kathysmith38

I need to find LuLu a suitable home. She needs more than I am able to give her. She is plucking her feathers all over again. I cannot afford anymore medical bills as I am dealing with my own and now my husband's medical bills as well. LuLu just deserves better and I am devastated. She grows new feathers in and within a few days starts plucking them out again. I had treated her for giardia but I am not sure if the antibiotics worked as I cannot afford to take her back to the vet again. Each visit is costing me at least $125-$175. I am out of work and out of antibiotic but when she was on it, it seems to be working. I don't know what else to do and I don't want LuLu to be in any distress so I want her to have a better home life than my pocketbook is going to be able to give her. I don't know what else to do and I love LuLu too much to let it go on like this. If there is anyone out there interested in giving LuLu a home that can give her the love, attention and care she needs, I need to know that LuLu is going to be provided for. She matters to much to just let this continue on like this. ~Kathy

Oh I forgot! DanMcQ, that information is the same exact info sheet the doctor gave me yesterday. I know it has to be the best info out there or it wouldn't be so widely circulated right?! Thank you for going that extra step with the information. It is nice to see that people still care enough to help each other. Very rare to find that in today's world where for the most part it seems to be every man for himself.

I wanted to thank each of you for your support. It may be my wishful thinking but I think this morning LuLu is not plucking but maybe once or twice! She has itched a couple of times but I started immediately with the AviBird Soother. She is eating up a storm with her breakfast, but then LuLu always has a large appetite. Thank you for the info on the Grapefruit Seed Extract. I just ordered it from the Nutriteam website. Hubby is going to throw another fit but I don't care! I am going to go bath LuLu with the AviBird Rain Bath the doctor prescribed and I am going to take out our powerwasher and really make sure the cages are all sparkly clean! I have been using Poop Off to clean them but I guess it isn't strong enough at disinfecting so until the GSE comes I am going to use a bleach solution with the power sprayer and then a heavy heavy rinse and dry. I went to bed last night in tears just fearful of what life would be like without LuLu. She is the one to talk to me each morning and the last one to say goodnight to me. I have been trying to teach her to pray but all I get so far is "Jesus" and "Amen." She chatters away at me when she knows I am feeling sick and loves to do "Batman." Whenever you sing the "da da da Batman" LuLu goes into her acrobatic little stunts that get me to laughing so hard I nearly end up crying! She is quite a goof but she is my goof! I want LuLu with me until the day I die and then I want her to stay with my son who loves birds even though right now he is afraid of LuLu as she is jealous of him whenever he hugs me!

Saturday during bath time I noticed that LuLu had been plucking close to her air sac. This morning I saw that she had been plucking again and this time she had caused a lesion that had not been there on the bath Saturday. I immediately put aloe vera gel on it and rushed her to the vet. The vet understanding my financial situation at the present time was considerate and said we will start with the most essential but least expensive test and go from there. Well she did a fecal gram and a wet smear and she found giardia in the fecal. She explained that LuLu could have gotten this before she even came home from the breeder as birds can harbor it for long periods of time before shedding it so it didn't show in the initial exam. Apparently, LuLu could even have contracted it with the corn cob litter that we use for the bottom of her cage. I thought since it was below the grate & it was recommended at PetSmart that it was safe. Now I am thinking my sister-in-law may have a better idea with placing the paper on top of the grate instead of the litter. The vet says the giardia is most likely the explanation for why LuLu is actually plucking her new incoming feathers as it can cause itching. LuLu is now on Metronidazole Suspension for 7 days. She is also using AviBird Soother spray and AviBird Rain & Natural Bath. The good news is LuLu is at 419 grams and very alert! So the skinny thing was definitely my imagination. The vet said LuLu was one of the nicer greys she has met even though LuLu really gave her the "what-for." It is obvious LuLu is well bonded to me as I was the only one she would allow to handle her while the vet did her exams. When a man would walk in the room she immediately went off on her angry hissing & sqwauking temper tantrum. I really wanted to put a collar on LuLu for a couple of days to let the lesion heal but LuLu would not hear of it even when I tried to be the one putting it on her. I am so distressed thinking I must have missed something with LuLu when I became sick with the heart issues. I have LuLu in her sleep cage and am going to put her to bed now but first thing tomorrow I am going to be scrubbing down all of her cages with Clorox and letting them air dry completely before putting her back into any of them. One other suggestion that the vet had has me a bit concerned. She suggested that we take LuLu's outside cage into a full sun condition, rather then the covered deck, and give LuLu full sun for 20 minutes 3x a week. My concerns are that right now we have a lot of air quality alert days due to the high counts on mountain cedar & molds that I don't want to expose LuLu to allergens that will aggravate the situation. I am also concerned that the temps in South Texas right now are subject to such huge swings that I am afraid she would catch cold. One last concern, the neighbor behind us has 3 cats that she allows to run the neighborhood and it scares me senseless that they will get to my LuLu. I usually have her outside on the covered patio while I am out there but I cannot spend 20 minutes in the sun as I have Lupus and I am not sure I could run fast enough to protect LuLu from the darn cats. So what do I do? Is anyone having success with heat lamps because I will go buy one immediately if it will give her the benefits of sunlight without having to take her to the outer deck. Lastly, someone please tell me that LuLu won't die from giardia and that this medicine is the cure! I had a huge fight with my husband as it is because he says we cannot afford another bill when I haven't even seen the last of my medical bills for the heart condition. Thursday is when I am scheduled for the pacemaker and I just used the money I had saved for the medications I am to come home with on the vet. My husband is furious and telling me that if he gets one more bill I will have to give LuLu away or he will, I can't do that and if he tries to I am going to be single so damn fast! I love LuLu too much and she loves me...I WON'T BE WITHOUT LuLu!

