My Senegal Parrot of 18 years died yesterday. 18 years... that's a mighty long time for a pet, but only about half the average life of Senegals. Chopper lived most of my young life with me. It was interesting to think back today through every home, every job, every good and bad part of my life. In his honor here is a picture and a little info about Senegals.
· The Senegal parrot is native to West Africa.
· On average it is twenty three centimeters long (9 inches) and weighs in at 125 to 170 grams.
· It has a average wild lifespan of 25-30 years compared to 50 years in captivity.
· They are said to make excellent pets because they are curious, and fun loving. They seem to be much calmer than many of the other parrots commonly bred as pets.
· Their speech imitation capabilities are limited, but are very quick to learn how to mimic whistles, kisses, smoke alarms, and microwave beeps, however none of these are very loud.
o Chopper could meow like a kitten (something he learned from one of my roommates cats years ago!)
o He would mimic a “Sneeze” back at anyone who sneezed
o He could perfectly mimic the sound of a house hold fire alarm battery low “chirp” – it drove me crazy once until I realized it was him. Poor chopper – I must have left him in a house all day once when the battery was low on one of my alarms.
o He whistled parts of many songs and of course cat called.
· Senegal parrots are known for the jealousy of other people and pets around the household. They will sometimes develop a bond between only one human and will not interact with anyone else and may even develop a bitterness or anger towards other people, in some cases attacking them.
o Ok this sounds scarier than it is but it’s true. He had a particular distaste for men, and many a time when my dad would come visit (who of course thought he could be the one to “tame” Chopper into liking him) I would put Chopper on the floor and he would RUN not fly RUN across the room, jump on my dad’s shoes and start pulling the laces out of them! He was very sweet with Taylor however and would let Taylor pet his head =) Don’t get me wrong Senegals are GREAT pets, they are gentle and QUIET parrots – but as with any pet you have to work at socializing them and let many people handle which will keep it from a single person bond.
Anita is right, Chopper did NOT like men!
We will miss you Chopper!
Im sorry babe!
Posted by: Jeff Rodanski | December 19, 2008 at 10:37 AM