I have joined GreyForums because I am in a very difficult situation and dont know what to do from here. First of all I would like to say that I have 15 parrots, and we have built a huge aviary so that each one may have huge space to fly and play. Much more space than I could provide with store-bought cages, however they are all tame and hand-reared by me (with the exception of a few rescued Greys). My problem at the moment is my female senegal parrot. I have handreared her from the age of three weeks, and she is 6 years old now. Over the years she has shown abnormal behaviour where she snaps and tries to kill another, bird or human, and it has been getting worse with time. She goes for the jugular, or the eyes without being provoked and for no apparent reason. And then the next minute she is normal again. I have seen this behaviour before but not as extreme with other birds as I am an avian behaviorist, and I feel that I have tried everything to help her. From supplements, veterinery care, reassurance, scheduled times, food, treats, toys. But she continues to grow worse. This past week she killed my female ringneck. She found a way to squeeze through a gap in the mesh not more than 1,5 cm in length and width, and she flew in from above to get my female ringneck in her eye and tried to take her head off. She had no other wounds on her body, just this one. It was absolutely horrific to walk in on her little body like this, and the senegal standing over her... And the senegal has it out for the other birds. She has tried to kill one of the pionus by taking out her stomach. I had to intervene with my hands as it happened so fast. She has tried to kill the other male indian ringneck to the point where she took out one of his ears, a portion of his throat, and his wing. He had to go for reconstructive surgery for his throat and wing, and it was a miracle that he survived but he can never fly again. She removed too much of his wing and it wasnt able to heal. And she tried to kill my cockatoo, even my greys are terrified of her. I believe that they can sense when another animal is not stable, as I have had many rescues over they years. This behaviour has occurred since she was a baby, and I am in absolute grief over losing my female ringneck and knowing that the others are in constant danger and that she has a serious mental disorder. I dont know what to do anymore, and am considering giving her to a good home. My husband and I have found such a place. But this is such a difficult decision for me as I am trying to balance my emotions for her versus the need to protect all my other birds. I cannot seem to find a way around keeping her and protecting the others. Over the years she has has found opportunities when maybe a feeding bowl wasnt clipped in from the outside, or the mesh had a small gap in it, or maybe when feeding or cleaning bowls. And I shudder to think that if I dont act now and something had to happen to any other birds over time, knowing that I could've prevented it... I just wanted to know if anyone has any understanding on mental disorders treatment for birds, or perhaps any suggestions? My family believes that both her and her partner were inbred as they both display this abnormal behaviour and were both adopted from the same breeder who has proven not to be a good over the years. I rescued one of my greys from him because he kept her in a cage in a room separate from the house for three years in complete solitude, only giving her basic sunflower seeds and water when he had to. Needless to say, she had some serious behavioural issues. And this I realised too late, after already having adopted and raised both senegals long before.

Thank you so much for hearing me out

I have joined GreyForums because I am in a very difficult situation and dont know what to do from here. First of all I would like to say that I have 15 parrots, and we have built a huge aviary so that each one may have huge space to fly and play. Much more space than I could provide with store-bought cages, however they are all tame and hand-reared by me (with the exception of a few rescued Greys). My problem at the moment is my female senegal parrot. I have handreared her from the age of three weeks, and she is 6 years old now. Over the years she has shown abnormal behaviour where she snaps and tries to kill another, bird or human, and it has been getting worse with time. She goes for the jugular, or the eyes without being provoked and for no apparent reason. And then the next minute she is normal again. I have seen this behaviour before but not as extreme with other birds as I am an avian behaviorist, and I feel that I have tried everything to help her. From supplements, veterinery care, reassurance, scheduled times, food, treats, toys. But she continues to grow worse. This past week she killed my female ringneck. She found a way to squeeze through a gap in the mesh not more than 1,5 cm in length and width, and she flew in from above to get my female ringneck in her eye and tried to take her head off. She had no other wounds on her body, just this one. It was absolutely horrific to walk in on her little body like this, and the senegal standing over her... And the senegal has it out for the other birds. She has tried to kill one of the pionus by taking out her stomach. I had to intervene with my hands as it happened so fast. She has tried to kill the other male indian ringneck to the point where she took out one of his ears, a portion of his throat, and his wing. He had to go for reconstructive surgery for his throat and wing, and it was a miracle that he survived but he can never fly again. She removed too much of his wing and it wasnt able to heal. And she tried to kill my cockatoo, even my greys are terrified of her. I believe that they can sense when another animal is not stable, as I have had many rescues over they years. This behaviour has occurred since she was a baby, and I am in absolute grief over losing my female ringneck and knowing that the others are in constant danger and that she has a serious mental disorder. I dont know what to do anymore, and am considering giving her to a good home. My husband and I have found such a place. But this is such a difficult decision for me as I am trying to balance my emotions for her versus the need to protect all my other birds. I cannot seem to find a way around keeping her and protecting the others. Over the years she has has found opportunities when maybe a feeding bowl wasnt clipped in from the outside, or the mesh had a small gap in it, or maybe when feeding or cleaning bowls. And I shudder to think that if I dont act now and something had to happen to any other birds over time, knowing that I could've prevented it... I just wanted to know if anyone has any understanding on mental disorders treatment for birds, or perhaps any suggestions? My family believes that both her and her partner were inbred as they both display this abnormal behaviour and were both adopted from the same breeder who has proven not to be a good over the years. I rescued one of my greys from him because he kept her in a cage in a room separate from the house for three years in complete solitude, only giving her basic sunflower seeds and water when he had to. Needless to say, she had some serious behavioural issues. And this I realised too late, after already having adopted and raised both senegals long before.

