greymom

Thank you Danmcq, That is definitely a possibility. As I wrote in my reply to Ray, the vet said the loss was due to trauma.

Thank you Ray for your reply. I took Rita to our avian vet on Monday and as it turns out she probably hurt her wing when she was flying around the house. So it is a trauma. Her wing is not broken but the feathers suffered damage. He will see her again in 3 weeks to see if her feathers are growing in properly.

Rita seems to be molting, not plucking. But it is not symmetrical. She has lost several long feathers in one wing only. They appear to have fallen out naturally, no broken shafts. She does not pluck and her feathers are in good condition. Have you heard of this?

Thank you for replying. I have not read the threads about chop. How can I find them?

Rita (11 years old) eats Harrison's Adult Lifetime Coarse Organic Pellets, Zupreem fruit pellets, seeds in her nighttime cup. She only eats the safflower seeds and ignores the rest. She will eat apple pieces, pears and she loves corn. I make and egg mixture for her, brown rice, egg, eggshell, corn and pellets and cook that. Sometime she eats some of it. She loves cashews and almonds. But I cannot get her to eat green vegetables. She will on occasion pick out the kernels of string beans but that is it. Any suggestions?

Thank you. Your story is inspirational. I have so many new ideas to try out. I have attached some small stuffed animals to some of my cabinets and it has been two days and she hasn't chewed on the wood. I guess I will be doing lots of re-decorating.

Hi, That is exactly the stages Rita went through last year when I put a new perch on the outside of her cage. You have said it so well. I will remember that for all future new things. Thank you.

Once again thank you all for your advice. I have placed it outside her cage when she was in another room. She is no longer fearful. She just ignores it for now. I know that in her own time she will use it. The good thing is she does not fly away from it. Thank you all.

I have had a boing in my closet for a year because Rita was terrified of it. I would like her to be able to play with it. I took it out yesterday and she is scared to death of it. Is there some way I can get her used to it without scaring her?

You are all so thoughtful and helpful. We have our work cut out for us. Thank you.

Thank you so much luvparrots and dave007. You were both very helpful. I will get more perches and put them in the places she likes to go. I wish I could have a bird room but that just isn't possible. I think I can work this out with Rita. She is funny and lovable and worth the trouble. I have never tried boings and will look into it. Thanks again.

When I re-homed Rita about 4 years ago she was 7 and had been clipped for her whole life. Her wings were so poorly clipped that she would just fall to the ground if she came off her perch. I let them grow back but kept them clipped until about 18 months ago. She is fully flighted now and she has just started to navigate. She can land on my shoulder or on a perch. She still is not a great navigator but she is learning and she is happy. Now here is the problem. She flies wherever she wants. She is destroying my wooden kitchen cabinets. She lands on the drawer pulls and chews on the wood. She lands on or near one of the cats when the cat is eating and the cat runs for her life. She wants to be with me or my husband and will not stay on her perch even when it is really close to us. I can always get her back wherever she has flown (a high window, a beam). She will come to me. Sometimes she will go to the floor and I will not even know she is walking around and I worry about stepping on her. Has anyone had similar issues? Any suggestions or thoughts on this will help. Thank you so much.

When I got Rita almost 4 years ago, she was 7 years old at the time. She was re-homed and very poorly clipped. Her clipping was so bad that she would just fall to the ground. We were very sad to see that. I let her wings grow back but I did keep her clipped until last year. I have decided to leave her unclipped and she is just beginning to navigate. She can make turns when she flies and she can even land where she wants to, sometimes. She will even fly to my hand when she is high up on a beam. I think she is so much happier now. But I do worry about open doors and destruction of things when she lands on tables, etc. But we are being very careful. I have no trouble getting her back to her cage. Sometimes when she is on the floor she says, "What are you doing on the floor?" Something she learned long ago.

To all of you who replied, many, many thanks. You have given me the confidence to leave Rita in her cage. I think I shall be much more able to relax and so will my sitter. Most of all Rita will not become anxious. Thank you so much.

Here's the problem the boarding facility will not take her unless I clip her wings and I don't want to do that. I will have the sitter come by again and try to get her more comfortable. She is very hesitant when she puts her finger out for Rita to step up. Before she steps up she usually puts her beak on your finger. She does that very gently but the sitter is unsure of her and withdraws her finger. This confuses Rita. She recognizes the sitter's insecurity and gets angry. I will try to come up with a work around for her. Any ideas?