CiaraMatthews

Hi All! My name is Ciara and I am hoping this forum may be able to help me with some of the challenges I am having with my African Grey. I am looking for advice on how to handle what looks to be the start of feather plucking by my CAG - Ruby - after her last vet gave her a WAY TOO SHORT wing clip. It's been more than a year and none of her flight feathers have come back in. Every time they come in, since the wing clip was so short, there are no feathers around the new blood feather coming in, and she ends up breaking it off when she hits her wings on something. In fact, some of the clipped feathers haven't even fallen out yet and the cut feather is irritating her wing skin, causing her to chew. I am desperate for a solution. We tried cutting a hole in a piece of felt and slipping that over her head as a collar, but that has caused her to pull at he neck feathers, which I am concerned will turn into plucking if I leave it on. I have some cream the vet prescribed for the wounded skin, and I think that has helped it heal, but I am worried this isn't breaking the habit. I would like to keep her in a much smaller cage to keep her from being able to move and hurt her wings, but I am worried the small environment will be stressful for her. Finally, the vet also have be a liquid pain killer/sedative to keep her too tired to pick at those feathers, but I can't seem to get her to take it. Any help, advice, or thoughts on your own experience would be VERY help. I'm getting to the point that I check her feathers and wings obsessively and I am so afraid that is going to start causing her to pay too much attention to them too. Thanks for any help, Ciara