Baby parrots!!! Senegals- updated with Pic

[KatnipCrzy]

One of my pairs of birds laid fertile eggs and I now have 2 baby Senegal parrots!  I took pictures and tried to load them but my camera will not load to my PC- so I either need to get a card reader, a new camera cord, or dig out our older digital camera.  They grow so much day by day.  The first one that hatched was about the size of my thumb!  and now almost a week later they look 2-3 times bigger.  The second baby hatched 2 days later (the eggs are laid about 2 days apart- so they hatch at different times).

They are with Mom and Dad for now to get a good head start on life- but will later be taken out to be hand raised by me.  They will not be tame and pets unless they are handfed and raised.  Mom is doing a great job taking care of them- Dad seems to be doing OK but no where near as diligent as Mom is.  This Tuku and Kirby’s second clutch- but it is the first clutch they have had while I have had them- and they are my first ever baby birds to raise (I have raised many baby mammals before).

I will have to gets some pics loaded so people can see them.  They are ugly and cute all at the same time!

At least the parents had great timing- we are going to Chicago at the end of the month- and the babies will be with the parents until then.  It is hard/very difficult to travel a lot with baby birds to raise. 

My flock consists of: (All African parrots)

Kirby- my first parrot- my personal pet- an African Red Bellied Parrot

Beepers and Jahzi- African Grey Timnehs- have only laid infertile eggs- were previous pets but are now bonded together- are handleable and talk- but not trustworthy like a pet parrot.

Tuku and Kirby- Senegals- (yes, I have 2 birds named Kirby) but I have almost always refered to these birds as Evil and Eviler- as they were previous pets before being paired together so they are not afraid of humans- but not affectionate towards them.

Leo and Hera- Senegals- Hera is Tuku’s mom- both had previous babies but not together.  They are not tame and I do not handle them.

Kiwi- lone male Senegal that lost his mate

Bud- lutino lovebird that is caged next to Kiwi and they seem to like each other- they are always on the same side of the cage to see each other. 

I did not pair any of the birds together- I got them from a breeder/friend that was looking to rehome them.

[KytKattin]

Oh wow, that is a lot of birds! Well, we have a lot too, but they are chickens and we eat their eggs (but not them! We love our chickens! Our oldest was 8 years). I looked up Senegal parrots and they are very pretty. Are they loud? Do they require a lot of attention, or not so much if they are bonded? Do they get bored easily? What sort of cages do you keep them in? Sorry for all the questions. One day I would love to have a small parrot, but like a salt water tank, it is beyond my price range and time commitment currently.

[Sarita]

Oh, I’d love to see pictures. You have so many birds – would love to see pictures of all of them.

[RabbitPam]

Katnip that is so cool!

My vet is a specialist in birds, and then she treats exotics. (No dogs or cats.)

don’t the Africans live into their 60s?

[KatnipCrzy]

African greys can live into their 60’s and these smaller African parrots like the Senegal and Red Bellied can live into their 30’s.  They are still discovering much about how long they can live and what their captive needs are.  The first parrots in the US would have been imported as wild caught and there was no way to tell how old they were- but now that those are having babies and subsequent generations are having babies it gives a better idea of how long they will live.  They can be very sensitive to things- so household incidents like overheated teflon and other mishaps can kill them.

Here is a pic I took of the babies yesterday.  I named them Muppet and Beaker.  Muppet is older by 2 days and a little darker in color, Beaker is a little smaller and more vocal and caught onto handfeeding faster than Muppet.  They are doing great though- I feed them 3-4 times a day- and even when their crops are bulging they still beg and cry for more food (It makes me feel bad having to stop, but I know that they are full).  They cuddle into our hands, squeak and beg for food- they are very endearing.

 

 

[Sarita]

Oh my gosh – they are so cute. I would love to hold a baby bird.

[Sonn]

I love baby birds! My grandpa used to show Cockatiels and breed them I always loved watching the baby birds lol

[mrmac]

They are too cute! I love their names too!

[RabbitPam]

that pix is incredible, Katnip.

Since you’re feeding them steadily, does that bond them with you for life? (Are you imprinting on them? I think that’s the right term.)

[Elrohwen]

That is so cool! I’ve wanted a parrot for a long time, but I’m a little afraid of them since I’ve never had any hands on experience. I would still love to get an African Grey or an Amazon someday. Can we see more pics of your flock?