Does anyone have "how-to" on how to build grey toys & sizing guidelines at home? LuLu destroys toys on a weekly basis and I really have to find a better way of keeping on top of her toy needs. When I purchased LuLu, my best friend, gave me a gift certificate to a bird shop. I have bought LuLu her last two cages and all her toys on the gift certificate. I have $75 remaining on the certificate and I see all the toy findings there so I think I will buy the parts there but need info on what to do about assembly and all that jazz. I have also disassembled many of the toys she has already destroyed so that I have the hardware for new assemblies.

Ok so today LuLu's neck looks a little better. She still seems to have mutilated a few of the feathers as they are ragged on the edges. I ran out today and purchased another cage for my home office so she can be in the same room with me even when I am upstairs and of course she got a new toy and a peacock feather to tear up. Now she has a large macaw cage for outdoors, a medium size one for the family room downstairs, a playstand in the kitchen and a sleeping cage for my upstairs home office. I think Little LuLu may be a little spoiled! We haved tried just about every pellet available on the market but the only one she likes is the Pretty Bird Species Specific African formula. We put a little red palm oil in there and mix it up and we warm all her veggies with the red palm as well. Her personality is so silly. This morning I took her into the shower with me and she just kept talking to herself in the shower mirror! She kept saying "Hiya Baby!" When we were drying up, I said "Brrr Baby" and she started in on "Brr Baby." I looked her over again while I was drying her and there are so many little needles all over her...I feel so sorry for her. No wonder she was being such a grump! I was going to say that the last time she was at the vet was 4 months ago when I first purchased her. When I first purchased LuLu I was cautioned not to spend over amounts of time if I wasn't going to be able to be consistent on the together time so she wouldn't develop seperation anxiety. I have been cautious to spend some time together at breakfast, lunch and dinner and then to spend about another 2 hours in the evening just having playtime or cuddletime. Then I put LuLu in her cage and say prayers with her before I cover her cage. Lately with all the doctors appoointments and test I feel as though I haven't had that amount of time available so I am concerned that she may feel neglected. She is spending about 3+ hours out of her cage and the time inside her cage is spent with a new toy weekly and either the tv or radio on with me and the kids in the room. Outdoor time is spent about 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays while I clean her playstand and cage and have breakfast & lunch on the patio with LuLu, weather permitting. Whenever I walk in the door from the doctor she starts in on "Uhoh Momma's home!" I feel so exhausted that I lay down on the sofa next to her cage, but I end up telling her that"Momma's tired, we will play after nap LuLu." I would love to have her cuddle up with me for nap but I am so petrified that someone will forget and let the dogs in with LuLu loose! She is still acting like her silly self. She is even playing batman more often but she isn't talking as much as she was just before the holidays. Silly sounds yes but words are a bit more limited and now the tattered feathers. I know that alot of the feather issues are molting but what do I do about the ones she has tattered? Has anyone tried the "Pluck No More"? I have a friend with a Conure that said she has had great success with it and I am considering buying it at least once for a try. Anything that makes LuLu happy makes me happy!

I should clarify that LuLu was not bald but rather thinned out under her wings. You couldn't see her skin under the wings rather just very fine feathers. She definitely has more feathers there then she did just a couple of weeks ago but that is what makes the needles so visible now!

