Parenting Our Kids

Giving Time - Teaching Skills for Life

Jasper is my special little parrot

by Jack

I have a senegal parrot called Jasper.

Jasper is a lovely parrot and is part of our family.He is very gentle with me and will allow other people to pick him up on a stick and feed him titbits.
I can pick him up in my hands, he will lie on his back and wings so I can stroke him. He takes food from my mouth if I offer it.

Most parrots have to be trained well or can turn nasty.They make good companions and need alot of attention.
They generally bond with one person but to stop them becoming agressive you should get them used to all the people in the house.

They need to be out of their cage alot and need lots of things to do or they can get bored because they are very intelligent and clever birds. our parrot likes to chew willow that is safe. all parrots like to chewon wood of varying toughness, as long as there is stuff they can break they will not get bored and chew your stuff. They will not then get bored with the hard wood that they cannot break which keeps their beak from becoming too long and sharp.
Parrots need their claws clipped if they become too long, you can get special perches that help keep claws short and blunt, but may not keep them short enough. The parrots wings will need clipping if you keep them inside and don't want them to fly. Parrots who can fly are more likely to become injured or die in the home.

Parrots make a lot of noise and will copy any sound that interests them like sirens, alarms, screams, whistles, and other noises they also copy some words if u can get them interested in copying it. Parrots keep their natural instinct to call when they wake up and just before they sleep. They call when they wake up to see who has survived the night and who has found any food; and they call just before they sleep to see who has survived the day.
Parrots normally wont wake up until you get up or unless they hear a lot of noise.
Normally you cannot stop them calling at these times but some parrots will not do it but all parrots will call at least once a day so you will have to live with that. When parrots make noises that annoy you shouting at them or other outbursts will only make them worse the best way is to distract them with a noise that you like and will interest them.
Parrots will compete with any noise that is louder than what they are doing.
The way to stop this is to stop or lower the noise that is being made.

They need a daily routine and if something dramatic changes they can be badly affected.

They need to be cleaned often because they are quite messy and you have to watch their food and water bowls because they like to chuck food everywhere and slosh water on to the floor. They also like to bath in their water so you dont want them bathing in dirty water.
I personally give Jasper a shower with a spray bottle that can spray water; a bit like when it rains. I use luke warm water once a week to clean him because parrots like to be showered and it cleans him better because when he baths he cant make it go all over him.

Parrots need to be watched carefully all the time unless they are in their cage because they are curious birds and can get into trouble very easily, the main threats are drowning, being trapped in drawers, flying into walls when surprised, and getting outside through an open door or window. Parrots will not survive long outside because of the weather, and predators; they will not be able to get food because they have not had to find food all their lives.

You cannot tell what sex a parrot is unless u have an operation or a blood test on them but both are unpleasant for the bird and I would not recommend it unless you are going to breed them.
I would recommend senegal parrots to most people and to most familys that have a person at home most of the time and as long as a parent or guardian is there to watch any young children with the parrot and to watch the parrot itself because they can harm the child and the child can harm them.