JackRubysDog

We have a three-year-old grey called Totoro. He is an absolute delight and is well cared for and looked after. He spends as much time out of his cage as we can give him (usually five to seven hours a day), he is extremely friendly and very talkative, and enjoys a lot of play and contact. We were worried when we went on holiday to the US in July this year as we were unsure what to do with him. We moved him to a neighbour who looked after him for two weeks. However when we returned he had damaged some of the feathers on his back. He was in lovely condition before. A month later we went to France for five days. This time we left a radio on in the room on a timer and got a neighbour to pop in daily to look after him. This seemed to work a treat and there seemed no new damage on our return. However, we came back from a week in Spain on Saturday, after using the same tactic, and we could not believe the site of Totoro when we returned. He has damaged his left wing so badly he can no longer fly, and is well on the way to doing the same to his right. He has also pulled out many of the feathers he can reach around his neck. He is still biting when we are around, and is totally untalkative (previously it was difficult to get him to shut up!), plus the fact that he can no longer fly even small distances is stressing him out further, leading to viscious circle of plucking. I am giving him as much attention as I can, and he seems to be responding, but he still seems a different parrot, and of course I cannot be around all the time. So I was wondering if anyone on here has any advice, particularly to strategies adopted when leaving your parrot alone for some time. Also, how long will it take for his feathers to re-grow so he can fly again?

Hi, my name is Peter and I live with my wife and two small children in Leicestershire, UK. I have a three year old grey called Totoro. He has been a delight since we have had him (over a year now) but has recently had some self-mutilation issues (he currently looks a real mess) that I have joined here to hope for some advice.