Dave007

ABZ Now that many questions, possible solutions to an injury problem has been answered in the Welcome Room, from now on please use the other rooms to post things. The Welcome Room is primarily used for saying hello, introductions of birds, not health injuries. etc. The main situation with your bird should have been located in the Health Room. There's other rooms that can be used to deal with other parts of bird ownership. Read through them and use them and we have a main room called Grey Forum where many other parts of bird ownership are posted. Thank you.

That area has been over preened by the bird. It's not unusual and more importantly, it's now itchy which causes the bird to scratch at it which hampers relief and healing. Betadine is great for humans but for birds, it's a bit caustic. The bird needs a product that will relieve itch, stay on the bare skin, provide moisture and most importantly, can be put on often without side effects. I'm not familiar with products in your country but by going to any pharmacy I'm sure that this product can be ordered/purchased or is already on the shelf. It's called 100% Aloe Vera Gel. It's also used by people for dry hands or arms or feet or dried itchy pubic areas. This product is tasteless, non toxic, sinks into the skin and can be used as many times as needed. It's also a very good product to have around because birds get many other problems with the outer skin such as dryness, getting bitten, extreme dryness, over extensive aggressive preening, plucking and chewing feathers. It should be a staple in everyone's home that has a parrot in it. It's very inexpensive. It may be a different price in your country but it's still not expensive. Here in the US, it costs about $4 to $6 for a 14 oz bottle. That bottle should last about 1 year. Directions-----a small amount is put on the wound and slightly rubbed around to cover the entire wound and walk away and the ointment will work. Repeat 1, 2, 3x a day depending on the size of the wound but from your pictures, 1 or 2x a day is enough. Repeat for a few days. A big difference should begin. The bird will sop scratching at it and healing can begin. If your bird swallows any of it, not to worry because it's not toxic at all but the location of your bird's wound will more than likely make it very difficult for him to pick at it.

Look at the black circle----put you hand around the bird leaving the breast exposed. Keep the bird horosontal. Grab 2 or 3 feathers from the breast area. Keep your fingers next to his skin. Give a quick pull and the feathers are out. These are the same feathers that a bird molts 1 or 2x a year. OR if you're more brave, have a person hold the bird, go to the tail feathers, focus in on one feather. Put your fingers around that one feather, keep finger next to the skin, pull quickly and the feather will come out. There may be a little blood which isn't unusual. Put a little cornstarch or talcum powder on the area, press for 30 seconds and clotting will happen. OR get a person to hold the bird. Have a tiny nailclipper there. Take the clipper and clip a bit of nail off. If there's no blood, repeat until you see a little blood. Have a baggy there. Put blood on a q--tip or cotton ball and put it in a baggy. Bring it to the vet or mail it out to get the test done. Just remember one major thing No matter what method you use, your bird will squawk. That's not unusual and the only thing that's happening is that the bird is not in pain, just irritated. The squawking stops immediately. Put him/her in the cage on a perch. Give a treat, tell him that he's a good boy/girl. THE END

Keep him out of drafts, put him back in the cage with the tray and perches lower in the cage. Don't make any sudden moves that will startle him . Check his droppings to see if they're turning very watery. Don't turn him upside down. Pet him, talk to him, leave a few favorite treats nearby and get to the vet as soon as you can. Make sure you do whatever tests the vets recommend. If you find that the tests a bit expensive, ask him/her if they will make up a payment plan. Most vets do that with all types of pets.

Using sedation for any reason unless absolutely neccessay ( serious health issues) is a very bad idea. There's 2 common ways that sexing is done----- 1--as you mentioned, removal of a few feathers which won't bother a bird at all. It's the person who's more frightened. The feathers are sent in by mail or the vet or vet tech does the sexing. 2---the other method is to clip a claw a bit shorter so that a very little bit of blood comes out. The bolood is stored in a tiny container after being put on a Quik Tip or a cotton swab. That too can be mailed in or a vet tech can do it. Neigther method is done by a vet. A vet tech is usually the one that does it. If the claw is clipped, the only thing a person has to is put some cornstarch or Quick Stop in the claw area and press it in for about 2 minutes. The area immediately clots. Be brave. Your bird won't even know you're doing either method. At the end of either method, give your bird a little treat that he/she likes. PS--you asked if others have done plucking----loads of people have done it.

