Senegal parrot afraid of paper???

[Emily15]

Hi! I currently own 2 Senegal parrots. One of them is terrified of paper. Every time a piece of paper floats around or makes noises and he can see it, he jumps off his cage!!! He's gonna get himself hurt one day because he just jumps off and lands in no particular place. Sometimes he even bumps into something before landing. Is there any way to get him out of his fear of paper??? It's really weird because his buddy (also a Senegal parrot) isn't afraid of it at all, and sometimes even chews on it.

 

[noodles123]

If he sees paper but can't hear it is he okay?
If you showed him patterned paper that didn't look like paper and you didn't crinkle it, would his reaction be the same?
Does he freak out if it is just sitting still on a table?

 

[Sandy19]

Take your most important, paper documents and sit them near his cage. He'll eventually shred them up, it's Murphy's law.

 

[EllenD]

You need to set pieces of paper near his cage right in his constant line of view, that's a start. As far as the sound of "crinkling" paper up, it's just a matter of continually doing it around him until he no longer fears it. It could take a long time to desensitize him to the sight/sound, but eventually if you just keep doing it around him and he sees that nothing bad happens to him, he'll eventually let the fear go...

 

[LordTriggs]

I would actually avoid crinkling the paper around him at first, might be a bit much along with getting used to it visually. Once he gets used to the paper and eventually tries to play with it it'll make noises and he should realize the noises aren't bad

 

[Laurasea]

Is the one that is scared a rescue? Because many terrible people beat the cages of birds with paper rolled up when they scream, or hut them with paper if they bite. So he could have a really bad association with paper. Even in that case you can habituated them to paper abd crinkles, show paper give treat, crinkle (when in cage and can't get hurt) give treat go slow read the body language, repeat and repeat. If you have two people one can crinkle the paper far away while you give treats and reassure., Working a little every day till the person crinkles can be right next to you. Good luck

 

[Emily15]

I have a big poster that is rolled up. The outside is a thick, white paper....he can't hear me when I move it, so it can't be just the sound. I think it's some of both. I'll try getting him used to it by keeping some near him, but I already keep paper on the bottom of the cage to catch their droppings.
No, the bird is not from a rescue...my parents are missionaries here in a country in West Africa, called Burkina Faso. Some people will catch the birds from the wild, and sell them on the side of the road. The may have been abused by paper before (haha!! that's a funny way to put it! ), but I don't see why one would be scared and not the other. When we bought them, they were together in the same cage.

 

[Laurasea]

Ahh, they may not always have been together. Or for one the sound may remind him of the sound of the sack he was placed in when caught. As intelligent individuals a past trauma may effect each one uniquely. I would aprouch it as a trauma with that sound and just try and help him past it. When you leave Africa will you be able to take the parrots with you?

 

[noodles123]

My bird isn't scared of paper but she would definitely freak over a rolled-up poster(due to size and shape). 1.5 -2 FT is the in-hand size range she tolerates -- up close..my bird would fly if I carried something large and unfamiliar like that near her cage lol...she really hates stick-shaped objects too.

 

[Emily15]

Ok. Thanks for all the advice. I'll try what you guys have said and see if he eventually gets over his fears.
I probably won't be able to take them with me when I go back to the US. They will most likely stay with my parents and younger siblings who will not leave the mission field quite yet.

 

[Emily15]

I still have two years or so before I have to leave.