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What are Poi like to live with?

Moshimaru

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I've been spending time at a friends house who has a Senegal parrot. Awesome bird, very friendly and comes right up to new people, quiet, and very inquisitive.

Is this a norm for Senegal's and Pois in general? How would they compare to conures?
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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It is the norm IF the owner\breeder is proactive and exposed the young bird to socialization. Senegal's have been historic one person birds. But I have met and seen Senegal parrots easily handled by all family members. It is all socialization and training.

My Sunny is a one person bird. I live alone. She tolerates handling by my two best friends, and if I am not in the room will interact with either of them, especially if wanting to beg food or even drink. My Redfbellied, Oscar, is not hand tame and I am working hard on changing that. He was kept cagebound with only ten !minute daily pettings while held in a potholder and stroked with an oven glove so his owner didn't get bitten. This was his life for nine years till I bought him. Hr is making slow progress. But, he still wants stroked with an oven glove for petting!

POI's are my favorite parrot species after cockatiels.
 

Tim

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As Lois said, early socialization can lead to a wonderful pet! I had a Senegal years ago, and she was super sweet, and everyone in the family could handle her. She eventually went to live with our daughter, because the caique terrorized her--she reamins a sweet bird to this day!
 

iamwhoiam

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My Senegal, Jake, is a very sweet boy and he is nice to everyone. He does get moody where he puffs himself up and weaves back and forth but he rarely if ever bites anyone. I don't have concerns letting others handle him. Really does depend on the individual bird.

My red-bellies vary from extremely sweet to nippy. Sophie can be handled by anybody. Claudé is generally nice but might bite. All the boys tend to be nippy. They like to be petted but sometimes when they step up they will latch on to a finger and not want to let go.
 

BirdGuy21

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My Senegal is very shy and hesitant. We adopted him in November and he was terrified of hands and people in general near him. He's at the point now where he will step up onto a towel (but not a hand or arm) and come out of his cage. He just started trusting us for head scritches outside of his cage. He is very cautious and takes his time with anything new in his environment. He came from a hoarding situation, and before that we don't know any of his history. He's a sweet and clownish little guy though if he's in the mood. His bites are something to look out for though.
 

SueA555

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Joey is a great companion. He is 18, and loves petting when he is in the mood. I am single, so he is afraid of most people he meet. He talks, and picks up words from I don't know where. His new favorite is parakeet.

He can be very stubborn, and not easy to distract when he wants some.

Overall, I'm very glad that I have him. He came to at four months, and stepped up right away.

I used to have a Meyers, who was very sweet and affectionate, and played well with all my other birds. When hormones hit for the first time, he sent two of my birds to the vet. He attacked them constantly -- even tried to get them through their cages. My daughter brought her greycheeked parakeet for a visit. Coco got to him through his cage bars, and took one of his toenails off. It was too dangerous to let him out. He started biting me viciously when I gave him food and water. We were both miserable and I rehomed him. He did very well at his new home, and became playful and affectionate again.

All birds are different, so it's hard to generalize. My daughter has a Senegal who only loves her. She did leave him with me when she went on vacation. After a couple of days he stepped up and stopped being scared of me.
 

Newbie GCC

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I have 2 green cheeks and a recently adopted Sennie.

Ernie is a definite sweetheart, but his beak is something to watch out for! He does give more of a gentle warning nip than the cheekies. We are still learning his mannerisms and moods. He will go to just about anyone, but preferences are flopping back and forth between Hubs and myself. He loved Hubs last week, this week I am the Chosen One. He pierced Hubs ear the other day in a temper tantrum over going back to his cage.

Hormones have hit and he has had a big temper. We are curbing that with an early bedtime, no nesting spots or huts, changing up his foraging items, and changing the cage around to keep him on his alert little toes. Nothing major, just moving his toys around, or adding something new to it. That area is much different from conures.

Rhoma and Rhema are more independent, but they are both "rescues", adopted from homes with very little interaction at all. Rhoma likes to play games and get head scritches, Rhema is more content to fly around and left to explore as long as someone is in the same room with her.

When Rho and Rheems bite, there is a more firm warning and the bites are not as hard, but blood will be shed if you do not heed the first warning. Hormone seasons have been pretty easy on attitudes as long as men do not attempt to touch them or their "things". No nesting spots allowed and if there are toys they regurge for, it is removed for the season.

I will probably never let the Sennie out with the conures for safety reasons., but I will eventually be putting all cages in the same room.

All birds are different. I would say let the bird choose you.
 

Shastasmom

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In my personal experience, I've found female poi's, in general, are sweeter and remain so throughout their lifetimes. Currently I have 2 cape parrots - Zoey and Winston. I have had Zoey for 2 years now, since she weaned, and she is a definite love bug. However, she does NOT like anyone else but me. Winston is extremely cage aggressive, but when out of his cage is perfectly content being handled. He does, however, prefer men. Winston came to us that way. He is a work in progress. :)
 

sierraecho89

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My sennie is a jerkface. Sweet, but *mean*.

He is a total sweetheart 90% of the time; all he wants to do is be in the same room with us, destroy some cardboard, and have us scritch his head. He's very clear when he's about to bite... most of the time.

We never pick him up with our hands (he's stick-trained) because he RENDS and TEARS. He bites to kill. If he ends up on the floor somehow, he'll try to rip off your toes in a sudden blind rage.

He's LOUD. If we're not in the same room as him, he will keen mournfully--this starts at around 6:30 in the morning, from the time we start sort of moving around a little bit in preparation for waking, and then he'll keep it up for hours (no, we're not feeding into this behavior--we know to ignore it). If we head out the door, he'll scream his head off, and our neighbors can hear him all the way from the sidewalk THROUGH the closed door.

He's destructive. We keep him constantly busy with different things to destroy to keep him entertained or he'll go for other things that we'd rather keep (like furniture or picture frames behind his cage). He'll go through an entire egg carton in an hour, and it will all be on the floor.

He's decided I'm his mate and will regurgitate for me whenever I give him the slightest attention, but is somehow more in love with my husband (he'd much rather have his attention than mine). I am always second-best in spite of being his 'mate'.

He's more good than bad, but yeah... I feel like sennies are some of the more diverse birds when it comes to personalities.
 

Pied

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Overall Kylo is pretty much what I expected in him. Content to do his own thing. Relatively quiet. (relative is the key word here) And the size is just right for my boyfriend who is scared of birds, and for our tiny apartment. The important thing to remember is birds are individuals. Kylo doesn't step up. Hands are scary but I can give him head scratches and he does come and hang out on my blanket covered legs when I do homework. He came from breeding operation and trust is slow going with him. He needs motivation to play with toys, some days he does better than others. Some days his mood is something to be desired and screams and yells at more things, other days he can't get enough of me... such as tonight... where he has been joyfully inhibiting any homework progress. (see photo)

He likes talking to new people through the safety of his cage for sure, but he doesn't take to anyone right away really. This is likely due to his upbringing more than anything.
 

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