I think it's time to bring your bird to an avian vet. On this board, there are no vets and none of us would want to give out opinions as to what the problem might be. You should do this quickly because a bird who is showing signs of illness needs to be looked at immediately. Good luck.

It's possible to start a sub forum or sticky thread concerning human health care but it needs to be put in the OFF TOPIC ROOM . The Health Room here to devoted to bird health. The Bird Food Room where this thread is now located is for birds' feeding methods, recipes, habits of eating and all other forms of eating done by birds, not human medical problems. Also, any communication between people who are involved in health care or people who have the need to get specific with certain problems can PM each other.

Listen, you're disturbing me right now. I'll answer later. I'm in the middle of eating a Red Poop Souffle.

That's an exceelent idea. It's a great way to start off your relationship with your bird. It will also guarantee a very healthy bird. Just remember that at times, a grey will nip. It's all part of owning a parrot. Everyone here has ben nipped so matter how long they've had their bird and no matter what the age of the bird is. Eventually, a person starts to realize what type of bites mean. After a long period of time, a person actually starts to laugh at it and also learns that the bird is communicating with the owner. A suggestion---read up things in the NURSERY Room and the Bird food Room. For furure use, there's a thread about Bird Language. All of these things will help you in many things. Another thing about food, you'll soon be learning how to be a good chef, salad maker and treat creater. You'll eventually see that a parrot will eat safe things that you won't believe and these things are safe. Always ask if a certain item is unsafe. Although there aren't many toxic things out there, they do exist. So ask, ask ,ask. Have a great time with NuNu.

Hi. Nice to have you here. As far as the food, what you're doing is very bad for your bird. Feeding a sunflower diet has nothing to do with friendliness or the bird's comfort or discomvert aroung it's new house. Parrots eat a large variety of seeds, vegetables and fruits. That's their natural diet. If your bird is extremely young, starting off with veggies, a small bit of fruit and a small anmount of seed is what the bird needs. If he gets too used to that sunflower seed, it's gonna be very hard to make him eat other things. Giving sunflower won't make him friendlier, easier to handler or more used to it's surrounding. Time and nature does that plus your kindness to him. You're the one that introduces him to these things. Food has nothing to do with it. Knowing that all phases of grey ownership will take a while is important for you to learn about. Ask questions, you'll get varieties of answers.

::Hurray for Parrot Poop! So you would do better to wash your dished with poop than with an old kitchen sponge.::: Oh gee, this is so exciting!!!!!! hmmm lets see, tonight we''ll have lasagna with a side dish of parrot poop plus a white vinegar dipping sauce for the organic garlic bread. My mouth is watering. I simply can't wait.:rolleyes:

Hi To me there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your bird especially when you say she goes right back up to interact with you. Greys, especially females go through phases as they get older and more mature. . It's nature's way of telling her to get into mating mode. That's where the nesting on the bottom comes from. Normally there's nothing to worry about as long as you don't make a big deal about it. She will stop after a certain amount of time passes. Certain surroundings can also stimulate that reaction----example, all that newspaper on the bottom. It's an easy material that can be eventually ripped up in order to make a nesting area. A male isn't needed to stimulate this what the female is doing. There are even females that do that and will actually lay an egg. So as long as everything else is normal, I wouldn't worry about it unless she really seems sick on a constant basis. Usually this habit can last as much as 10/12 days. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. I would say to get rid of that newspaper and put in a different bedding. If you have an aquarium with pairs of different fish in it, you'll see those fish doing the same thing although none of the babies will ever grow up because all of the other community fish will eat the fry. The pictures of your grey look exactly like a grey that's protecting eggs or getting ready to protect eggs that aren't even there yet.

People, this thread is about 2 yrs old. 90% of the posters in this thread don't even come to the board.

Many things change when a person gets a parrot (any kind of parrot). A person's habits change. Certain things become the norm in a house. On a regular basis, windows are checked or doors are closed where the windows are. Ceiling fans are checked out. Loose electric wiring is checked. The cage serves it's purpose. Any cooking or preparing of food should be done only after the bird is put into the cage. Any cooking ( cold or hot cooking) in kitchen/cooking area should be off limits to a bird. If a person tells his or her dog to get his paws off the table or stove or sink then the same should apply to a bird. Like I said, it's a new learning process. Many many many people here on the board had gone through this whole scenario. You're not the first nor will you be the last.

