trail_rider

I know he is plucking. I feel horrible for him. the only reason I was questioning the product is because it is for dry skin related plucking. francis i am sure has dry skin, but that isnt the root of the problem as to why he is plucking in the first place. I am not second guessing dave, i know that he is very knowledgable and has answered many of my questions thus far.

Dave- that says that it is for dry skin related picking. Will this still work for fracis? I am not sure if you recall but francis began plucking due to his original family leaving him behind for a 3week vacation. obviously he is itchy because he is making himself bleed. if you think this stuff will work I will definately order it.

sorry..the picture did work

I have been spraying Francis with aloe as suggested and he doesn't seem as dry. But just now I was sitting here talking to him while he is playing on his playstand and I noticed this patch on his side. What is going on?? When I first got him he was a LOT fuzzier than he is now. Now he is mostly naked but there are a lot of pins coming in. He used to talk like crazy and now he really doesn't say much. Can someone please shed some light on the subject for me?

I just questioned it when I was reading the label today and in a red box it said 'refridgerate after opening' Either way...I put mine in the fridge today.

it is no darker than when i bought it. so it should be okay? should I put it in the fridge?

I got this jug of aloe juice to use on Francis. Well, when I used it two days ago I just left it on the counter not realizing that on the label it said refrigerate after opening. Does it go bad if left out? I just wanted to ask before I used it or threw it out. Thank you!!

perfect....thanks jayd!

I was watching francis earlier on his playstand in the sunshine and WOW....everytime the poor guy would ruffle his feathers there would be a serious cloud of dust coming off of him. I know that they naturally have dander, but it was crazy. How frequently should I spray him wih the aloe? He has been out all day on his playstand tackling toys, basking in the sunshine, thowing food onto the floor and sadly......chewing on some feathers. And now he is taking a nice snooze.

Thanks guys!! Francis is in seventh heaven right now!!! He was really excited while i was spraying him with the aloe and now he is playing all crazy on his playstand in the sunshine.

hmmm.....i am not sure if I got the right stuff today. It says on the jug of aloe: '99.8% aloe juice' in the ingredient label it says there is natural aloe vera gel, citric acid and sodium benzoate. Is this the stuff that I was supposed to get?

Here is a picture of Francis for all of you. He was being a bit of a camera ham, so it was hard to get a picture of.

jayd- thank you for sharing your picture of Freddy.....he is a sweetheart for sure!! I am going to town today and I am going to get aloe juice for Francis. Thanks again to all of the advice. Bear with with me tho.....i am sure you havent heard the last of me and Francis!! before I got Francis lots of people asked me why I would want a bird that plucks. But when I heard Francis' story, my heart melted. I couldn't NOT bring him home with me. I dont regret it and home he doesnt either. I know it is going to be a long road, but I am sure that it will be more than worth it when he completely settles in. And I am so thankful that I found this forum with all of you WONDERFUL people to help us along our journey.

I didn't mean to insinuate that I was goign to go against Dave's advice. I have every intention of following it. I am still learning the ways of my grey and what is good for him. I want to do what is right. I am going to pick up the aloe juice when I am in town tomorrow.

what I have done thus far with his food, is I mix what he has been eatting with the new pellets. More often than not he doesn't eat the new pellets, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put them in there.

the aloe that I have seen in my local store was pure aloe juice. I will get the garden goodness next time I go to town. I never really thought to get that one. I just knew that the fruit blend wasn't as good as the natural ones, so I got the natural ones.

thank you for sharing your knowledge with me!! I am not worried about what he looks like...I just want him to be happy. And when I seen those feathers in the bottom of his cage I felt like I wasnt making him happy. He doesn't mind the misting....he rather enjoys it. But you are correct to say that he is very dry and has lots of dander floating about.

I have read about the aloe vera juice.....do I dilute it with water or just pure aloe? As for the fresh.....I haven't found anything that he doesn't like!! the pellets....well that has been a different story. He was being fed the fruit blend supreem. I have been trying to switch him to the natural pellets, but he has been being pretty bull headed with that.

Francis is 6 years old. I got him from a very nice lady that saved him from a bad situation. His previous family went away on vacation for two weeks, leaving Francis behind. They had a person coming in to feed and water him but that was it. He wasnt getting the attention he was used to. When his family returned they took him to the avian vet and he told them that he is perfectly healthy and it purely behavioral. They put him in a back bed room because he wasn't pretty anymore.....they didn't want to deal with it. the lady I got him from went to see him and he was in the bedroom in his cage with no toys. She brought him home and found him to be an absolute love. He let his feathers grow back in until she got busy with horse shows and stuff. So now he is living with me and I am trying to make him as happy as can be so he doesnt have a reason to pluck anymore. It is making me feel like a failure to see him doing this....he was doing so well there for a while. I do bath him regularly and the environment in my house is fine. The other birds are comfy as can be with thier baths and such.

How do I deal with it? Francis has been with me since two days before christmas. He has settled in wonderfully. I haven't seen him plucking or even finding plucked feathers. I thought he was doing really well. He had about four flight feathers on each wing and four red tail feathers. well.....he is down four feathers on one wing and two tail feathers. just tonight he has pulled out a few down feathers....right in front of me! I try to ignore his plucking, but it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. He has a HUGE cage with lots of different toys, he comes out of the cage everynight. He has two playstands to explore while he is out and he is usually back and forth between the couch with me and his playstands as he pleases. I play on the floor with him with toys and he seems to be having fun. I need help guys......words of encouragement at the least! :(

I would like to teach Francis some new words and I need some ideas. What are some things that your greys say??

how long should it take for them to dry out?

His feathers missing doesn't effect my loving him!!! So if he is a fluffy/naked bird for a while thats okay. I had company the other night and he did very well. He was even dancing with one of my cousins. left him in his cage dispite everyone asking me to take him out. I figured he would feel safer in there than out here with all of these people. He started bobing his head up and down like he was giong to regurgitate for me twice yesterday. I know it was a compliment, but im still glad he didnt actually do it. to say the least....im glad he likes me!!

If I were to use natural branches from my apple trees, would I have to do anything to them? Or can I just cut them, clean them up, and use them? I would like to put some in Francis' cage, but they would be to big to fit in the oven.

How long should it take for him to get his feathers back in if he doesn't start plucking again? Today is day six of him being with me and he has more down than he had when I first brought him home. He only has a bit of naked-ness on his chest now. He has three more red feathers than what he had six days ago, too. I typically don't trim my birds' nails unless they really need them. So far I have had good luck with a cement perch in each cage. Don't worry though......Francis' cement perch was taken out of his cage before he went in. As soon as I seen how short his nails were, that was the first thing that popped into my head. He is a hoot to have around!! I am enjoying him tons! Each night he surprises me with something new. Last night he was talking up a storm- hello, come here boy, stay focused, gimme a kiss....mmmwah, hello beautiful, and a**hole. It was all fun and games until he came out with that last one!!! I was laughing inside but I didn't want to react to it and encourage him. and when the phone rang last night he said hello like he was answering it.....lol. I can't wait for him to settle in completely. I am working on a playstand for him for his out of cage time. I spend time with him on the floor playing with balls and legos and stuff but he needs somewhere to be when I cannot play with him. I will post pictures of it when I am done with it......hopefully tonight or tomorrow night. Sorry for such a long post.......its kinda like a book!