever want as a friend. He loves going for car drives and carefully examines new objects through the window (he rarely DOES go on rides though, but we do take him to visit his breeder as she loves him too). We talk and whistle to eachother all day. We have a game where we make up progressively more complex whistles to eachother (like simon) then see who screws up first. He laughs (hehehe) when he wins, or when he sees something funny like me tripping or dropping something.

George is DNAd but not banded and fully flighted. As far as I know his health is A++ from what I'm told and his last check up. I have no plans to ever breed George. I hope I am able to stay healthy and be able to care for him for the many decades he'll be on this earth, and the many more after that my Grey will.

 

[kitt]

Wow, he is really something...and good for you going the extra mile to get the best possible nutrition for him...you are a good parront..........

 

[theocnoob]

Haha Parront. That's the first time I've read that one. Thank you for your compliment.

 

[Hochimama]

George is one lucky baby .. wish you both happily ever after ^^

 

[theocnoob]

George and I say Thank You.

 

[theocnoob]

Finally accepting the presence of Oscar the Grey.

 

[Bluemonday]

George is beautiful, he has such nice plumage and looks very sweet and friendly.

 

[theocnoob]

He's the friendliest bird imaginable and thank you I think he has nice plumage too. I try to give my birds the most balanced diet I can and they get baths often which they seem to enjoy.

Thanks for your compliments.

Getting sleepy