Thank you so much for hearing me out

After I finished in the department store I sat in the car in the cold and sent text messages for a half hour to plead with my family to come out with no new pets. Then came a cryptic text, "you have to see dad with this little bird". That was new, he loved our pets but he never ever sought out a new one.

Curiousity got the best of me. When I went into the glass enclosed bird room, this little grey bird was pressing her head against his finger that he was poking between the bars of her cage. When I say cage, that is all she had, no toys, no food or water, just a barren cage stacked under a few others. Her wings were brutally clipped, I have never seen anything like it and hope to never see such a thing the rest of my life. From the tip to the place her wing joined her body, it looked as if she only had an inch of feather, if that.

When we talked and decided we had to take her home, the manager said if you want her, you have to get her out yourself. They said she is vicious and no one can get near her. They gave us a little cardboard box and said if you can get her in it, you can take her. I just reached in and offered her a finger and she hopped right on it and then went into the box as if she knew she was going to a real home.

So, we traded in what was going to be our Christmas present of Chatterbox motorcycle helmet communications for a chatterbox of another sort. As much as I hate to admit this, the emotions of the time took all our common sense right out of our minds. She cost as much as an African grey from a breeder, but we knew nothing about parrots and off we went to learn.

Introducing Jabberwocky, a 20 year old red bellied that I adopted from our MN rescue organization.

His history from what I know- his original owner died, and he was placed in a rescue two years ago. He was cage aggressive and hated his rescue guardian, biting. He moved to a different rescue guardian who worked with him and got him less cage aggressive.

I visited the rescue home and he flew to me and began talking. His guardian said he has never done that before, so I knew that he chose me. I also saw a rainbow on the way to the rescue- I saw that as a sign!

Jabber is a sweet bird but hates the husband. He has attacked him twice and bit his ear causing a few ear piercings and man-shrieks that I hope I never hear again. In fact, Kizzy , my 16 month CAG, learned quite a few bad words from the incident, and still repeats them daily.

Jabber says I love you, My name is Jabber, why are you so sad, step UP!, NO NO NO and shakes his head when he doesn't want something. He yells, Kizzy! , coughs and meows . He is adorable !

I'm sorry for the sideways pics. I went to a different picture host and it turns the pictures. ugh.

The word poicephalus comes from Latin to mean “many colored head”. The only color you won’t find associated with a poicephalus is blue. The red bellied parrot is slightly larger than the Senegal and Meyers parrot. The adult males are often confused with Senegals because of the similarity in color. The way to differentiate is the color of the eyes, the adult Red-Bellied parrot will have red irises while the Senegal’s are yellow.

The general area associated with Red Bellied parrots are the hot savannahs of eastern African, from Tanzania to Ethiopia. They primarily feed on acacia seed pods and will travel great distances when figs are in season.

The red bellied parrot is considered stocky and compact. They get to be about 8 ½ inches long and the average weight is 125 grams. They are a sexually dimorphic parrot which means you can tell an adult male from a female by their color differences. The adult hen is mostly gray with a green iridescent wash over the wings. Her lower body and legs are a bright florescent green. Her chest may have a peachy overtone and an blush of color on the tips of the feathers of her chest. The adult male is similar in color on his head, legs and back as the female, but his lower chest is bright reddish orange. Juveniles are said to look more like the male and after they molt you can differentiate the gender more clearly.

This little parrot has a great big personality in a small package. Although the speaking voice is not as clear or human sounding as the African grey or others, they can learn to talk quite clearly. Some people think their talking sounds like a cartoon character. Red bellied parrots love to cuddle and have hands on contact. They are a relatively quiet parrot and have been often recommended for apartment dwelling. They do attach to one favorite person but can be trained to get along with everyone in the family. They are often considered the clowns of the Poicephalus family. They love to work an audience and thrive on the laughter of their companion humans.