Question about my senegal (long post)

[sammiesue]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post after lurking here for a while. I have a female senegal that I adopted last spring. I was told she was 3 and the reason the previous owners were looking for a new home for her was that she was scaring the kids in the family. I will admit now that it was a complete impulse on my part to get her. I really wanted a parrot but I didn't really research or anything. I just really liked my friends senegal. My friends senegal was soooo quiet and independednt. He was okay being home alone all day and he is just a really calm bird. My new bird Sammie came with everything she needed and I upgraded her cage to a nice prevue corner cage. We bonded almost immediately and since i dont have many friends she is definitly a one person bird. She hardly ever bites me hard and she is just a ton of fun. She makes the sound of a creaking door every time i open any door or any cubbard. soo cute!!

My main worry is that it is summer and I spend everyday with her and she is very attached to me, but what will happen when school starts? Im not worried about leaving her alone for 2-3 hours but there will be 2 days a week that i could possibly be gone for 8 hours. I know there are people who work and have parrots but are the parrots happy? This is one of the things i feel terrible about with me being so implusive. After I graduate college I will also be working and I could be gone 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

The other thing is that my good friends senegal parrot and my bird would spend their days together this summer on the same cage and they seemed to appreciate the company even though they were not bonded to eachother (no preenining). They would hang out next to eachother so i know they were okay. We would leave for the whole day all the time and I never worried about her becaause she had company. I also went to a family reunion for 11 days and she stayed with the other bird the whole time and she wasnt any different when i got back. My hope was that his bird and my bird would strongly bond to each other because his bird also bonded strongly to me (oops) and he said I could have his senegal if I really wanted him.

Now here is the real question!! Am I being an anthropomorphist? Do senegals get lonely? Would she appreciate having the other bird around? Will she be okay if she is alone? Will she get used to it? I really am worried about taking on another bird only because they arent really bonded and they would have to share a cage. They were fine sharing a cage at my friends place but I just dont know. Her cage is also never closed now. When I go to school for the 8 hours would she feel more comfortable with me closing the cage? I tried it once and she started pacing like she was uncomfortable. I want my bird for life but I also dont want her to suffer from loniless. Any input, suggestions, opinions about this would be appreciated. Oh and i also put on NPR when i do have to leave for a couple of hours so that shes not bored. Do you think silence is better? I have had pets my whole life but birds are soo different!!

thank you in advance for any input

 

[suebee]

firstly start gettin her use to being in cage, even when you are at home, have set cage times

make sure there are lots of things to keep her entertained! shredding/foraging toys are nuts fav

don't be collecting another bird till your life is more settled, your sennie should live another 30yrs and if the other sennie is a boy, you will most prob end up with babies!

if she is on her own, i leave telly or music on for nut, lowish

 

[sammiesue]

Thank you for the response! I definitely wouldnt want babies. I think you are right though another bird is not good right now.

So you think its important to have the cage closed? If thats the case i will do that. I dont know why I feel so bad about closing her cage!! But i do thinks its important because her wings were clipped when i first got her and she can fly now so i dont want her to chew some wires or something.

I will start today with closing it for a bit. Also should i cover it? Should i keep the lights on or off? I read that parrots like good lighting but does that mean all the time during the day?

 

[suebee]

as long as the room they are in to sleep is quet an darkabout 10hrs a day
nut is covered in travel cage

i think in the long run its good to get her use to the cage! as she will be spending time in it! but if she has no idea what to do with toys, play with some with her etc and always have quality time with her at end of the day, no matter how busy you have been


as for the lighting natural day light is good, especially outside, but dont have it to bright before bed time, you can get special uv lights for birds

 

[mtdoramike]

Well, first off, I had to look up what the meaning of anthropomorphist or ism is. So I'm not sure how much help I'll be. But I feel the same way when ever i leave the house and leave my Senegal home alone for a few hours. She will actually nip me with her beak before I can get her in her cage and on her perch. Today, she nipped me twice before I could get her locked up in her cage. So as you can see, my bird is spoiled rotten and used to be free all day long. She can really lay a guilt trip on me.

That's why I have been wanting to get her a companion so that she won't feel as alone when we have to go out for several hours. We are retired so we are home with her most of the time.

But for your sake, it's best not to allow your bird to become to dependant on you knowing you will have school coming and will have other commitments during the day. I agree with Sue, get her used to her cage and get plenty of toys in there you give your bird something to do.But look at it this way, it's the same line your parents used on you "This is going to hurt me more than it will you".

 

[sammiesue]

hahaha, I dont even know if i was using anthropomorphism in the correct way so what do I know! I am sure she will start nipping me too when i try to put her in her cage! I did put her in her cage for over an hour today and she was biting the cage for half an hour then just relaxed and started eating her pellets. She has a bunch of toys and she doesnt really play she DESTROYS Sammies favorite thing is to tear apart stuff. Thanks for the advice and I will now be having cage time everyday thanks!! I think we feel bad..at least one of the reason i think I feel bad about the cage is that Birds kind of represent freedom and the cage is well a cage.

 

[suebee]

you said it there sammie i feel bad having nut in her cage for that same reason! no bird should be caged, but with saying that having her out all the time made her aggressive and discontent, as really she just saw the house as another cage and if she got out of the house it would mean certain death, possibly from kestrals or the crows, not to mention the cats etc

so its a case of making the best out of the current situation

keep us up dated on your sennies progress

 

[Karigan]

One thing you can do is leaving the house more often, or just having her in another room. If you're going to be gone up to eight hours, you have the next month to get her used to you being away. Maybe try isolating her for 2,4,6, then 8 hours alone at a time, to see how she does. Go for walks, outings, or put her in a quiet room.

 

[sammiesue]

I have been putting her in her cage for about 2 hours a day now and also all night. Ill increase the time and keep getting her used to it. Ill keep doing that and thank you for all the help

 

[suebee]

i think she will be ok, they do adapt to new situations an the way you are doing it, when it happens will not be a sudden change! thank you for being so considerate with your little sennie

 

[sammiesue]

Thank you for helping me! One more question hahaha. She like to crawl into my shirt. Is she trying to nest on me? Should I not let her do this? It is cute so I attached a picture for fun!

 

[suebee]

lol it is cute, mine likes to kinda nessle between my friends chest an all, when ever said friend is about she, strait in there lol

i've no idea if its a bad thing or not, but in the long run it will be something she will insist on doing if you let her do it now, and be harder to say no, when say your wearing your best top etc lol

 

[sammiesue]

haha true! but I have learned I never ever where something nice and have her on me because she'll bite a hole in it or poop on it. I learned my lesson when I went to school after holding her. I didnt realize she dropped the biggest poo ever on me and i sat all through class with it smeared all over my back and no one told me!! Oh the humiliation!

Ps I just read all your posts on Nut, I love the cherry post! I also recognize some same behaviors...imo theres no other animal in the world that can teach you patience and forgiveness like a senegal can

 

[suebee]

lol nut is not allowed out of her sleepcage till she has dropped that morning poop! so poor you! all day with it on your back!

lol yeah sennies are something else, but worth all the effort, if nut wasn't so charming she'd get away with alot less!! lol

 

[Karigan]

My girl does that when I wear my house coat. I think it's just a comfort thing.