domyoburk

We live in an apartment and now that it's getting warmer and windows are open, someone in an adjacent apartment is whistling to Ursula and teaching her the Mayberry theme! Ursula's getting a little nuts with the whistling, which is much more piercing that her other sounds, but that's not the weird part. She seem to think this other person is part of the flock now. Ursula wants both me and my husband to be up at the same time, sitting next to her, before she really settles into eating her breakfast. Now she won't settle down even then, but continues to call and make like she's going to fly somewhere, like someone's missing. She's starts whistling the Mayberry theme (as far she knows it). Anyone else a bird that's adopted neighbors as part of the flock? Ursula's a year old.

Wow - that's very different from the manufacturer's recs the lamp comes with!

Each time we use our Avian Sun lamp and bulb, Ursula gets red around one or both of her eyes. At first we left the lamp on for many hours at a time and she get very red - her skin looked like it had welts or scratches on it, although we didn't see her scratching at all. Now we are careful (at the vet's recommendation) not to leave the lamp on for longer than 30 minutes or so at a time, but even then Ursula gets red on one side, depending on where the lamp is situated. We've even moved the lamp so it's about 3 feet away from her closest perch, even though the lamp recommends 12 inches for effectiveness. Any advice?

I've acclimated Ursula to the Aviator harness and even gotten it on her once. We went outside and she seemed to like it. But when we got back in and it was time to take the harness off... we had a struggle, I got bit for the first time, and I eventually had to towel her to get the harness off. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm loathe to try it again now...

Ursula is female and 11 months old. Lately, in the evening when my husband comes home from work and we are sitting at the table eating dinner, she starts making a low, cooing/gurgling noise. It increases as we approach her, and she seems very content while she's doing it - but maybe a little needy? She also scrunches up her neck a little and holds her beak up, perhaps like she is asking us to regurgitate for her or something? Is this early mating behavior or regressive baby behavior? Or neither?

Thanks for the tip on budgies... I am afraid I hadn't thought of the affect of our CAG on the other bird(s). We like the idea of 2-4 finches... thinking that the chirping and motion throughout the day (on the rare days Ursula is left alone for 8 hours) would be interesting for her. But it sounds like its a crap-shoot. Anyone have a story about how their bird has obviously appreciated avian company?

OK, I've read many posts about how it's fine to get a second (or third, or fourth) bird and keep it in its own cage. As long as you give plenty of care and attention to all the birds, things are generally good. But does getting a second bird seem to improve the quality of life of the first bird? I am thinking about "enrichment" in the broadest sense of the word. Maybe the two birds won't bond or even like eachother, but it seems like a bird might be happier or at least less bored with another bird around. Any thoughts or advice? We have a CAG and have contemplated a budgie or even finches.

If your AG damages his or her own feathers (or has in the past), please fill out this survey! Thanks SO much for your time, I will try to tabulate results. Your bird's name : Ursula Congo or Timneh: Congo Your bird's gender: Female Your bird's current age: 9 months Age of weaning (end of hand-feeding): 4.5 months Wing clipping history (age first clipped, before or after fledging, currently clipped or not, etc.): Clipped before fledging, still clipped What other birds are present in home (in any): none Has his/her own cage or lives with another bird? own cage Diet (percentage pellets, seeds, veggies, etc.): 70% pellets, 30% beans, veggies, fruit Brands of food and/or supplements: Lake's pellets Dimensions of cage (height, width, depth): 4' high, 3' wide, 2.5' deep Number of toys in cage: 8 Average hours a day spent outside cage: 5 or more Longest periods left alone on any regular basis: 8 hours How often left alone for this length of time: 2 times a week Frequency of showering/thorough misting: every other day for a while, now once a week, no difference in terms of feather damage Age at which feather damage began: 6 months Periods of feather damaging behavior (if not continuous): til present Patterns of periodicity (monthly, yearly, etc.): approx. every 5 weeks a week-long flare-up, occasional in between Conditions in which damage occurs (bird is alone or with people or other birds, when primary persons leave town, change in routine, etc.): sometimes alone, most often when we are in the same room Where bird is when damage occurs (in cage or out, playstand, etc.): all kinds of places - sleep cage, day cage, playstand Times damage occurs (morning, midday, evening, night): any time Description of damage (plucking entire feather out, gradual damage of attached feathers by chewing, snipping feathers off at the base, etc.): snips feathers off at the base, leaves short stubby shaft in skin What feathers bird damages (chest, back, wing, leg, tail): back Rate of feather destruction when damage is occuring (three a day, one a day, one a month, etc.): one a day Unsuccessful treatments/adjustments tried (more frequent showering, diet change, different schedule, sprays, hormonal treatments etc.): frequent and less frequent showers, chlorine filter on shower, diet change, no seeds, different schedules, beak trim Successful treatments/adjustments tried (if your bird's feather destructive behavior has decreased, why do you think it did): nothing yet Other comments? We're mystified, as is our avian vet. Next? Maybe hormonal treatments? (Lupo) Maybe rice-based pellet?

