Update on the New Bird...

Well, first of all we have changed his name. Rascal just seems more like a fuzzy critter type name to me and I just couldn't get used to calling a bird by it. His new name is Solo, as in Han Solo (since we already have Yoda).

I think he will take a longer time to adjust than my other birds did. We had an incident the other day where I was able to get him out of the cage on a perch, but he panicked, escaped, and flew around in terror while we tried to round him up in as swift and non-predatory manner as possible. It still scared him though. We were going to take him to the vet after he had settled in more, but I was very concerned he was going to badly hurt himself flying into stuff (he flew into a few things when he escaped), so we took him to the vet yesterday to get his wings clipped and get him checked out while we were there. He's still pretty upset with us.

I suppose we will just give him as much time as he needs to settle in and warm up to us.

Poor fella Glad he's ok. Maybe next time you want to give him time out of the cage simply open the door and let him come out on his own terms? And of course if he does come out treats, treats, treats galore

I didn't know you got a new addition, what kind of bird? I feel like Yoda is a quaker parrot but I may be thinking of someone else... Is this guy a quaker?

Solo is a Senegal. We attended an exotic animal auction, and it turns out that his old owner was a friend of the person I went to the sale with. She had gotten him from a woman whose daughter had owned him and then went off to college, and the mom didn't want to deal with a bird. His previous owner had him for about a year but discovered she wasn't really a bird person, said he was too loud for her apartment, and decided to sell him at the auction, so we are his third home as far as I can tell ( he's 12 years old).

I see now that I moved way to fast for him. I'm going to continue sitting in his room and reading to him with the change door open, and just take it slow and steady. He enjoys cashews as a treat. He was Hartz parrot seed mix, so we are at least trying to switch him to a better quality seed mix, then we will switch to pellets.

It's so hard to wait when you are excited with a new pet but I think deciding to slow things down is a really wise decision. Senegals are gorgeous - please do post pictures and keep us updated. I am sure he will be out and wanting attention in no time.

Do you have a perch or a jungle gym thing on the top of his cage? My old crabby lady loves to come out and just hang on top of her rope perch which we attached to the top of her cage. If you have something similar maybe you could casually leave a few cashews out so when Solo goes to check it out he thinks being outside the cage is not so bad afterall

He sounds a bit like Toby was when it came to flying. He always preferred to walk than fly as he wasn't very good at flying. Cleo on the other hand I gave up on clipping her wings. I was afraid the only way to stop her from flying was to pull those feathers all the way out. It didn't matter how many or short we clipped them, she still flew. So I gave up, now she can fly till her hearts content.

Give him time, he will adjust.

This evening I was able to change his water without him growling at me, which is an improvement. He is still nervous when I am very close to his cage or have my hands in the cage scrubbing the bars on the bottom grates--his respiration speeds up. I ate in the room and he watched me for a while and then decided to eat too.

Just to let you know he may never quite growling. Cleo still growls it just depends on what shes growling about. Most times I think its just cause she likes the sound.