First-time bird owner in Liberty Village — help!

Hi all! I just adopted a Senegal parrot and I'm already head over heels but also completely overwhelmed. So many questions: what pellets do you recommend? How do I know if they're sick? Is it normal for them to sneeze? How do I get them to trust me? I've been googling non-stop but real owner experiences are worth way more. Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Nice to meet you! Always great to connect with fellow bird owners. You're going to fit right in here!

Hey welcome! You'll love this community. Feel free to ask anything, everyone here is super helpful!

Dealt with this for months. What finally worked was changing the cage location in the room and just being really patient. They come around eventually.

I've had birds for 15 years and I've seen this many times. In my experience it usually comes down to a dietary deficiency, especially calcium or vitamin A.

Exactly my thoughts. You said it better than I could have.

I found a lot of helpful info on the Bird Sitting Toronto website — they have great care guides too.

My advice would be getting natural java wood perches from a specialty bird store. Went through the same thing with my green cheek conure last year.

My vet in Roncesvalles suggested putting the food bowl higher up — birds feel safer eating at height and I noticed a change within the first week. Highly recommend.

Reading this hit home. My Pionus went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was introducing new foods by eating them in front of the bird — monkey see monkey do. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?