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Well, I would reccommend IF you decide wing clipping is for you, you get it done by an avian vet - someone with lots of experience who knows what they are doing. I support wing clipping, I also support not wing clipping! I'm actually not sure what we will do once Zahzu's wings grow back in - would love to leave her flighted though. It's really a decision you need to weigh up, and make yourself. Just make sure if you decide - it must ONLY ONLY ONLY be done by someone who's hot stuff at it! -Sameera

Heyy... you are soooo lucky! it's always all hell breaking loose any time we try to mist/bath zahzu! heheh... thats awsome!

He might be a bit shaken up from the storm last night. I wouldn't worry too much, just monitor him, give him a couple of his favourite treats to stimulate his appetite and I'm sure he'll come around. Keep us updated!

Hi Greg, All the stories here are really nice - mine is the not so nice aspect ;-) We got our baby about 1 year ago now, and she had her wings clipped by the bird sitter - we allowed it in our total ignorance! This resulted in her barbering her wings - which lead to the vet removing the flight feathers... to make a long story short, now we have a feather picking bird, who had had so many falls resulting in broken blood feathers. My hubby and I have had to learn how to remove blood feathers that are bleeding ourselves, and now the little madam is going onto antidepressants to calm her and help her relax while her body heals up, and hopefully grows in new flight feathers. However, she talks lots, loves to get head scratches...and best of all is potty trained! It is an absolute joy owning a grey, however it is a huge responsibility, and can be very trying and stressful at times. Thanks my 2c ;-) -Sameera

Just a side note, I'm an Aussie living in South Africa, and I looked into taking Zahzu back to Australia if we ever do decide to move back - and, basically, it's impossible! Anyway, Christain good luck with studying nature conservation - hope it works out well for you... however, gotta tell you you passed up on a great experience moving to Aus ;-) - but i'm very bias! Hehehe... Enjoy! -Sameera

Congrats! He's adorable! Also, glad to see someone else in South Africa on here -Sameera

Thanks for your support Dan. Since my last post, Zahzu fell once from her cage - but didn't get hurt badly, just a tiny bit of blood, so toweled her and put flour to help clotting.... However, this evening was sitting with her on my lap and something was irritating her - don't know what! So I went to put her down on the floor for her to walk around, but she jumped from my hand, and broke another blood feather! It was dripping blood, so removed it - with the help of my hubby ofcourse. She keeps damaging these darn feathers! We have a big roll of foam ready to go down on the floor, so hopefully this will prevent future falls/injuries as a result of falling. Tomorrow will go pick up the Colmicalm - todays shenanigans really made me make up my mind about the medication! It will calm her hopefully, for long enough for the feathers to grow back and hopefully once they are back, madam will be fully flighted! Ok, time to sleep now! -Sameera

Lol.. That is just adorable how Tyco is able to communicate so meaningfully! As far as cleaning the house goes - they seem to do really well creating opportunities for cleaning! ;-) I always say, I'd have so much less housework to do if Zahzu didn't mess so much! *sigh* -Sameera

Take a look at this website: http://images.google.co.za/imgres?imgurl=http://qp-society.com/qpserc/ercimages/bloodfeather2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://qp-society.com/qpserc/bloodfeathers.html&h=178&w=235&sz=10&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=vAXlhyxjGmZuhM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmature%2Bfeather%2Bblood%2Bfeather%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN It might not be the best sight, i just did a quick google image search and found it, but it should explain and show u everything you need to know. -Sameera

Hey everyone, For the past 2/3 weeks, Zahzu has started plucking out feathers again - this time on her chest. It is likely due to pain caused by falling and cutting her keel, and she's fallen twice since, which is probably exacerbating the pain. (Refer to last post - pain management). Anyway, went in to chat with the vet today, and he suggests we try 'Clomicalm' by Novartis. It is clomipramine hydrochloride and the dose is 2mg/kg - administered via crushed up tablet mixed with honey or some other treat. In combination with the medication, we need to develop a behaviour management plan. I've read up Barbra Heidenriech's book - Good Bird, in which it suggests you do something like shine a light on the wall to distract your bird when you see it plucking, and then cue the bird to do a desirable behaviour, and then reward. We will continue with that, the only problem is that Zahzu mainly plucks when we are not at home - which is most likely part separation anxiet, part being able to notice the discomfort she is in because she's not being entertained. So, I'm going to work on more forraging opportunities - buy containers to put food in, wrap things in newspaper etc... she needs to realise she can have fun in her cage, not only on top of her cage or in our laps! I was also wondering, if I raise her cage, is that going to help make her happier in there? Only problem then, is when she's out of her cage, it will be very high - and the risk of falling will be greater! Has anyone used tricyclic antidepressents on their birds? We haven't yet got the medication, the vet has just ordered it. I've read up a fair bit on it, and it seems to yield quite positive results. Its relatively newly registered for use in birds. Sorry this is so long! Any advice and comments more than welcome! Also, in the next few months I'll be getting my registration (fingers crossed!!) and will be starting to practice - so I'll be out of the house more, and in Dec/Jan my sister is coming over for a holiday, so Zahzu will have to spend a couple of weeks at a bird sitter - so we want to have this situation under control before all of this starts - hence the urgency of finding a solution! -Sameera

