I belong to TC and TB. My cockatiel is a wonderful male named Pepper. He is a sweet bird and is the reason I have gotten into birds. I also own 2 little budgies. They are not tame- we are working on that, however it is a very slow process.
I am contemplating adopting a Senagal who is 5 mos. old. I am hoping to get a call tomorrow letting me know if he is available. I have read a lot about them and they appear to be wonderful parrots! I would love to hear more from those of you who own them.
I look forward to learning more and hopefully getting to know you all!
Hello and welcome to the forum, there are many members on here with different birds from the Poicephalus family, and I know quite a few have Senegals, sadly I don't but from what everybody has said they sound pretty great! I haven't really had much experience with them, sorry If you look around the forums you'll see loads!
I have a senegal. She was about 6 months old when I got her. She had been hand fed. She doesn't like anyone other than me, but she is pretty nice to me. When she is in the mood, she likes to be "scritched" for several minutes at a time. The best time to cuddle with her is in the evenings. She has fun playing with her toys. I consider she is probably about as loud as the average cockatiel. She becomes frightened easily. She might be afraid of a trash bag, a rope, a comb - any random object. Pois are known to develop phobias, and there are some good suggestions for things you can do while they are growing up that will help with this. I like the book published by Barrons and written by Mattie Sue Athen and Dianalee Deter about senegals and their relatives as well as For the Love of Greys by Bobbi Brinker. Senegals are OFTEN very aggressive toward other birds. They enjoy having them in their environment, but are likely to hurt them if they can reach them. I just keep my senegal on a playstand that is too far away from the other birds if they are out of their cages at the same time. She is good about staying on her playstand. I do NOT hold her at the same time I am holding anyone else. If it is her turn for cuddles, the others either have to be trustworthy to stay on their respective playstands, or I put them in their cages. She is easily taught tricks and seems to enjoy clicker training. She requires a little more "planning" and "training" and "consideration" than my littler birds, but she is worth it.
I decided against the Senegal. He had not been hand fed at all and was quite wild still. I know with time he would come around, but due to their nature of becoming one person birds I decided it would be better.
However, I did end up with two new additions... I now am the proud new mama of two beautiful green cheeked conures. They are supposedly weaned- although they are very young. Hence my first question! The Pineapple Cheek was hatched on January 30th (he has also been DNA'd and is a male) and the normal was hatched on February 1st (he/she has not been tested). Both apparently came from a breeder in Florida (the girl I got them from was re-homing due to "allergies"). I have read that babies can revert to needing to be hand fed when stressed and want to make sure that I give them the absolute best care!
What do I need to be alert to as to their being truly weaned? Both are eating their Harrison's pellets (fine) and they both ate some of their carrots and parsley this morning. The normal also liked the unsalted peanut I offered him/her and took it from my hand.
The Pineapple is a little shyer. The normal is very outgoing. Neither are completely tame yet, but they also just came home to my house. I have them upstairs in my room for the next month or so for quarantine. I am able to catch them relatively easily and they do pretty much stay on my shoulder/back of my neck. The normal one likes to burrow in my hair, which is long.
I would love to hear from those of you who have Green-Cheeks.
They do seem very young to be weaned. Do you have a way to monitor their weight? Watch their droppings. If they turn very dark, they are starving. Green cheeks are great birds. I have a pineapple. However, they do tend to become very nippy when housed with other conures, especially right after weaning. If you notice they are becoming wild and very rough, housing them in separate cages can help. They will go through a "teething" stage in which they have to learn how hard they can bite you without hurting you, but if they become very nippy toward you, and especially if they loose interest in you and are only interested in one another, put them in separate cages if at all possible. Congratulations. I love green cheeks. I think they are a little easier to handle than most senegals, too.
Thanks Nanay. I currently have them in one cage but am planning on splitting them up. Not only does it prevent one from picking on the other (namely my original picking on my pineapple) but it makes it so much easier to work with them. My original already throws a hissy fit when I take the pineapple out alone- it really was quite humorous!
