danmcq

Thats good news Di and I am sure it gives you some relief too. Now you and monty can get some sleep. ;-)

I have been accused of thinking "outside of the box" before...LOL B)

Wow, thats plenty of out time and attention. This may take medical advice from a good Avian vet to get the feather plucking issue resolved. Hopefully the Aloe Juice mistings will help the situation. Some 100% pure Aloe gel could be applied to the bare chest are to relieve any irritation in that area. I hope things get better for Oscar. Please keep us posted on this when you have a chance or even point your parents towards this forum if they are online. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/10/12 22:46

Hello Phil and welcome!! Judy has given a good suggestion regarding the possibility of Oscar coming to live with you, since you are the one he is strongly attached to. You stated: "1 - has been since we first got him, he has never let his wings grow back after getting clipped and also won't let his red tail grow." It sounds like he received a bad wing clip from the start. This probably irritated him to the point that he started mutilating his primary wing feathers and continued on to his Tail. This is a tough habit to break, but it can be done. First, if he is not receiving baths and misting with Aloe Juice atleast 3 times a week, he should be. This will keep his skin and feathers soft, supple and not so itchy and irritating. You should also start providing him with Red Palm Oil in his daily diet. This is a natural fruit extract that they consume in large quantities daily in the wild. Just mix in 1/4 teaspoon of so into his oatmeal or drip it on his pellets or other food items daily. You stated: "2nd problem is even worst, i have been Oscars favourite for the last number of years, and i have always spent a lot of time with him, but about 2 months ago i moved out and got a place of my own, since then he has started to pluck all the feathers off his breast and won't stop" This is where you need to move him in with you if possible and spend atleast a good 4 hours each day with him out of the cage. If you can not do this, then your parents need to do so. This self destructive behaviour will only get worse if he does not receive the out of cage time and attention he needs each day. Especially with your being gone and Oscar feeling lonely and deserted. Others will chime in too with their suggestions and try to help you out also. :-)

Welcome Jennifer and Cisco!! LOL - Your Quaker is 1) jealous and 2) protecting his flock from the new and unwelcome feathered intruder. It sounds like you have a handle on it and as you say, time, patience and safety is what it will take. It's GreYt having you here and looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

GreYt photos of the whole flock. You two Gtreys seem to get along and huddle together quite well on your shoulder. :-) Thanks for sharing these.

A Tatoo? B)

Put some type of stickies or something on the glass so they know it is not open. They wil soon learn not to fly into it. :-)

Welcome Warconoe and Tigger!! Tigger sounds like a real joy, but your tiels probably don't think so as he plays the "Pluck a tail feather" game. :-) Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Welcome Joe and Bellisimo!! To get him, to stay on his perch, you will need to just keep putting him back a 100 times if needed. These Greys are very intelligent and if they know you will give up after try 3, they will go the 4th knowing you will keep them. :-) It's GreYt having you here and looking forward to hearing more.

Congratulations Bluekiwi!! Looking forward to hearing more as time progresses. :-)

Oh, sorry to hear it didn't work out Shera. Destiny will take it's course and the Grey meant for you will come along when it's time. :-)

Welcome Margie!! It's wonderful to hear you rescued one Grey and are trying to rescue another. Hopefully the breeder will get back with, if nothing else with a different price they would be willing to take. Looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

Very informative post Dave! I am sure many will find it enlightening and explain why their Greys keep rubbing the bottom middle portion of their rump and then preening feathers. :-) Karma to you!!

This has turned into a really great thread with thoughts on both sides of the fence. A wild anything, due to fear, will certainly not seek out a close relationship with a human in most cases. However, a captive raised or bred animal or bird, will normally seek out the attention of a human, due to the familiarity engendered to it through the raising and dependence upon them for survival. Our Grey seeks out desires cuddling, scratching and other interactions from his most loved human, my wife. He will seek them out from me also, but much less so often. The plucking or other odd behaviours in Greys and other Parrots, is normally the visual display of an underlying problem such as lack of attention, upset or nervous over a change in their living area or other such causes, which could even be health related that needs medical attention to correct. Again, great thread that gives many things to contemplate. :-)

Very nice photos of Tuki. She is one beatiful B&G. The outdoor shots are fantastic. Thanks for sharing these. :-)

Very cool thread and photos Berna!! Can't wait to see more :-)

Oh no, what a way to wake up, especially for Regel!! It's sad to hear he damaged blood feathers and the ordeal you and he had to go through. A 6.1 in the Virgin Islands seems to be very uncommon for that region, isn't it?

Welcome Cloud and Luna and Owner!!! It sounds like you picked up a CAG (Congo African grey) and a TAG (Timneh African grey). It sounds like the transport and arrival to their new home went well. :-) How old are they and have they been DNA sexed? Looking forward to seeing those photos and hearing more!!

Congratulations Talon!! How is she doing all around in behaviour and uniting herself with the flock? You know we need to know these things. :-)

Good question on the schedule. If you are going to spend an hour or so with your Grey before you go to work, then do so as consistently as possible. They do get to where they expect thing to happen on a scheduled basis. One side note to this, is we work all week and my wife normally gets him out of the cage for a half hour or so most mornings. Then he is in the cage until she gets home after work. On weekends, he is out of the cage from 6am until 8pm or so on those two days or 3 if it's a long weekend. They accept this and become used to it as a normal occurrence every week. Hope this answers one of the many "Don't Do's" for you. :-)

Thanks for the update Di. He sounds normal, but a vet visit is never a bad thing to do when you have any doubt. A loss of 7 grams is really nothing and to maintain his weight, he has to be eating enough each day to sustain it. Maybe he's sneaking a bite when your not looking. :-) Looking forward to hearing how the vet visit goes on Monday.

It is nice to watch these two doing their pre-mating ritual. Thanks for sharing these videos. :-)

I would strongly suggest planning on buying a second cage for your next Parrot. Do no plan on the two of them sharing one cage. There is never any guarantee they will get along or if they do it would just be tolerating one another when out from a distance in most cases. Some people do luck out and their Parrots all get along well, but they do not for the most mart inhabit the same cage or one divided in half by just a set of bars. Hope this helps in deciding what choice to make. :-)

Hello Caz, You would treat this rescue as any other. Give it plenty of time to become accustomed to it's new cage, surroundings in his new home and to the flock. Treat him with plenty of respect for his space, sit next to his cage and let him come out if he so desires. Time, Patience and Love will overcome anything with a rescue. :-)