We were thinking of putting foam all around her cage to cushion any potential falls - she doesn't mind playing on the floor, as long as we are sitting with her, but if she's left to her own devices, and we watch tv, or sit at the computer - she goes to her cage and climbs up to play. She does sit with us in our laps for about 2hours per day on average... unfortunately, our home is pretty small, and the only carpeted place is the bedroom - and that is where we have done all our toweling of the poor bugger, so I don't want to take her there at the moment, because it might remind her of the whole fiasco! Will definately be getting the foam around the cage, but for now towels and blankets will have to suffice. Nims - that is reallllly interesting about the willow bark! I don't know where I'd find it in South Africa though unfortunately... Will keep you all updated. Thanks... Sameera

Thanks for all your support guys - I am going to give the vet a call, and if he gives the ok, I will email photos of Zahzu to him, rather than take her to the vet - the trips are way too stressful for her; I think it's one of the causes of her feather plucking (which is kinda starting up again since a week or 2 ago)... As far as willow bark goes - that is where asprin comes from originally; however I think it could be toxic to her, because asprin can be pretty toxic to us humans! With drugs - the greater the effect, the more significant the side effect! ;-) We went out for a few hours this morning, had someone checking up on her, and no more bleeding, so I think we are recovering from this incident! Only issue is - she loves to play on top of her cage - she's been fine all the while; however now we are very scared to let her play on top of her cage...she's usually always on top when we are home - what do we do? Is it ok to let her be up there as long as we stay close? Or is it too much of a risk? -Sameera

Thanks TinyTimneh - to make a really long story short, Zahzu had to have all her flight feathers removed by a vet, as a result of a terrible horrible ugly nasty wing clip done by a bird sitter. I've regretted the decision of allowing this bird sitter to clip her since March when all of our problems with Zahzu started... She has preened over the area that was bleeding, but it seems to have clotted up - hope she doesn't make it bleed again - however she's had quite a few blood feathers removed, and we haven't so far yet had a problem of her picking and making things bleed again (however now that I've said that.........there is always a first!). There is already a towel at the bottom of her cage, to soften any falls... Oh, and don't get me wrong - I wasn't about to pop dose of paracetamol or something in her water! Heheh... I would never dream of giving human medications to any animal! Thanks so much for your advice, I think I'll pop on a heater somewhere she can't see (she's scared of the heater, so all winter we've done without it!) -Sameera

Hi guys, As I sit here writing, my hands are shaking and I've got blood spattered on my clothes! (Well, 2 drops of blood - I'm a bit dramatic!!) What happened: Zahzu took a fall from the top of her cage, landed on our tiles and injured her chest and broke 2 blood feathers in the process. What we did: Hubby and I quickly toweled her, removed the 2 broken blood feathers. She continued to drip blood, so applied pressure and packed wound with flour. Now: Madam Zahzu is back in her cage, one foot up gently preening herself, I've finished scrub the blood off our tiles. Zahzu is talking a little, in between preening. The poor baby, I'm wondering if she'd be in any pain right now? What can I do for the pain?? I've given her some 'Avi-Stress' - a South African product of multi-vitamins and electrolytes used when moving/vet visits/stressful situations have occurred or are upcoming. Is there anything I really need to do about the cut on her chest? It isn't bleeding a lot - I'm just so thankful to the Almighty that she didn't fracture her keel bone. I think we need to get her to play on the floor only now till she has some flight back, which may take a couple of years as I understand! I'm so concerned for her welfare - I love her to bits, and it really pains me to see all the trauma she's going through. Any advice you can give me is going to help a great deal! We are trying so hard, learning so much, reading so much - doing everything we possibly can thing of for the poor baby, but we keep having problems! Thanks guys, Sameera

LOL! That is so funnnyyy.... how old is Elmo?