So much has been discussed concerning clipping. Unfortuntally it's a subject that isn't looked at before buying a parrot. A person purchases a parrot, is told that one thing can be done concerning parrots is to stop a parrot from doing what comes naturally. FLYING. There's a lot more to owning a parrot besides just buying one. Nature gave wings to birds so that they could grow strong, avoid the natural problems that surround it, build a solid personality and confidence in order to deal with other things like people. Instead, there's loads of so called * professional groomers* which are people out there who have their own idiotic ideas about how to stop a bird's natural functions. Some go too far and the bird and owner pay the price. Rather than getting into this subject over and over and over and over, it's best to read these threads below. I posted them for many reasons.------The main reason was that people would read them before making bad decisions. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190512-WingClipping-Part-1-Objective-Neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190511-WingClipping-Part-2-objective-neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190510-WingClipping-Part-3-objective-neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190509-WingClipping-Part-4-Objective-Neutral

An add on---I'm in the same situation as Luvparrots. I have 3 established greys. 2 CAGs and 1 TAG. They'll get along outside of their cages. The TAG is the most aggressive and shows that personality when the other 2 get a little bossy. The TAG usually wins. If I were to put them together in one large cage, there's trouble brewing just around the corner. I know for a fact that they would maim each other. AND just like yours, they been together for years but it means nothing. All 3 have their own ideas about living comfortably but it all has to do with individuality. Even I have to treat them differently.

It's not a good idea to change their life styles. Each bird has set up their own home, developed their own personality, have individual likes and dislikes, mentally has their own ideas concerning their environment. Also, as of now, each bird is an alpha bird. That could be damaged because of possible invasion by one bird being put into another bird's home. Remember that greys are jealous birds and are most happy in their own established home. All of these things won't show up when both are out of their cages because at any time, both have the option of retreating into their own abode when outside. Play it safe--don't upset the apple cart. PLUS, a corner cage takes away valuable internal space and greys need plenty of cage space.

You're absolutely right. The past is the past. The bird can't go back into the wild. You're going to provide a wonderful situation for the bird. I can see that you're thinking ahead. Yes, taking wild birds in and selling them doesn't make people happy but different countries do different things. Right now, the bird is going to a good life. Right now, as a new grey owner, you won't make a difference by buying or not buying the bird. Getting this grey, wild or domestic, is going to make you very happy and the bird will also be happy. It's up to the very experienced bird organizations to end the taking of birds from the wild. Different countries have started this process. More countries will also adopt that method. Right now, get that bird before someone else gets it. The bird is waiting for you. The bird is waiting to be loved.

Feather mutilation comes in several different patterns. Some birds bite their feathers off at skin level, leaving nothing but broken feather shafts and down feathers. Others actually pull feathers out intact until they're down to bare skin. There are numerous reasons parrots pluck or bite their feathers. The first consideration should always be physiological. While many parrots pluck due to environmental or behavioral problems, a trip to a good avian veterinarian to rule out health problems is a must. If a veterinarian has seen the bird and determined it is healthy, the next step is to look toward environmental or behavioral causes for the feather plucking or biting. Moving a bird to another location in the house can cause feather plucking. An outgoing, interactive bird resides in an area where it receives a lot of attention from people walking past its cage and is then moves to a quieter place, where it seldom interacts with its people may start plucking to get more attention. The reverse is also possible. A timid, shy parrot, who suddenly finds itself moved to a high traffic area of the house might start plucking out of nervousness. While we have to situations where moving the bird causes feather mutilation, the reasons for plucking are not the same. The outgoing, gregarious bird plucks for increased attention, while the timid parrot plucks because it is nervous about the increased activity around it. However, the cure is the same - move the parrot back to the area it was happy residing in. Lack of sufficient moisture is another environmental cause of feather mutilation. Life in Africa is not a dry life. I've heard reports of rainfall up to 100 inches per year in areas inhabited by African Greys. When greys are subjected to inadequate moisture, especially during winter months when heaters dry the air, they often develop itch, dry skin and start picking at it. Before long feathers are being pulled out and a habit forms. A good idea is spray with a mister or shower at least twice a week. Parrots should have plenty of toys for mental stimulation in their cages while their owners are away. Keep those toys that you know your Grey likes in abundance in its cages. Good toys that keep a bird's mind off plucking are anything made out of wood, small cardboard chewable toys. Also have a heavy duty hanging bell in the cage so your bird can have serious fights with the bell. It's good because a grey is releasing pent up energy plus it's having fun. They like to bang at it, scream at it, bite at it. Also, go to the Health Room section here and read up on plucking----- Chronic Plucking and Acute Plucking

