Raposa

Rexxy is a beautiful fellow, and it sounds like you have a wonderful relationship with him!

I make the toilet paper tubes into foraging toys. close the ends, poke holes in them, and hang them in the cage filled with treats or hand toys :-)

A 12 week old baby should probably still be getting handfeedings at least once or twice a day, shouldn't they? Experts?? Your little one may be too young to expect her to eat alone in her cage. I'm not sure on this, I hope somebody more knowledgeable will pitch in here . . .

Wow, you have quite a situation on your hands. I can well imagine how difficult it must be to maintain your calm when Ziva is about to drive you crazy. Sometimes it feels like we do everything we can think of to accomodate the feathered members of our family, and ONCE in a while it would be nice if they would accomodate us - like be quiet when somebody is sick, for instance, or not lunge and bite! Have you looked into doing any clicker training with Ziva? There's a site out there . . . birdclick.com, I think . . . that gives a lot of good training advice (not that I have followed up on it myself, of course, but I've READ it all, does that count???) I hope Ziva settles down soon and you and your daughter and your neighbors all get to have soothed eardrums and nerves . . .

Dave, You have a very lucky bird, to have been "found" by you and your wife. Quite a touching story of a very extreme situation.

Annmarie, congrats on making your decision and finding the right bird and breeder! It makes a huge difference if you get to visit your baby while it is weaning. I did that with Jenna, and by the time she came home with me she was perfectly comfortable being with me. I think it really helped her adjust to a new place to live.

Any news on Sabian's blood work? How did things turn out?

Wow, purple, I'd love to see!

Thanks, Dave, I will try those clingie things for the windows And Dan, yes, the bird does need to stay caged sometimes for safety's sake. The problem in my house was that it was not predictable WHEN the doors and windows would be unsafely open. There are people in and out of my house all the time because of my mom's caregiving needs - caregiveers, nurses, therapists, etc. It could be different times each day, and if I kept her caged enough to protect her she would be in her cage all the time, and that I will not do. I have to say it took some courage to speak up about having had Jenna clipped, since I know it is not a popular decision here ~smiles~ Heck, it was not even a popular decision with ME, but I felt it was necessary at the time. I appreciate not being slammed for it.<br><br>Post edited by: Raposa, at: 2009/05/01 18:38

They are BBB's (Big Beautiful Birds)

Very cool articles, thanks Kaedyn

Jenna says some things in a really gruff, deep voice. I have no idea where it comes from, but it is pretty funny. I don't know how she decides which things to say in a high voice and which to say in a gruff voice, either . . . her "I love you" (which she hears from me all the time) is one of the growly phrases, and "What are you DOING?" is high pitched.

How funny and smart she is!!!

I am very mixed about wing clipping. I am against it in theory, but I understand that there are situations in which the bird's safety could depend on it. Jenna was clipped by my vet about a month after I brought her home. I do not plan to have her clipped again, but there might be reasons it could happen. Here is the story: Jenna was fully flighted and quite a good little flyer at the breeder's. When she came to my house, she was not used to her playtree and swings, she wanted somewhere up high to land, and ended up on hanging lamp shades where she could get burned, or on tall book shelves that did not really have room for her on their edges so she fluttered around a lot to keep her balance. That got my other animals very interested and excited, which made ME very nervous. We also have a large picture window in the living room and a sliding glass door in the dining room that Jenna kept flying into. I worked with her to teach her the windows were there, and she got it for the most part but if she got scared or startled she would forget. I was petrified that she would break her neck. In addition, I have 5 cats in my household. All of them are as "bird-friendly" as natural predators can be ~smile~ but they did not know Jenna, and if by chance she flew and landed near one of them before I could get there, I was terrified that they might hurt her. The final reason was that my 84 year old disabled mom has caregivers in and out of the house all the time. None of the caregivers are used to birds, and doors would be left to close slowly by themselves when the caregivers came in, and windows were not being shut well or regularly. I kept envisioning Jenna flying out the door. So she was clipped last summer, and she has not grown new flight feathers in yet. I am not sure if I will have her clipped again; I hope that by the time her feathers all grow back in it won't be needed. By now the cats are all familiar with Jenna and basically ignore her; she is still being shown where the windows and sliding door is; the caregivers are more used to watching out for her when she is out of her cage, and she loves her swings and cage top toys. So maybe by now it would be safe to keep her unclipped. I'd love to let her be full flighted again. But it depends on the risk factors; I would rather have her clipped and safe than flighted and dead or missing.