If your AG damages his or her own feathers (or has in the past), please fill out this survey! Thanks SO much for your time, I will try to tabulate results. Your bird's name : Congo or Timneh: Your bird's gender: Your bird's current age: Age of weaning (end of hand-feeding): Wing clipping history (age first clipped, before or after fledging, currently clipped or not, etc.): What other birds are present in home (in any): Has his/her own cage or lives with another bird? Diet (percentage pellets, seeds, veggies, etc.): Brands of food and/or supplements: Dimensions of cage (height, width, depth): Number of toys in cage: Average hours a day spent outside cage: Longest periods left alone on any regular basis: How often left alone for this length of time: Frequency of showering/thorough misting: Age at which feather damage began: Periods of feather damaging behavior (if not continuous): Patterns of periodicity (monthly, yearly, etc.): Conditions in which damage occurs (bird is alone or with people or other birds, when primary persons leave town, change in routine, etc.): Where bird is when damage occurs (in cage or out, playstand, etc.): Times damage occurs (morning, midday, evening, night): Description of damage (plucking entire feather out, gradual damage of attached feathers by chewing, snipping feathers off at the base, etc.): What feathers bird damages (chest, back, wing, leg, tail): Rate of feather destruction when damage is occuring (three a day, one a day, one a month, etc.): Unsuccessful treatments/adjustments tried (more frequent showering, diet change, different schedule, sprays, hormonal treatments etc.): Successful treatments/adjustments tried (if your bird's feather destructive behavior has decreased, why do you think it did): Other comments?

Ursula is 8 months old. She gets quite "verbal" at times without actually forming words - cupboard door squeaks, whistles, grumbles... She especially loves to loudly chatter on for about 10 minutes or so just as we are starting to watch a movie.

Thanks, Janfromboone! It's encouraging to hear from someone else who is doing their best, is intelligent and trying to inform themselves, but still has a bird that chews or plucks... it is easy to feel guilty at some level. On the other hand, we have a sweet, hand-raised, apparently happy baby. Her sister (still at the breeder) doesn't chew. What can we have done wrong? Our vet is holding palm oil and sprays as a last resort treatment; first we are trying a diet change. She was eating Lake's when we got her, gradually switched her to Harrison's high potency (including Power Treats which have palm oil), and a couple weeks later this chewing started. So the vet wanted us to eliminate one factor at a time - she wanted us to go back to Lake's, stop giving Power Treats and seeds, in order to get control of her diet. She wants us to do this for about 6 weeks and then come back to reevaluate; if we change too many things at once we won't know what it was. Future possibilities are palm oil, sprays, or a rice-based pellet. We already got a filter for our showerhead so her showers have no chlorine! (At our vet's insistence!) RE: a study... I am serious about this. The biggest issue is how to raise money, but it would make a perfect master's thesis. A grad student could design an objective, thorough questionnaire, and then do the important statistics on the results so we didn't end up with spurious (and meaningless) conclusions. Until we have real research, we're guessing based on anecdotes.

Oops... make that wildLIFE biologist. I studied owls.

Thanks again for your comments, Dave - although as a wild biologist (formerly) I think a study could be done. Sorry if I am misinformed, but my comment about greys eating soil (I guess it might not be clay) came from watching "Where the Greys Are" - a series of three videos about wild african greys you can watch on youtube: On it, they say that the flocks of greys come to forest clearings for the same reason as the elephants, ungulates and other birds: water, soil and aquatic plants. It sure looks like a fair amount of soil is at least being taken into the beaks... it's probably not salty. I would love to know more.

My husband and I take such good and careful care of Ursula - aged 8 months - that I would feel quite smug IF she didn't chew her feathers. I won't even bother to list all of the measures we've taken (thorough bathing, good humidity, plenty of sleep, big square cage in a corner, many hours outside the cage every day, to name a few), although she came to us clipped. For 3 months now she has been chewing feathers off her back, severing them at the bottom. She's got a big fuzzy spot there now. We are working closely with a great avian vet (Dr. Patricia Huff, Portland Oregon) who is not ready to say this is just a behavioral issue. Currently we are experimenting with diet. I HOPE AS GREY LOVERS WE CAN GET TOGETHER AND SOME SOME GOOD RESEARCH DONE ON THE TOPIC! If every person on this forum made a small donation we could fund a graduate student! This is a subtle, pervasive and mysterious issue; bad care may make feather mutilation worse or more likely, but there is something about the way we care for greys in captivity that doesn't cut it. Heck, in nature they eat clay!

