Char

An amazing story! Thanks for sharing.

I think I would have just got a new cage and left that one right where it was. Yuck!

I agree that it does sound like he is plucking. The chest is a common area for them to pluck. It sounds like he gets enough attention. How about the environment? Be sure you are not using any sprays, candles, air fresheners. He could also have a hidden illness that is causing him to pluck. I would schedule a vet appointment to rule out a physical reason.

I have the same problem with Whisper. If I put any new perches in her cage she freaks out. I tell people who are thinking of getting a Grey to put the cement perches in the cage from day one. I wish I had. I tried trimming Whisper's yesterday and only managed to get a few of them done. I toweled her but she manages to wiggle out before I can get them finished. I used clippers for birds and have styptic powder handy in case it bleeds. I can not hold my Amazon down and do his at all. He is so big and strong so I am just going to schedule a trip to the vet and let them do it.

Hi Caitlyn. The great thing about those feathers is that they molt in new ones. A few months ago I found 3 tail feathers at the bottom of Whisper's cage one morning. She had fallen and I wasn't sure if it was from that or if she had plucked them out even though she has never been a plucker.They were all from the same side so it looked pretty bad. 3 months later and they have grown back. Your baby looks young so will be molting in the new tail feathers without the black edging. Whisper had most of her solid red tail by 18 months old. She just turned 2 and now has them all.

Well my baby turned 2 the other day. Look out terrible two's. True to Dan's predictions of their behaviour at different ages she is becoming more independent and has a mind of own about what she wants to do. She is still a joy and constant surprise though. I stopped counting how many phrases she says when it got to around 150. She loves my husband's voice and mimics every thing and sound he makes. She never shuts up. When I come home and open up her cage she comes charging out and the first thing she says is "Give me a kiss". Unfortunately my husband has taught her some naughty things also. Such as "Whisper can talk, Tango's a dummy. Tango's a dumb bird." Tango is the baby DYH and is just starting to talk. I have not been on much lately. I still love you guys but since my husband and I reconciled I don't spend as much time sitting around on the computer. Having 2 birds is a lot more work too. Just wanted to give you guys an update and let you know we are still around.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/12/12 02:01

Joolesgreyuk wrote: They probably just look longer because they come back in all red instead of the black edging on them. That edging probably makes them look shorter.

Whisper will often give me that same pressure beaking that you are talking about ( I don't consider it a bite, I consider it communication) if she is trying to tell me she wants something like scratch harder. She will also do it to show her displeasure if I won't give her something she wants like the tv remote.

They must be pretty stupid. They have to know that people are going to be looking for these birds. I hope they are found soon.

My vet does a crop and fecal gram stain and draws blood for a CBC and Albumin every 6 months. I request a full blood workup on the yearly checkups. I like to know that the all the chemistry, calcium and liver and kidney enzymes are normal.

Whisper thinks I am her 24 hr scratching machine and she will beak me if I don't do it just right.

Parrots communicate with their beaks.They express their feeling, likes and dislikes and will even discipline you with a harder "beak" if you do something they don't like or don't give them something they want. Whisper will beak me kind of hard if she wants the remote and I won't let her have it. This is when she goes into her cage for a time out. Is she really "biting" you or just "beaking" you. My theory is that if you see blood it is a bite. My husband will say "she bit me". I ask if it is bleeding. He says no and I say well then she did not bite you. If she bites you, you will know it.

I hope your baby is found soon.

He is beautiful! It is official, no doubt about it..you have MBS.

I am no expert but I think I read that the teflon has to be heated to a certain temp before it releases it's deadly fumes. I think if your hair straightener got that hot is would fry your hair. I would just not use them in any close proximity to the birds.

That is funny but I think it is a Photoshop job.

We are all just human beings after all and human beings will make mistakes and have accidents. I agree that yu would have see some symptoms by now. I once had some plastic get on a burner on the stove that had been turned off but still hot enough to melt the plastic. My vet asked if there was smoke and I said no just the smell of burning plastic. She said it should be okay if there was no smoke. Hope that makes you feel better.

Whisper gets moody if she does not get enough sleep. Rain does not seem to affect her. Good thing since we have had a lot of rain lately.

What wonderful news to finally get to the bottom of things. I am sure it will all be a-okay from here on out.

What a clown! He really does look like he is "flashing".

parrotalert wrote: I understand your concern. While this project is in development, parrotalert has the chance to build up a healthy support network. It would be pointless turning the site on, then for people to start reporting lost/stolen parrots then to discover the site has no members to help with their plight. We have no intention to sell the list of addresses, the chances are, if you are already getting spam, then your address is already being sold as part of a global list. In Summary, the sign up process (already completed in development), asks for you least amount of information required to be effective. * username and password for logging in. * email address for alert notifications. * a geographical point of reference, in other words the nearest point to where you reside on a map. It doesn't have to be your house, postcode, nearest street, even town. The information will never be disclosed to any other member. Reporting lost and stolen parrots has already been completed, similar process as above, but providing more relevant information with regards to the parrot reported. Then, if you are within the radius of n miles, you'll receive an e-mail notification once a missing parrot is reported. There are more features, searching lost/found and stolen, reporting found parrots, etc. Also, were are looking at pushing alerts out to forums lost and found pages directly and social networking sites like twitter: http://twitter.com/parrotalert We are now going to live with UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia initially, then we'll take it from there. We are hopping by the end of Q1 2010. I hope this clarifies this more for you. parrotalert. Thank you for the clarification. It sounds like a wonderful endeavor and hopefully will result in parrots being found and reunited with their owners. I don't currently get very much spam. Probably because I am cautious.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/10/28 04:04

JillyBeanz wrote: That's funny! Whisper does a Cardinal. Can you imagine if they all got together in the same room?:laugh:

What a cutie! I am not even going to comment on the disturbed boy.:evil:

I am sure that the parronts will get the new soon and locate their bird. Fingers crossed. God bless the person that is doing the fostering and trying to find the owners.

I am so relieved that Lily is doing better.