Ah, so male superiority does not apply to Greys, Dan? My husband continually gets annoyed with me because I do not subscribe to the Husband Infallibility Principle ~chuckles~

Dave and Char gave you excellent advice. The first thing to do is to take your bird to the vet and rule out any medical reason for the behavior. The next is to try to figure out what the bird might be reacting to (with my bird, all her barbering happened in a one month period. During that month my mom was in the hospital for 3 weeks so I was not home much, and when mom did come home, I went on vacation for a week. My grey did NOT like that.) It can be very hard to figure out what the stressor might be; the birds are stressed by things that would not occur to us, and can surprise us by NOT being stressed at things we think would be upsetting. Possible things to help: Get an air filter to make sure there is nothing in the bird's environment irritating him Make sure the bird has LOTS of things to chew besides feathers, and things to keep his mind occupied Try some clicker or trick training; sometimes when they have a "puzzle" to learn or figure out, it takes their attention away from the barbering Add red palm oil to his diet if he is not already getting it Put a humidifier in the bird's room Bathe every 1-2 days and spray with aloe gel on the days you don't bathe Make sure the bird is getting enough sleep. If you need to, put the bird in a small cage in a quiet place at night (if the bird's room is being used by people until fairly late, the bird probably isn't getting enough rest) And be patient. Even when the barbering stops, it can take a LONG time for the feathers to grow in correctly again. Good luck, and keep us informed!

Jooles, both my breeder and my avian vet suggested getting cuttlebone at the pet store, and grating a little bit into my grey's food as a calcium supplement. That might be something to try if you are concerned!

Shannonzee, my bird chewed (either over preened or broke off) a huge number of feathers a while back, and we are still working on getting her new, healthy feathers to grow back in. The vet told me it could be up to a full year before they all grow back in, as long as she is not continuing to do it (which she does not appear to be). So I can pass along to you what my vet suggested. First, I reinforce Dave's suggestions about the aloe juice and gel. My vet told me to make sure my bird bathes daily until the feathers grow out, and I alternate between sharing showers with her and spraying her down with aloe juice and water. Second, my vet said to make sure she was getting enough exercise, and flying is the only exercise he considers "good." So he told me to take Jenna through the house, making a game of it, getting her to flap her wings. She would have none of that, so we have not been able to follow through on that, but she DOES do a lot of wing flapping and climbing on her swings after she showers, so we're hoping that is sufficient. Third, the vet said to make sure the bird has plenty to do while I am at work during the day. My mom lives with me and spends time with her on and off during the day so she is not completely alone. I move her toys around frequently, hide treats and toys in various places in the cage, invent foraging opportunities (it is amazing what you can do with a cardboard tube from toilet paper, some shredded paper, and some bird safe string (like paulie rope) or with an unbleached coffee filter. The last thing he said to do was to make sure she was getting red palm oil regularly, so she gets it added to her fresh food every day. I also put a humidifier in the room (although I have stolen it from her for the last week, since I've been sick Hehehe)but it doesn't sound like you need to do that in your house! I don't know if any of those suggestions are helpful to you, but I thought I would pass them along. Good luck, and let us know how she does!

Oh Noor, I am so sorry to hear about Sirocco! PBFD is such a horrible disease. You must be completely devastated. I know there is nothing I can say that will help you feel better right now. Please know that we are with you in your grief. At least you can take comfort in knowing that Sirocco was loved and he knew it.

I agree with Tycos_mom. Nasal discharge and breathing difficulties are NOT normal molting behavior, and birds often don't show any symptoms at all until they are quite sick. I hope your grey is ok!

Zingarette, I went through some of that "feather barbering" with my bird recently, where she was breaking off the ends of her feathers and overpreening. My vet has me bathing her daily, making sure she gets red palm oil, and making sure she has lots to do in her cage when I am not home - foraging toys, shredding toys, stuff like that. I don't know if any of that applies to your bird, but if the feather clipping continues you may want to take him to a good avian vet to be checked out. Let us know how it goes!

Faith, it sounds like you are doing a great job with this poor stressed grey. My prediction is that after a year, there is no way you will give him up :-) Meanwhile, if there is any way we can help you with him, don't hesitate to ask!

I love that picture, Popeye is absolutely adorable!!! As far as bathing, it sounds like you are doing great with mising above so it falls down on him. I am currently bathing Jenna daily at the advice of the vet because she did some feather barbering a while back and we are trying to get her feathers to come in better now; before that I was bathing her about 3x a week. When she is in the mood, she bathes by joining me in the shower, she has a great shower perch. When she is not in the mood to come out for that, I spray her down with aloe juice mixed with water. She always bathes in the morning so she has plenty of time to get dry again. One thing I started with Jenna when she first came home was to wrap her in a towel after bathing, and use that time for cuddling and telling her how fabulous she is. That way she got comfortable with being wrapped in a towel, so if she ever needs to be toweled to keep her safe for any reason, she won't be frightened by the towel. The vet also suggested continuing to occasionally feed her from a syringe even as an adult so that if I ever need to give her medicine she will take it easily. Just a couple of thoughts . .. Congrats on your gorgeous baby, may you have a life time of joy and companionship together

I'm glad SZ's first vet visit went well. Sounds like you found a vet you and ShakaZulu can both feel comfortable with, that is a very good thing! As far as misting your bird, have you tried aiming the mist up above so it falls gently on the bird rather than aiming right at him? That sometimes works better.

This sounds worrisome to me. I will be eager to hear what your vet has to say. I would also question, as Lyric has, if your bird is getting a reaction that she likes from either your boyfriend or from you when she bites him. I hope you can figure this out, it has the potential to be a serious problem down the line. Keep us informed, ok?