This is the second photo of LuLu

I am going through a lot of torture with LuLu. I think she is molting but not positive. She has bald spots around her neck and there are downy type feathers all over the house. I would find her pulling her feathers but all she gets is downy looking feathers not the whole thing and it had me so alarmed, I felt like I was failing her completely and had resolved myself to finding her a new home since she seemed to be unhappy here. I was misting her last week and became even more alarmed when I noticed that her entire body under the wings was almost completely gone and then a couple of days later the feathers covering her little legs were nearly bare. I had no idea what the heck was going on. Well Saturday was her long bath day and I notice that she had these dark needles everywhere around her neck where the bald spots are. Then I was running the shower spray under her feathers and notice that there were more little white needles starting to protrude through her skin. I thought at first she had plucked her entire back bald but then I researched it online and I will be darned if it doesn't appear like photos of molting! I still see where she was over agressive in her preening and has mutilated so many of her feathers but from what I read it isn't uncommon for them to be over agressive with their first molt. She is destroying all her toys on a weekly basis so I have started trying to purchase a few cheaper toys and even a feather duster to see if it helps. I rushed out today and bought her a gallon of aloe vera juice to start bathing & misting her with it. I even ran out to buy her a humidifier in case that is an issue. Tonight she ate like she was starving, she ate a good 4-6 oz.s if veggies and egg and she is finishing at least 1-2 cups of her pellets daily with red palm oil so I think this is all part of molting. I really need advice. I would take LuLu to the vet but I am still without a job and the cardiologist has now advised me that I am going to have to have pacemaker surgery soon. I am stilling trying to pay off all the darn test it took to come to the conclusion that the pacemaker is absolutely necessary. I am so nervous, right now LuLu looks a fright (all bald around her neck and looking like goosebumps under her wings! I hate the idea of giving up LuLu because I love her more than I ever imagined possible but what do I do now? Advice is appreciated. I have attached rather bad photos of the little needle feathers on LuLu's neck. The look like little black shoots with the feathers starting to protrude through the tips. The same under her wings but they aren't as bald because I don't think she reaches them as much. Also the feathers starting to come through on her neck are much darker than the feathers she presently has. LuLu is 8 months old and we live in South Texas were the winter has been unseasonably warm.

Ok I have similar problem. LuLu has tons of down feathers all over the house but I am concerned because I can see her pull them. I haven't found but one red tail feather on the floor and when I checked you can see another red feather already coming in. She isn't too keen on baths so I mist her every other day. I am slowly but surely getting her more adjusted to letting me put her in the shower and using the handheld sprayer to shower her. Today for the first time she flapped her wings in the shower for me to get under her wings with the sprayer and all looks well there. She has a spot on either wing where when wet it looks as though she is bald. Her skin underneath is pink and supple. She seems to like the blow dryer so I use it on the low/cool setting to dry her. When I brought LuLu home 3 months ago she was only 15 weeks old. She had been on a diet that was primarily Higgins Safflower Gold. I have tried to wean her off the seed but she is extremely mule headed when it comes to food. We have tried Harrison's High Potency, Zupreem Natural, Pretty Bird, and Exact pellets but I don't feel she eats as much as she should (of course I can just be a worrisome mommy too). I leave pellets in her cage all day along with a minimal amount of the Higgins mixed in. She likes her oatmeal in the mornings, not much on most veggies and she went nuts with apple, mango, egg, and peas tonight for supper but still she looks on the thin side to me. I am praying this is due to molting. She appeared heavier when I bought her but without a scale to really check I have no idea how much weight difference there is. The vet check when I purchased LuLu was A-ok. I have since lost my job and am unable to afford to see the vet again not so much because of the office visit cost but because of all the labs. Without a job, and only one income (no overtime), plus dealing with the recovery from an auto accident, it is going to be a tight holiday season in the house. I am doing all I can just to keep us in the house with food and electricity until I find a new position. Can anyone tell me what signs are normal for a healthy parrot, what are signs of molting versus plucking, and what is a reasonable amount of food consumption a day? I am so worried, I don't want to lose my beloved LuLu due to financial hardships that I know will improve hopefully soon.