Considering the heavy breathing at night----It's possible that the humidity levels are different at night time. A grey needs to be in a somewhat humidified surrounding 24/7. A very dry surrounding will cause a grey to breathe heavier especially at night when the bird is very calm, quiet, not active and sleepy. A very active grey won't show breathing problems during the day when it's very active. The only exception to this is if the bird is actually sick with a breathing problem all the time. Remember, the area should have higher humidity. I don't know the weather in Pakistan but if it's very dry all the time, you would need to get a small humidifier in your grey's room.

Either one is perfect.

Hi and welcome to the board. Post some pictures of your birds. People here like photos.

A good handheld vacuum to get that will cover many chores is Electrolux Eureka 71b Bagless Hand Vacuum ---- about $45 --- very strong-- can pick up more solid items. No need to spend lots of money --- Can get it at Wallmart

The most important book you should have is ----- The African Grey Parrot Handbook by Mattie Sue Athan & Dianalee Deter. It's not expensive.But this book has nothing to do with specialized training. They're other books on the market that an author will say that that their book covers all types of training and 99% of the time it's proven to be phony. The reason is because all greys have individual personalities and what might be good for Peter may not be good for Paul. Usually, a person can buy a book that only deals with only 1 thing -- example --Stepping up. Another example --Biting. Etc etc. We have a large sticky concerning Body Language ( grey behavior) that you should learn about. Usually a person comes here and explains what they wanna accomplish a certain thing and other people give out different methods to accomplish that one thing.

Hi all, my name is Pepper and I am an extremely abused African Grey Parrot. I am looking for a new home where I can live my life the way I was meant to. In an attempt to convey to you the level of abuse, let me give you some examples: My day does not start off well. I wake up with the sun around 6:00am. I then start whistling for dad. Often, dad ignores me and does not come right away. Sometime it is not until 7:30am before dad comes to get me out of my cage. Every other day or so, I get a shower. Dad gets me all wet and then I am patted by an evil towel. I am not sure what type of torture this is supposed to be, but he pats me all over and then he lets me sit and drip. When dad is shaving, he does not let me play with the shaving cream. What is with that? He's such an SOB!!!! After playing with me for a measly hour, dad makes my breakfast. I like to take things out of my bowl and throw them while dad is preparing things, but he doesn't let me do that anymore. Now he makes me WATCH while is getting things ready. I feel like I am going to have a breakdown at these times. I hate his cruelty. BREAKFAST SUCKS!!! Dad puts all this crap in my bowl. Pellets, Dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and other things. I think he is trying to starve me to death. All I need are peanuts. And French fries. Just fill my bowl with peanuts and French fries and I'll be fine. I've tried to tell him this but he won't listen. He just doesn't care how I feel. When dad leaves for work he puts me in my huge cage. Or should I say the torture chamber. There are things hanging all over the place. Bells, ropes, plastic things, wood things, all sorts of things. I tried attacking these things and ripping them to shreds, but new ones keep showing up. It'a a never ending uphill battle. Once a week, dad takes me to work. This is not fun. He puts me in a plastic box and then puts me in the car. I can't see where I am going!! I dig and dig and finally he lets me out so I can see, but it takes him FOREVER!! Just think about it--1/2 hr IS FOREVER!! At work, there are a whole bunch of evil people. They all try to touch Me, and play with me. I just bite them all. Except for one guy. I like him. Dinner time is teasing time. Dad eats his dinner and does not give it all to me. Sometimes, he gives me a piece of his dinner, but I just throw it on the floor to point out my displeasure. There are times I prefer take out, plain and simple but he just shrugs. Finally, I can't even start to tell you about all the things that I can't do. I can't chew on the paper towels that dad used to clean up my poop. I Can't chew on dad's mail. I can't chew on dad's notebook computer. I can't chew on the remote control. I can't chew on the telephone cable. Anyway, you get the point. I'm a parrot and simply wanna try the unknown. You think he cares?? So, please, please, If you know of a home that can satisfy my needs, let me know immediately. Thank you all, for your help and understanding. Bless you