Pepper was hatched around the third week of December 2004. We first met in mid-February. After a week of daily trips to the parrot store and decision making, I purchased him (maybe her) on February 19, 2005.
After visiting him in the afternoon, I made my decision to buy him at about 7:00pm on a Friday evening, after the store had closed. I spent an anxious night hoping that my special Senegal would be there the next day. I was waiting in the parking lot when the store opened. I walked in when the door was opened, went right to the play gym where the Senegals were kept, and to my pleasure saw Pepper, who I immediately picked up. I walked over to the closest person working in the store and said "I want him." She smiled and probably thought "It's about time", since I had been asking her questions every day all week. My timing couldn't have been better, when I returned to the store the next day to interact with Pepper, I found that all the Senegals had been bought the previous day.
I should actually say that I was chosen by Pepper. Whenever I would go and ask questions about the Senegal Parrots for sale, Pepper would always come over to me. The other Senegals would show some interest in me, but Pepper would always come over to me in that special, baby parrot, clumsy waddle.
Here's the first photo I took of Pepper.
Taken at Parrots and Company on February 21, 2005
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When I purchased Pepper, he was still being weaned, meaning he was still hand fed and was not eating on his own. Nearly every day for a month, I would go to Parrots and Company in Stamford, Connecticut, to interact with Pepper. (Click here to see my opinion of Parrots and Company.) Though he wasn't eating on his own, each day I would observe physical or behavioral changes in him. At first, while sitting on my hand while I walked around the store, he would interact with me nearly 100% of the time. After a week, he began to be interested in what was in the store, which is filled with other birds out on play gyms and in cages, lots of bird toys, and colorful packages of food. As I'd go by something that caught his interest, he'd stretch out and reach for the item. He actually picked out his own first three toys.
He quickly learned to follow the commands "step up" to climb onto my finger and "be gentle" to nibble gently and not give a hard bite. The only day he's given me a hard bite and drew blood was the day after I bought him. I was amazed how easily such a small bird could puncture skin with his beak (It took another 14 months for Pepper to bite me hard enough to draw blood again).
After about three weeks, Pepper decided I was his. When I would go into the nursery room where he was kept, no matter what he was doing he'd immediately make sounds to me as he came hopping or running over to me and climb on my finger the second it was offered. He would then turn and face me as he rattled off an array of murmuring parrot sounds.
Finally, Pepper was weaned (would eat on his own) and came home on March 17, 2005. At this transition to a new home, a weaned bird may go through some anxiety and stop eating. Because Pepper was so comfortable with me, he ate with no problem. Even though the first night, the only way I could get him settled down enough to eat was to hold his food bowl in one hand, while he perched on the other until he had his fill. What was in that first meal, parrot sized portions of warm Cinnamon Sunrise (a special food made by a company named Beak Appetit), mashed sweet potatoes, crushed and moistened monkey chow, steamed broccoli, and fresh tomatoes. With a meal like this, no wonder he had no problems with eating his first night at home.
Here's a photo of Pepper on his play gym, taken on March 18, 2005.
Notice he still has the solid black eyes of a young bird.
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