Jazz

Hi - fantastic photos! he look as if he's having a fabulous time... We want to try and train Obi to allow us to put a harness on her (we meant to do this when she was younger when it would probably have been easier) - I've seen a few different types around but have been a bit worried because some look like they use plastic clips which might break following a meeting with a beak! What make did you go for and does Greyson show any interest in tweeking at it?

Update - Obi is going for her third injection this coming Tuesday. I am pretty confident that they have helped the feather chewing/plucking problem. She does look a state at the moment though! Hopefully this will be the last injection she will need, but the vet has said that it may be necessary for her to have another 1 possibly a fifth... Wanted some advice please...Obi has started making exceptionally loud whitling noises, It isn't the 'screech' that you hear from a frightened bird but sounds more like a referees whistle. Is this a natural sound? it is beginning to test patiences a bit, as she continues to do this when she is in her cage. I am assuming it is associatied with wanting attention or her being frustrated with something. We do not shout or get angry with her. We have tried a soft reassuring whistle back, but now she does the loud whistle, followed by a soft reassuring whistle herself! Any suggestions/comments/idea would be most welcome. Thanks

Glad I've been able to help any others who may be experiencing anything similar to what we have ! Will keep you posted on Obi's progress...

Hi Makena - it should be a short course of 3 injections over a period of 4-6 weeks only. The vet seemed pretty confident that the treatment should 'cure' that behaviour. Atleast we know what the problem was/is - if the worst came to the worst, I am thinking that she might need another course of injections in the future... will see what happens. I think they are the same type of injections that I was offered for my Cockatiel, Marli last year when she started to lay... perhaps a trip to the vet for Makena might provide some answers? - good luck !

Hi Nick - not a million miles away from eachother I see. Have you found a good avian vet near you yet?

Good luck - I gave up jan 1st 2006 - I had to be in the right mind set before quitting. Glad to say I did it on will power alone (and a bit of chewing gum to divert habitual routine) mind you, I am the most stuborn person I know Good luck - you'll make it

I've seen that before - but it still brings a smile to my face - thumbs up!!

Hi - they are brilliant aren't they ! - this place (albeit i haven't been here for a while) is v good. from what I have read, there is a lot of good info to be learnt here - a lot of experienced people. Obi's vet pointed me to the 'Birds/parrots for Dummys' dont be put off by the title - it does have some very good common sense reading, definately worth a look.

I had Obi's taken off as it didn't seem to serve any purpose after she had ground half the letters and numbers off!! - just in case she was ever to escape/go missing & someone was to find her and hand her over to a vets - I had her microchipped instead (should of said that we have had her since 12 weeks - she was hand reared & bred in the UK)<br><br>Post edited by: Jazz, at: 2008/04/09 22:30

Hi - it's been a while since I was here, so thought I would post something about our recent experiences with Obi... Obi is now 10 months old and has really settled in well and in particular taken to me. He's talking, copying random nosies from around the house and is just a happy cheeky chap. However, about 3 weeks ago we noticed that he was over preening his feet. Then at the beginning of last week he started chewing/plucking out his chest feathers. We were of course naturally very worried about this not only because of any health issues but also because we (as far as we were concerned) were looking after him well. We also didn't want an 'oven ready' featherless bird. He's out of his cage at least 3-4 hours a day (more at the w/ends) he has a nice size cage with lots of toys to destroy and play with, he eats a good balanced diet (mainly Harrisons Organic) and is very chatty and excited about spending time with us... ...so I took him to our avain vet that we have used for the last 4 years...nothing was jumping out at them at first glance. we discussed living standards, possibility of vitamin deficiency, worthiness of introducing supliment(s) into his diet but none really seemed to offer an answer...we decided to try a deterent by spraying some TCP onto his chest area to try and discourage him plucking. Yesterday I took him back as on Monday night he'd pulled a lot more feathers out. After a consultation with the Head Vet (Alan Jones) we decided that it was worthwhile for him to perform an endoscopy to confirm Obi's sex and to check his insides to make sure there were no serious problems etc. He explained that just like dogs or cats, birds can and will chew at areas that may be causing them discomfort. Anyway, low and behold - 'He' transpires to be a 'She' and the feather pulling/plucking has been attributed to imbalanced/over productive hormones. She then had an injection (1 of 3 over the next 4-6 weeks) and the noticeable improvement in her behaviour, not only the plucking but also her tolerance and want to be with other family members over the last 24 hours is unbelievable. The diganosis was that her attachement to me was causing her to be intolerant of others and also possibly triggering her want to bond and breed etc.. Alan said that it was unusual at such an early age, but wasn't unheard of. The relief that everything is going to be OK and we have indeed got an exceptionally healthy loving bird is imense. We took the opportunity when Obi was aneathetised to have her id ring removed as she had chewed at it so much the numbers and letters were not visible and to have her microchipped. Now looking forward to a continued healthy and happy future ...

Hi - to add my view... Our avain vet that we have taken our birds to for the past six years has always stated that a pellet diet (in their opinion Harrisons organic) is best for our birds. They may not be a natural found product in the wild, but if they have everything diet wise that our flock needs, it makes sense to me to offer these to our parrots as they offer a balanced healthy diet. Alan Jones (local vet), who I believe may have a very good international reputation believes this so who am to argue. My own take on this subject is that if a pellet diet is offered, this should form the vast majority of your birds diet if they eat the pellets. It should really only be substituted with daily fresh fruit and veg. As i previously mentioned, this has worked for the smaller parakeets that we have and now works brilliantly for Obi our CAG. From my limited experience, from what I have read and learnt many parrots just like humans favour different foods, but for rule of thumb and to ensure your parrot is as helathy as can be, a pellet diet may be the best way to go. All the best

Obi's stable diet is Harrisons High Potency Course pellet. I have other smaller birds that have Harisons as main diet together with fresh veg and fruit on daily basis and the transformation / appearance / general health is much improved once they have been converted to this diet. As with most, from my own experience(s), I tend to stick with what appears to work and be good for my flock. It may be expensive, but if you take on the responsibility of owning a bird, in my humble opinion, cost of his/her health shouldn't be an issue. Very interested to hear peoples view of pellet versus seed etc...

Hi We (my wife and I) recently bought a beautiful hand raised baby COG - Obi. We started out with 1 budgie, then another, then a cockatiel then another... and so the story goes on.. . ...as a well known book mentions, we must have NEB disease! Obi is just 110% fantastic - effectionate, cheeky, funny, intelligent and most importantly happy! Bit of a jump from parakeet to parrot, but we all love the learning curve. Obi & his new pets (me my wife and 1 of the budgies) are loving the experience, and will do for the rest of our lives. Look forward to speaking to you all soon. <br><br>Post edited by: Jazz, at: 2007/10/09 23:33