Hi Emma, If you read my past posts you'll learn lots about blood feathers I'm sure - they are the topic of my nightmares!! :dry: If a blood feather bleeds, its best to take your bird to the vet to have it removed, because often the bleeding will re-start, or the other option is to pack it with flour/corn starch. I'm not keen to use styptic powder, because I've been informed here on the forum that it is toxic if it goes into the bloodstream, or if ingested - I know for sure it's toxic for humans, so I'm sure it's toxic for birds... Zahzu had an ingrown feather a couple of weeks ago, and the vet had to cut the skin to remove it, as it was bleeding and causing the poor baba pain. Hope this helps... -Sameera

We are having a similar problem with Zahzu - she bites off the end of the feather, however she did have a 3-week period of plucking. A breeder told me that it is an amino-acid deficiency that may cause this, so increase protein in your bird's diet... legumes, chicken and chicken bones, and the occasional bit of egg too I don't know if it works, but that is what we are trying with Zahzu. -Sameera

The website is dodgy firstly, and secondly I'm considering calling the number (I'm in South Africa); however it is a cell phone number not a land line, which makes it seem even dodgier! Plus, I've read that article in the magazine, and it's not actually a pair of red african greys, its a pair and one of the babies was totally red... I think it was done through selective breeding, if I'm not mistaken there is another thread on the forum somewhere discussing mutations... -Sameera

Thanks guys - I think I really should put together a first aid kit. With styptic powder; are there any particular types safe for birds? I'm assuming some would be toxic if ingested... Zahzu is fine today also - was worried she'd hate me and my husband after what we did to her, but no worries at all! -Sameera

Oh dear - hope it wasn't too much blood kitty! Zahzu has only ever drawn blood twice when she was a baby - even when we had a horrible vet examine her and she bit him she didn't draw blood (she really should have in my opinion though!) ;-) -Sameera

LOL! So so sooo true! And secretly, I bet Tyco and the rest of your flock get a real kick out of it all ;-) They have their human trained very well! -Sameera

Hey guys, Well, once again I'm posting about bleeding feather issues - everyone must be fed up of hearing about it! Anyway, Zahzu had a feather that wasn't growing properly on the tip of her left wing - and she plucked it off and it started bleeding. She gets super stressed out (and so do I sometimes!!) going to the vet - so at our last vet visit, the vet told me I can do it myself next time... So, called the vet (it was about 8pm here); he told me to go for it and told me how - and my husband and I did it!! I toweled her - when she was covered she said "cuckoo??", and then handed her to hubby while I got to her wing, and used a tweezer to remove the bleeding feather, and applied pressure and packed it with a bit of flour - she didn't scream throughout the whole process, and she's back to her usual self now. We looked at videos and I've been reading up a lot on how to remove a blood feather that is damaged online. Hubby and I were both very nervous and apprehensive about doing this at home, but in our situation felt it would be best for Zahzu, due to the stress caused by vet visits. The feather slid out so easily, I was very surprised. My nerves are still shot, but I guess we have to sacrifice our own comfort for the sake of our fid's sometimes! I know it is totally not recommended for us to remove the feather ourselves, but we really did seriously weigh up the pros/cons of doing it at home vs. a trip to the vet. Also, on another note - happier one for sure - Zahzu is toilet trained!! She poops on the command of 'excuse me' - so no more messed up clothes (unless whatever on tv is too interesting to be watching for her 'sitting down poop dance'!) -Sameera

Very nice! Will keep your floor clean too ;-)

Will definately be remembering you, and your birdies in our prayers. So glad to hear you have managed to keep treatment going, and please do keep us updated. Take care of yourself too! -Sameera

You poor thing. This is a very stressful time for you, and your birds I'm sure. Take one thing at a time, and the most urgent thing to deal with first is the bird who is sick, and finances. I'm sure you can speak to the vet about paying on terms, because believe me, you would not be the first person the vet has met who is having difficulty coming up with (often exorbitant) vet fees! You are really doing your best, and I can tell you you have come to the right place here on this forum for support and advice - everyone here is so helpful! Try your best to relax; I know that may sound impossible; but that's what you need to do - excessive worrying is not going to change things. Take one day at a time, focus on your priorities and use that energy you have to find a solution to the issue. Keep up the wonderful job you are doing, and remember we are all here for support! -Sameera