Well, I am adopting a Senegal parrot! I have had my QP, Peanut Butter for almost 6 years now. So it will be interesting to see how Peanut Butter reacts to having another bird in the house. We aren't putting the cages in the same room at first, so she will just be hearing the new bird from the other room. I am really excited to get a new bird!! I can't wait to post some pictures!!

I feel a little bit like a bird geek now

Well if you are a bird geek, then I guess we all are guilty.... can't help it I guess....

You'll enjoy the senegal---they are a wonderful species....My sister has one and his personality is so much different from a quaker....(well I guess all birds are different ).....Wishing you much happiness and success with your new addition...

By the way, I'd love to see pictures of your golden retrievers....I love goldens.....

Congratulations! Senegals seem like such sweet birds! Looking forward to lots of pictures!

LuvMyHarley,

I think I had actually emailed you some pictures of all my dogs before a few months ago? Bruiser and Bailey, my goldens, are actually half golden retriever (mom a pure bred) and half yellow labrador retriever (pure bred dad), but we only claim the mom's blood, just like a person

You must be very excited. Congradulations!

Oh Congrats!!!! Senegals are wonderful birds!!! Can't wait to see some photographs

Also, it's great that you are going to practice quarantine and keep the two birds separate. This is SO important!!

Yes, even though he is coming from a home with a veterinarian, I just don't want to risk getting anybody sick! So besides sneezing, what are the other signs I would look for in a sick bird? My bird has never been truly sick, sometimes in the winter I hear her sneezing a little, and we just keep her cage covered except for the front and make sure she isn't in any drafts, and it goes away in a day or two. I know there are also some fungi birds can get, and mites as well (I think).

Is this is avian vet the bird is coming from? If so, you might want to ask if the bird has been tested for all the major diseases. If he hasn't yet, you may want to consider having that done.

When do you get to bring him home?

No, he isn't an avian vet. I am waiting to hear when I get to move the new bird in, because the people were out of town on the weekend. So, I am hoping today or early this week.

What are the diseases that you can test for in birds?

OK, so the new Senegal came home last night. He came with a HUGE cage, it is about 3-4 times the size of Peanut Butter's cage! I hope she doesn't get jealous (event though her cage is perfectly sized for her). He is already talking a little bit, which is something Peanut Butter won't do around new people or strangers, or if she is nervous. He is a little bit timid right now, the people had just moved to a down-sized house and then he had to come to my house. So I am sure he just needs a little time

After uncovering P.B. first this morning, and getting her out for the usual kisses, fawning, fresh food/water, and then some perch time on top of the cage while I was doing my physical therapy exercises, then she went back in her cage. Then into the kitchen to uncover new bird, and while eating my cereal I had his cage door open, but he didn't want to come out just yet. He did have a Cheerio from me though

So, new bird's name is Birdo. I am not really fond of this name. But I would like some input from anyone who has taken in a bird and switched his/her name. Is it like dogs, where they will eventually learn the new and everything will be fine (I assume since birds are smarter than dogs that it shouldn't be a problem -- I have to cover my dogs eyes so they won't know I wrote that heehee). Or would it be better just to leave it Birdo. Since half the time I call P.B. BIRD! anyway, and I will probably call Birdo BIRD! also, I guess it wouldn't make to much difference if he had a different "official" name.

On another note, my husband is a hoot. He thinks P.B. will be jealous of the new cage and want a bigger one, and that I shouldn't talk to Birdo in the same way that I talk to her, since she is used to being the only bird getting talked to, and she will think I am talking to her. Sigh. I know she may get jealous, but right now she can't see the cage and can only hear Birdo. So, should I use separate talking voices for them?

Hihi,

Congrats on the Sennie. They are lovely birds, but, as you will discover, they are very different from QPs. Generally speaking, African parrots are much less outgoing and noisy than South Americans. I speak from experience: 2 Patagonian Conures make three times the noise of 6 African Greys!

I'm glad to hear that you are quarantining your Sennie. You just can't be too careful. Even if he is not ill himself, he may well be carrying pathogens to which P.B. is not used.

One piece of advice - and one that it always hurts me to have to give: don't let your new Sennie out of his cage for a good couple of weeks. I hate cages! On principle! But he must get used to his new surroundings first, new sounds, new smells, new people. If something were to spook him early on before he has got used to his new surroundings, he may panic and injure himself.

On the same note, make sure that, the first time you let him out of his cage, you do so at night with the curtains/drapes closed. There is no worse feeling for the dedicated parrot owner than seeing a beloved bird flying into a window pane...

My second ever Grey, a poor, badly abused bird, came to us with the name of Rupert. We felt we had to change his name, simply because, he would cower and scream with fear whenever we called it. Years later, Induna is now a confident, healthy, happy bird, who answers to his new name with alacrity. ( My Big Bad Baby Boy! ) So yes, name changes work. If there is no bad history associated with his name, and no bad memories, then you could try adding your newly chosen name for him to Birdo for some months. Then, eventually, just stop using that name, calling him only by the new name.

After 40 days quarantine, it is important that you introduce the new Sennie to P.B. in the right way for them to accept each other. I posted on this issue here just yesterday, so I hope you will forgive me if I am lazy and don't type it all out again.

I hope that helps.

Quark,

Yes, I did indeed read your post from yesterday, and was definitely planning on following the "slow cage moving process" when the time comes to introduce the birds. Nice and slow I would NEVER want to see my birds get hurt, so I am in no hurry to introduce them and have them playing. It is still several weeks away anyhow.

Right now, I have had Birdo out of the cage a little bit, but while I am standing by the cage talking to him, about 5 minutes at a time, a.m. and p.m. He is still pretty timid, so I am content to leave him in his cage and chat with him.

And I can already tell what a difference these two birds are! Birdo will just move away from my finger if he doesn't want to step up, while P.B. would just bite it!! Also, he mimics me almost immediately! P.B. takes her sweet time to learn new words/sounds, whispering to practice them for days, then mumbling them for weeks, before shouting them out. Birdo also like to observe me from afar in the cage, while P.B. was more of a "let me get a good look at you" from as close as she could get to you. I haven't been able to pet Birdo yet, ony get him to step up. So I am going to continue going really slow with him, since he is obviously still very nervous and timid. He does like to imitate P.B. though!

I don't believe there is any bad memories attached to his name at all, he came from a good home, but due to the two family's circumstances, felt they couldn't keep the bird. (1st owner was a vet, and his wife was having a baby and felt it would be too much noise, which I don't really understand, b/c if that is all the baby ever heard, they wouldn't know the difference. So the vet found him a home with a vet tech at the vet school, and then they had to downsize their house, and had a cockatoo and a grey and 3 HUGE cages, in a tiny house all in the living room. So the vet asked me if I could take him, very concerned about him going to a home where someone understood birds etc.) So he was loved and well cared for (I will post some pics) and doesn't seem to mind being called Birdo. So my husband likes the name, and I don't, but maybe it will grow on me. I will wait and see!

SOrry for the long post, but thanks you guys, for some really great advice on introducing a new bird! I am really glad I found this forum

Here are some pictures of Birdo! New Senegal! He's still getting used to his surroundings, BUT he came to the bars when I was talking to him and put his head down to get some scritches!!! Exciting!