mas

Hey everyone!! Last week my husband and I took a holiday to the Eastern Cape (South Africa) and we visited the most AMAZING aviary: Birds of Eden (http://www.birdsofeden.co.za); it is the world's largest free flight aviary, and there were quite a few African Greys around. It was so great to see them flying around in such a large area. All the birds in the aviary were previously caged birds. One of the guides told us they are not going to take in any more African Greys because they are destroying all wooden the tables, benches and walkways - hehehehe - how typical of a Grey! Take a look at the website of this place, there are some great photos and educational material. By the way, we had to visit this place twice during our stay because we loved it so much! My husband had a rainbow lorikeet, cockatoo and a CAG fighting over him - and the lorikeet didn't like women - so took a bite at me every time I tried to walk close to my hubby! ;-) Was a really great experience, so if anyone is around that area it is a MUST for bird lovers If you do go - beware of Angel - a cockatoo that loves to swoop and bite (yup, she bit me too!) -Sameera

I would, if I could! I'm sure her intentions were good though.. its a matter of education at the end of the day. It seems quite common that people do not take wing clipping seriously, I know at home in Australia when I was about 10years old I got a budgie (he passed away at the age of 10, of natural causes) and the people at the pet shop told my mum she can clip his wings at home - and we did that without incident his whole life, but SO easily there could have been damage - if only we knew! After our experience with Zahzu, the thought of clipping wings at home by novices is a NIGHTMARE! -Sameera

Yes, it was a really disturbing link Siobhan - and the issue of wild caught parrots is even more disturbing! The world parrot trust does amazing things- if you see their website they have some really great toys to buy also to support their cause. Anyway, Zahzu is awake now and eating a bit - cheeky bugger threw away her pellets and only ate the couple of seeds i gave her earlier (she usually only gets seeds as a treat); she's getting spoiled today and she deserves it more than ever!I also bought her a new toy today ;-) Judygram and Danmcq - it was a major ordeal! Very stressful for the whole family - and I hope this serves as a warning for everyone "ONLY ALLOW A VET OR SOMEONE WHO IS HIGHLY SKILLED CLIP WINGS". I feel really guilty for allowing the sitter to trim wings, however she assured me she knows exactly how; pfft! Never again! -Sameera

Zahzu has never gone for my earrings, but she has gone for buttons and things like that. From what I know and have observed, it is not really likely that they'd swallow something like that right away, they seem more interested in playing with it and if its not crushed up they won't swallow just like that. That is just my thoughts, I may be very wrong! I notice even when Zahzu pulls out a thread from my clothing she'll play with it, make it into a ball and then spit it out. Hope that helps! Also, Zahzu went through a phase of biting ears - I ignored her and she eventually stopped biting my ears, but she still goes for my husband's ears! I always tell him ignore it, because she LOVES the reaction (it also tickles me!!)... so the more calmly you react the better! Enjoy! -Sameera

Another update (I'm the only one replying to this post it seems! hehe), anyway, I was busy cleaning in the kitchen, and Zahzu called me to the room she's in and said "i want a kiss mwa mwa" - she's never said that before! I'm quite chuffed!:silly:

That is really lovely - one I will definitely read to my nieces and nephews

Here is a link I found talking about this procedure: http://www.parrots.org/index.php/ourwork/african_grey_blog_4 have a read - its interesting!

Hey guys, If you remember in my last post I was talking about Zahzu's bad wing clip and resulting feather destruction. We ended up taking her to the vet, -she started to chew at her other wing - and had no long feathers left on that wing either. The vet took a look at her and said it is because the feathers are really irritating her - with the sharp ends poking her...he said she is definitely not feather plucking its an irritation she is trying to get rid of. So... This morning she was admitted for 'surgery' - she was put under anesthetic, and the vet pulled out all of the destroyed feathers, she has a course of antibiotics to take, and after that a mutli-vitamin called pre-molt. She's home now, and sleeping in her cage, in about 1 hour or so I'll give her some food, but vet said not to worry if she doesn't eat too much today because she'll still be a bit groggy; however by tomorrow she should be back to normal. I'm glad the troublesome feathers are gone - hopefully she will be more comfortable now. Will keep you all posted -Sameera

Thanks Amy! I will try Pick n Pay - I'm new to South Africa; moved here few months ago from Australia (surprisingly there wasn't a "wrong way - go back" sign!!) Am still finding my way around... thanks so much, really appreciate it! Dave007 - I'll try the local sangoma ;-) and my husband did try the pharmacy, the aloe gel they stocked all had additives in it, he couldn't find 100%...anyway, there is a herbalist around the corner from where my husband works - he can do some amazing things - he advertises that he can: bring back run away wife, chase away demons, enlarge certain body parts (won't mention), cure aids etc... i'm sure he has a cure for feather plucking! maybe i'll give the vet a miss and go see him rather??? (jj!)

Firstly, Dave007 and Tari I am so relieved! Thank you. I'm sure it must be really irritating for her that's why she's pulling and plucking at those feathers - I will take her to the vet and try to get it sorted out...I don't mind spending the money if it means our baby will be more comfortable. I have been looking around for pure aloe gel and aloe juice, but here where I've moved to in South Africa it's hard to find (we don't have a health food store here) - will keep hunting. I know the palm oil won't work immediately - it's like us humans taking multi-vitamins and expecting it to work straight away! Anyway, I'm calm now .... thanks! Will keep you all posted on progress. ps. she's busy breaking and pulling out a 2nd feather now...hmmm -Sameera

Oh dear, Since my first post she's pulled out the broken part of the feather - I'm freaking out!!!