Right at this moment, the original is asleep under my hair at the back of my neck (or I am assuming he is sleeping, I hear periodic little grinding noises and he is very still) and the pineapple is sitting on my right shoulder. Both will settle down if I cup my hand over their backs, but I am not sure if that is just because they are afraid or what.
I am very, very excited to have these little guys. I was ready to "step-up" and these little ones fell into my lap, so to speak. Let me know what I can do to foster a lasting bond and I will keep reading all I can as well! I am hoping to be able to post some pics either later this evening or tomorrow.
I cup my hand over Shira when she is in a snit, too. I wonder the same thing. She quiets right down and doesn't seem to be frightened - BUT, if she really is frightened and is just still because she is scared out of her wits, I don't want to continue to do that.
What do others think? Shira is the only bird I do this with. When she was little and I took her to "behavioral" classes, the vet, who was the teacher, would cup a hand over her as she was sitting on her hand. I always thought that was just to get her used to having a hand cup her like that, in case she needed to be handled similarly during an exam. The vet is a big proponent of training birds to accept whatever type of handling might be necessary in an emergency or illness. I then did this myself to get her used to it in case of an emergency. I don't know why I started to do this when she would become overly wild and nippy, but it works. If it works because it calms her down, great. If it works because it frightens her, that is very bad. I was wondering about this before Marcell made the post, and the post sparked me to ask.
I'm wondering if maybe it works because it simulates the chick being under mama's wing? If that is the case it's a good thing. I don't get the impression that he is terrified... More so that it offers a sense of security. Not sure though, as these are the first conures I've ever had. My cockatiel hates it usually and will turn to bite most often. Of course, he want affection on his schedule not mine! He will sit for head scritches for 10-15 min. then decide he's done.
I've read elsewhere that you have to be careful with the affection you show/length of time you show it.... What are your views regarding this? Does it in rease the risk of them seeing us as a "mate"? Increase risk of sexual behavior? I know I don't have to worry about that for a while with these little guys due to their young age, but I'm curious....
I believe touching them where only a mate would touch them could cause a problem. Other than that, affection isn't harmful. This does not mean that they won't become possessive, or try to feed you, or even engage in other "activities". Many do.
I think I came up with names!!! Jasper for the little pineapple GCC and Jade for the little original GCC... I know that my little pineapple is a male- so Jasper is fine. Jade I think is kind of unisex.
Thanks! Jasper (the stone) comes in yellows, browns, reds etc.- hence why the pineapple is named that! Jade, obviously, is green- but comes in various shades- hence the original. Can you tell that I like gemstones etc.?
Wow- little Jade is doing so well! He now comes begging to come out of the cage when I go into my room. I got him out a little bit ago and held him and he sat on my chest and just cuddled with me for about 10 minutes. He is also doing really well with stepping up and staying off my shoulder. Separating them has really helped!
Jasper on the other hand still doesn't really want anything to do with me. Every time I go to his cage he runs away to the top of the cage. I am kind of at a loss as to what I should be doing with him... give him his space and just keep talking to him? He does sit on my shoulder when I do take him out of the cage- he just isn't at this point interested in interacting on his own.
I know that I am rushing things- I guess it is just hard because little Jade seems to be seeking me out now and it's only been a week. Both of them have such different personalities and I just don't want to make mistakes. Advice would really be greatly appreciated!!!
Just go steady with you birds. You haven't had them for very long so don't expect too much of them. I suggest with Jasper that you try target training to start with.
Cute names! I have a Pineapple named "Libby". I call her a "she", but don't know whether she is or not. I love her to pieces! She turned a year old in February and has been with me for almost a year. What a character!!! Green Cheeks are the BEST!
Libby is a very cute name! Jade is doing so well. Jasper is still very unsure as to the whole human thing. He did hang out with my daughter today and let her give him scritches. I'm very enthralled with these little guys!
I'm taking them in for a health check Thursday. I'd like to know Jade's sex because I have 2 and know Jasper is male. Either way is fine by me!
I have a regular green cheek her names is Squiggy and she will be a year old in June, she is a happy little camper and she adores my quaker lol thoose 2 get along great and I haven't had any isuues with her at all
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