I actually just got a Senegal Parrot from Parrots of the World and am absolutely delighted! He’s adorable, pretty quiet, and quite frankly a little spoiled . He stepped up immediately, is a “chatty kathy” trying to say everything (baby babble from a baby bird w/some randomly/decently pronounced words), is pretty well behaved, and interested in everything.

I noticed when I’m feeding him fruit and introducing something new–blueberries for example–if he has a favorite in sight (honeydew or cantalope) other than what’s in hand–he’ll stab at what he doesn’t want, and if it’s not dropped in favor of what he wants, he’ll let you know with a little beak-action. When he does, I do my best not to show any signs of discomfort, withdraw, and return a few minutes later. (I’m a newbie, having taken care of an Amazon parrot many years ago as my sole prior experience.) I’m not sure if it’s what I should do, but that’s what I do. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I suppose I’m just writing this to note that that’s what I’ve noticed for a tendency, or trigger, for nipping. Frankly, I believe it’s a control-issue, and I assume the best approach is not to submit. I’ve also noticed the pre-mature cage return When I see his head’s coming down and I’m returning him to his 6′x3′ flight cage (spoiled) I place my hand close under one of the perches so there’s not enough room for him to nip, but enough for him to step-up on the perch–it seems to work.

Again, any suggestions welcome.

PS: I truly love this bird: The aforementioned instances are a couple of 100′s of pleasurable ones. He’s happy, engaging and so cute when he’s yapping away, it cracks me up.