And those babies are absolutely adorable. You definitely need to update with pics as they grow!

[katie, max & penny]

Soo beautiful!!
And Elrohwen, African greys are wonderful pets! they’re so smart and affectionate.
oh and how do you pronounce your screen name? i read everything out loud in my head and i can’t figure out how to say it

[KatnipCrzy]

They don’t “imprint” on a certain person- but they do learn to trust humans (or distrust I suppose).  It can be pretty common for parrots to develop a gender preference.  My pet parrot- prefers women- and he tries to regurg for all the girls at work when I take him in for his nail and wing trims.  My pet parrot I did not get as a baby, but as an adult- his breeder and handfeeder was a guy, but his first owner was a 18 year old girl who lived at home and then moved out- so her Mom brought the parrot back as she had not wanted him in the first place.  The bird store owner even told me that Kirby did not like guys and especially seemed to delight in giving him a hard time- and he was the one who had handraised him 2 1/2 years prior!

Not to make things too confusing- but I do have two birds named Kirby.  My first Kirby is my pet Red Bellied Parrot that I mentioned above.  The second parrot named Kirby came to me paired with Tuku and is the mother of the babies I am raising now.  But most often we refer to Tuku and Kirby as Evil and Eviler- as they were both handraised- paired together- bonded together- so they are not afraid of humans and seem to enjoy scaring us into spilling their food, startling us, etc.   Tukeu flirts with me, laughs his evil laugh and then Kirby gets in a beak swordfight with him for screwing around.  They are like a naughty married couple.

The breeding pairs that I have set up, I don’t consider them my “pet:” parrots since that level of trust is not there.  The African Greys will step up for me and are quite well behaved but I know any breeding instincts will take precedence over affection for me.  So they are not my “pet” but they are in my care and I do care about them.

I will definitely keep everyone posted on pics of Muppet and Beaker as they grow up!  I love the little babies so much- there is more danger of ME getting “imprinted”/attached on them than the other way around.

 

 

[Elrohwen]

Posted By katiehedger on 07/07/2009 06:28 PM
Soo beautiful!!
And Elrohwen, African greys are wonderful pets! they’re so smart and affectionate.
oh and how do you pronounce your screen name? i read everything out loud in my head and i can’t figure out how to say it

 

Katie, here’s my best attempt at phonetic spelling: ell – row – wen

 

Katnip, are the birds that aren’t your “pets” rescues? Do you keep them for breeding so you can raise the babies?

I’m also curious about the bonded pairs. Once birds are bonded to each other, does that automatically make them not good pets because they become more into each other than the owner?

[KatnipCrzy]

I guess I would not consider them “rescues” per say since they came from a home that provided adequate care- but they were looking to rehome them since they had a toddler and were getting out of breeding birds.  The only pair that was “proven”- had produced together before was Tuku and Kirby who had 1 clutch right before I got them- the others have not had babies together or had babies at all.  So they needed a good home that would care for them whether they had babies or not.  I have had them for about 2-3 years before they had babies. 

The only ones that would be suitable as pets would be the African Greys- they are still quite interested in humans and I am able to handle them without a towel, etc.  The Senegals are not suitable as pets- Tuku and Kirby were previous pets but are now bonded together and not friendly towards humans and like to try to get a reaction out of the person feeding and caring for them.  All the other Senegals (3) were wild caught and must be older and avoid me when I clean and feed.

The condition to getting them was that I would provide a good home- that was more important than $ to him.  So I bought cages and paid a nominal rehoming fee and brought them home.

Once they do bond to each other they are usually not as affectionate towards humans as there are other instincts driving them to protect their “mate”, etc.  I am not sure if there is a relation between still being handleable and the strength of their pair bond.  Jahzi and Beepers had infertile eggs once- and Beepers (the female) was crazy aggressive when I took care of them, feeding, etc.  So breeding behavior does affect them when they are mating, have eggs or chicks.

Julie

[KatnipCrzy]

another pic taken today- they are starting to grow their green feathers in.

[mrmac]

So much little fluff! They have progressed so much in a week! Too cute!

[tabalab]

they already have color! how cute!

[RabbitPam]

Squeeeee!!!!!

[Author]

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