I was chatting with a friend the other day who has always been really interested in keeping his own parrots.
That hasn’t ever really been a possibility, unfortunately—until now.
He’s slightly daunted but very excited by the possibility, so he’s been doing tons of research.
He came to me with some questions as he knows I have experience, and one thing he asked about was Senegal parrots.
He was wondering if they were any good for beginners, so I decided to look into it.
So, are Senegal parrots good for beginners?
Yes, Senegal parrots are great for beginners! They’re relatively easy to train and care for, and have friendly temperaments. That said, they are still parrots, and are not like other pets in that regard. Keeping them is more of a challenge than typical pets, so be sure to keep that in mind.
Whatever parrot you are thinking of adopting, you must be aware that they are reasonably difficult to keep, when compared with other pets.
They are very different in terms of needs, training and stimulation, so you must keep this in mind.
Let’s look further into this.
Are Senegal parrots easy to train?
Yes, they are, relatively speaking.
Training parrots is still always very different from training other animals, and it is heavily dependent on the particular parrot that you go for.
An older Senegal parrot is going to be harder to train than a younger one.
It also depends on what you mean by train.
In terms of basic behavioral things, you should have no problem.
You can teach them not to bite and peck with ease, and some basic toilet training, too—although this is notoriously always a problem with parrots.
However, if you want to train them to do tricks and such things, then this will present more of a challenge.
Parrots are each highly individual, and some will be much more willing to do tricks than others.
Even among Senegal parrots, there is going to be enough variation in personality that training some will be easier than others.
Ultimately, though, as parrots go, Senegal parrots are a lot easier to train than other species.
They are, by and large, eager to please, and as long as you don’t expect them to go jumping through hoops right away, you’ll have no problem training them.
Are Senegal parrots cuddly?
For the most part, yes, Senegal parrots are intimate, affectionate, and enjoy forming deep bonds with their owners.
That said, it can, again, depend on the individual bird.
For those that are well-socialized, trained, and hand-raised, you should have a very cuddly and affectionate bird on your hands.
Parrots are highly complex emotional creatures, and as I said, they will form deep bonds with you over time.
These bonds require a lot more sustained attention than things like dogs, though.
You’ll need to be with them every single day for long periods of time, and once the bond is formed, you need to be sure to keep this up to maintain it.
So, yes, Senegal parrots are cuddly—with a couple of caveats.
Are Senegal parrots good for kids?
It does depend a bit on the child.
They are very sensitive to loud sounds and don’t enjoy chaotic environments.
You need to be sure that your child understands how they need to behave around the parrot, and you should always supervise them with the parrot.
No children younger than 7 or 8, really.
The thing about Senegal parrots is that, though they are by and large docile and well behaved, they can become aggressive.
When they do, they can form a tendency to bite.
These bites can really hurt, and can do damage.
So, again, it’s really important that your child understands the responsibility they are taking on with a Senegal parrot.
If you don’t treat the parrot right, its behavior can become seriously problematic to the point that it might injure your child—or the other way around.
So, again, just to stress, parrots aren’t like other pets.
They generally take a lot more work, and any children that are going to be interacting with them, let alone raising them, need to understand this. as long as you have that understanding, Senegal parrots can be great for kids.
Are Senegal parrots good talkers?
The final question for parrots—are they good talkers?
As parrots go, not really.
They certainly can learn a few words and phrases, but they typically won’t go beyond that.
That said, it always depends on the individual.
Some are much bigger talkers than others, though there’s not much way to know this right away.
They are not quiet, though.
They are quieter than other species, for sure, but they are not quiet on the whole.
All parrots are noisy to some extent, so be prepared for that.
In terms of talking, they aren’t likely to be big talkers.
They will just chatter and speak a few words here and there.
Conclusion
So, just to stress, whatever parrot you are going for, you need to realize that they are very different from other pets.
They can seem demanding and their needs can be difficult to meet if you don’t have as much time on your hands.
Whatever you do, spend a lot of time thinking about and researching the parrot you adopt.
If you get to the end of your research and still are sure a parrot is for you, then a Senegal parrot is a great place to start.