Just loaded some photos of LuLu's first day home with us today not sure if it worked but maybe you can see LuLu's first photos. She spent most of the day playing on her playstand or sitting on my arm. Breakfast for LuLu consisted of some scrambled egg, carrots,and bell peppers. Lunch was part of a jalepeno, carrots, spinach and a few pomegranantes seeds. Dinner was some pasta with chickpeas and brocolli and a smidge of orange for desert. LuLu is doing very well except for her being very ornary about coming out of the cage. She climbs to the highest spot of the cage and refuses to come down. Talked to the breeder about this and she says I have to insist on LuLu coming out of the cage when I say so because I have to show LuLu that I am boss (haha...1 day with her and I know LuLu is going to be able to pull my strings). Any suggestions on how to willingly get LuLu out of the cage would be appreciated as I don't want her to associate coming out as a negative experience. I tried keeping her out most of the day having fun and playing with new toys on her playstand so it would be enjoyable for her. ~Kathy

OK we couldn't wait any longer. The breeder we had chosen for our Grey was not going to be able to produce the bird we wanted in November. I was so upset because it is all I keep dreaming of and I am a bit PO'd at the loss of my deposit but my husband said to look for another breeder immediately! Well that adage about God doesn't close one door without opening another is true. I GOT LUCKY! I found a 14 week old CAG with a breeder not even an hour from here through avianbiotech.com I contacted the breeder this morning and by the grace of God she still had one CAG available. We ask the breeder for references and check everything out so she had us drive out to the aviary to meet them and discuss our options with LuLu. I fell in love the moment I saw LuLu and I knew she was meant for me. She stepped onto my hand without issue and we made eye contact. I even got to feed her apple right out of my hand. I couldn't resist and so I brought LuLu home today. She is 14 weeks old and she is already trying to say Hello! She is so pretty and very gentle. She has already taken to me and I think she knows we are suppose to be best buddies! I have one week to get her to the vet which I intend on having her there first thing on Tuesday being as the holiday has everything closed. Now I have only a few questions. The breeder has her on Higgins Safflower Gold and I can't find it here in town...does anyone else have experience with this food and any idea where I can find it locally? If this isn't what is best for LuLu can someone suggest what would be best and how do I go about changing it for her? Also should I have just fresh veggies and fruits in her playstand cups or do I put her daily pellets as well? Secondly, should I have perches by every bowl or is one between the bowls acceptable? I placed in two manzanita perches (one without bark and one with) one rope perch, and two calcium perches. Last but not least. I am having a hell of a time find a cage cover that will cover top to bottom on this cage so is it acceptable to have the cover go a little more than half the way down? Any suggestions on what is normal behavior while LuLu adjust to new home is good. She had some apple earlier and proceeded to regurgitate it for me about 15 minutes later. I did not gross out because I remember reading something about it being a sign of affection that they want to share with you. Later on she was having fun spreading out her wings to show me just how pretty she is. So I am hoping these are all good signs that she is as happy with me as I am with her. Well I am off to spend time with LuLu. Have fun everyone and thank you in advance for all the wonderful advice. I am such a nervous new mom. God bless, ~Kathy

Well saturday I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed to go shopping for the bird cage so the hubby went and surprised me. He said he was going to grocery store and to drop the kids off at the mall. He came home with this www.parrotsupercenter.com/products/Bird_Cages/Paradise_Bird_Cages/victorian-style-cage40X32X63-product.html Least to say I am a bit shocked! Is this going to be way too big for an African Grey? Must admit is a beautiful cage and if it is going to be suitable I am thrilled! Started purchasing toys for it immediately. It is kind of like expecting a new baby, in fact, I overheard my hubby on phone with a buddy telling him how we are "expecting!" Then threw in the comment that the bird was to fill my mother instinct now that the kids are all grown up.

I took Romeo to the vet today and he couldn't stop laughing at me! He teased me about being such a pushover but he said the same thing about it being good experience before Elmo or Lulu comes. Little Romeo behaved liked a champ with the entire staff. Everyone had to pass him around and take a look and chat with him. NOT ONE BITE! Anyhow the vet took a blood sample, droppings sample, gave him a clean bill of health and put his color mutation as a Dutch Blue lovebird. He said we will keep an eye on him for the next few months and see if anything materializes but suggested that the biggest issue he could see was keeping Romeo safe from Lulu (apparently the incident Ice speaks of is quite common or else the vet reads this forum) We went ahead and found this cage for Elmo or Lulu online and want opinions of more experienced Grey parents before we order it. http://www.bird.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=501700+BLK Is this cage going to be too small, too large or just right? We put tie wraps on Romeo's cage to keep it locked when we aren't available but what type of lock is going to be best for our Grey? With each member of this house having their own dog we want to be sure that the Grey is safe inside the cage and the dogs will be outside when he is out of his cage. Lastly, we already had decided that little Romeo's cage would be kept in the playroom and our Grey's cage would be in the family room until everyone is giving the all clear to meet and then again only under Mom's supervision with vet permission! Thanks for all your info. I am reading and learning so much on this site. Reading materials I have and continue to gather but I think the best learning comes from learning from other Grey parents. God bless, ~Kathy

Here is a recent family photo of me and my family. Awaiting the birth of our Grey in August so will post more photos after the arrival! ~Kathy