Ursula hatched April 18, 2008. She came to Thanksgiving dinner with us yesterday, a 15-person affair, and was a complete sweetheart.

Ursula was hatched April 18, 2008... She came to Thanksgiving dinner with us yesterday, a 15-person affair, and was a complete sweetie.

Our vet, bless her, is not yet willing to say this feather chewing is behavioral. I am heartened, as this means we may be able to do something about this! We are going to change (major) thing at a time. First we are going back to her old pellets (Lake's), because this chewing started about the same time we started her on Harrison's (which is ordinarily a great food). The vet said to try this for at least 4 weeks - and NOT to change her night habits, so we can find out whether it really is the food. She wants to keep protein levels constant, too, so in the test period also no seeds or Harrison's Power Treats (which Ursula loves). She also said no more baths in our chlorinated water (oops!). That can irritate skin and Ursula's back is unusually dry and flaky. We are going to get a dechlorinating filter for our shower. Poor sweetie - maybe she's just been extra itchy, and it gets worse at night when she doesn't have anything else to distract her!

I mentioned this earlier, but the Celltei Pak-o-Bird made specifically for a Congo African Grey fits perfectly...

One night in the larger, more interesting sleeping cage (we already had it) and she still chewed off a feather (two nights in a row now)... we are thinking about Dave's recommendation now! Another trip to the vet today, though... our vet is working with us on this and having us take one step at a time. I'll write about the results later...

OK, humidity is 60% now that the rains have started in the Pacific NW. We thoroughly bathe Ursula every other day. She still chews off one feather a week or so, off her back, at night in her sleeping cage. We are going to get her a larger, more interesting sleeping cage, and after that try leaving her in her big cage at night (although she'll be up late with us til 11pm and then wake up when my husband gets up at 7am). Anyone out there had an experience like this?

Here's something new to throw into the discussion: Ursula is a 7-month CAG and she sleeps in a partially covered sleeping cage in our dark (but not pitch-black) bedroom. When she goes in the cage she shuts right up (even if we are talking softly or moving around a bit), and doesn't make a peep until we get up (when she starts making her rather loud but not deafening morning vocalizations). BUT - she chews feathers off her back while she's in the sleeping cage (nowhere else). It started happening every night when the cage was completely covered; now it happens about once a week now that it's partially covered and there's a chewable toy in there. We've had her checked by a vet and bathe her and everything, but it seems like she just gets bored sitting there in her sleeping cage. I've never read about anyone else having such a problem and thought maybe someone reading this sleeping post would have something new for me!

I dunno.. we use the poop-off disposable cloths (they come in a canister and you pull them out one-by-one) and love them. Maybe vinegar would work as well, but that leaves you with a poopy rag to deal with or a delicate, shredded paper towel that doesn't stand up to the scrubbing. The cloths instantly dissolve and wipe poop out of carpet, off of clothing, off perches... I guess it's the cloths we like, even if the solution isn't a miracle.

We got a celltei backpack (custom for a Congo AG) and like it very much. We also plan to train Ursula to wear an Aviator harness (it will take some doing to get her to accept it, but it's a gradual process) so we can take her outside without the carrier. The Aviator harness comes with a DVD that shows you how to train the bird to wear it, step by step. Being outside - not in a carrier - is a completely different experience for her and we hope she'll enjoy it someday. Hey - a related question - what kind of weather is it OK to take a parrot out in? In the winter in Portland it is rainy, windy and in the mid forties. I am guessing that we will need to wait to bring her out for extended periods until the spring? It seems like the contrast between indoor and outdoor temps would be problematic, but maybe not?

Oh, and the vet said it was not unusual for young birds like this to start this habit, even when it is unlikely they have allegies and there's no hormonal issues yet, and also unlikely any hard core behavioral problems. Go figure. It may be something they only do in captivity, but in this case it sure doesn't seem to me like it has anything to do with stress or sadness or lonliness or anything. Ursula seems very content. Perhaps it's just circumstantial; maybe in the wild most of their preening would be done by another bird, and the whole dynamic around it is different.

We took Ursula to the vet today, a great avian vet. She said we were doing things right except that Ursula had rather dry skin and that may be triggering more preening. She said to keep the humidity around 40% and that should help. We should get a gauge and if necessary a humidifier; she said it matters even more than bathing when it comes to dry skin. She also recommended: distracting with other chewables wherever Ursula is; regular bathing; not covering her sleeping cage, so she can have some light and not get nervous or so bored she starts to overpreen; not letting her play with any feathers she does bite off (we weren't). It's still pretty nerve-wracking because Ursula knows how to bite those feathers off and can always turn back to the behavior. Oh well, we'll love her even if she's bald! - Domyo