Let me try to upload one more time

Take note of the white quill - you can see underneath it the "feathery" bits are gone, also take note the kink in it where zahzu has broken it.

Hi Guys! This follows up from my last post "Feather Plucking?". Zahzu had a bad wing clip, and now, she has pulled out the fibres from the bottom of the quill on the 3 remaining "long" feathers on her right wing. Now, she has actually broken one of the wing feathers in the middle and it's kind of hanging there. I'm giving her palm oil every day with a treat, bathing her, giving her heaps of attention as usual, have put a couple more wooden toys that she loves to destroy into her cage to act as a further distraction. I'm just so worried she is going to become a feather plucker - my husband says I'm being over-paranoid, but I'm just so worried! Any advice is highly appreciated! I'll try to attach a photo of her right wing just now! Thank you all so much once again, Sameera.

Great pictures - Harrison looks like he was having an absolute ball of a time! :silly: -Sameera

Lovelylew, I read somewhere (can't remember where!) that what you can do is offer seeds for 20minutes in the morning, and 20 minutes in the evening only. Rest of the time keep pellets in the cage only, and eventually your baby will start eating the pellets. I'm not sure if this is a nice thing to do - I personally would leave pellets, fruit and veges in the cage (not pellets alone), so the bird doesn't get starved into eating the pellets. Our Zahzu eats pellets quite redily now, and she was a real fuss-pot! Also, try different brands of pellets... Zahzu really liked the Kaytee weaning pellets - they are especially made to wean a bird of a seed only diet onto a pellet diet. Zahzu now only gets seeds when we are training her - it's a great motivator for her too! Good luck! Sameera

Zahzu is also a spoiled brat! She has command of our household, and I'm sure she knows it! I think it is because they are so "human-like" and intelligent that we all feel such strong connections to them...I know Zahzu has become one of my best friends, and has helped me settle into a new country quite well! I always worry about what will happen to her if I have to go away because I don't trust anyone to take such good care of her! (I sound like an overprotective mum, don't I!?!) Anyway, she is throwing nuts at me to get my attention - I had better go! ;-) Sameera

Heheh - I think it was more like "I think you need to go to bed now and leave me alone!" - its night time here in Sunny South Africa... another funny thing (not at all related to this topic) - the other night she was sitting on my husband's knee and I was playing with her, and she announced "I want a scratch, cuckoo"...i often call her my cuckoo as a pet name - she hasn't been taught that it's a label or anything, but anyway - i think my new name is cuckoo! hehe Back on topic: I will try rubbing some aloe gel in the area as well as the aloe juice. Thanks so much for your advice again!

An after though: is it ok to fill a dish with aloe juice for her to bath in? I just tried misting her with water and she was growling and flailing about her cage - I feel its a bit mean of me to force her to get misted when she happily will take a bath in a dish (but as I said she's not getting soaked). Poor baby I feel so sorry for her, I'm sure she could tell I was feeling bad about misting her - she asked "how are you?" hehe. She's busy preening herself now.

Thank you so much for such a speedy reply! Zahzu hates to be misted, however she will have to put up with it I suppose! I'm thinking I'll take her to the vet anyway, just to see if the vet is able to do any further fixing up of those exposed ends. Thanks again! Sameera

Hi guys, Need some advice reagarding our 7month old baby. She had a really bad wing clipping job done by a bird sitter when she was about 4months old, after that we took her to her vet who fixed up her wing as best he could. The "bad" clip was of just one wing. Now, after several months I'm noticing she is pulling out the bits of feather from one of her long wing feathers - the bits that are attached to the quill are removed from only one side of the quill of one feather. On the good clipped wing, she has pulled out some of the bits of feather, but not as much as the poorly clipped wing. The last few days we have noticed that the poorly clipped wing is also irritating her as she brushes it up against the side of her cage. She gets lots of attention, has lots of toys which are regularly rotated in her cage, she gets plenty of attention as I'm not working at the moment. Only thing is she does not really bath properly - she doesn't get SOAKING wet when she baths. Advice and tips will be really valuable. We are really trying hard to keep her happy and make her life pleasurable, and it seems she's a happy baby! Thanks guys, Sameera

thanks lovemygreys, i'll do some more reading as well and post the links as soon as I come across anything else that I can find. I came across this on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethoxyquin and this on the kaytee website http://www.kaytee.com/ask_the_experts/antioxidants_and_preservatives/

Hi I was doing some reading online and came across this article: http://www.avianweb.com/ethoxyquin.htm and http://www.parrothouse.com/ethox.html I then went to see the ingredients on the Kaytee Exact Pellets and it has that ingredient (Ethoxyquin) in it. Has anyone done more research into that? :huh:

Knight05 - Woot woot! It's so exciting you got your baby home! It sounds like you have a pretty relaxed and happy baby - beak grinding is a sign of contentment:) Give your baby a little while to settle in before going to the vet, so it's not tooooo much of a strain on her, you don't want to upset her good mood. Most of all - ENJOY! -Sameera

Falconeer - We are so sorry to hear of the passing of your beautiful Tonto. We pray that you have strength and patience to deal with this tragic loss. Rest assured you did all that was humanly possible to protect and save Tonto. However; if something is meant to be, it will be... Our sincere condolences, Sameera and Ameen