Elvenking

The skin right over the keel is very thin in general as I know it. Depending on how you Grey is positioned, it may appear stretched thinner. If it is something that is a definite change in his appearance, then see if you can catch some photos of him. In addition...there is a definite "part" in the feathers down the middle of the keel where they do not grow. Kind of a like a part in a human head of hair. That is totally normal and I always see it on Isaac when he fluffs out.

Week 3 Okay...so here is the third update on my little boy. I would say he is between the 30-40% fill range this week. They are poppin out all over his cute little body. I get so excited to see them coming in he probably wonders what all the fuss is aroud him. I am sure he loves the attention cause he is very chirpy! Anyway...check him out. He's doing good! Go Isaac my little boyeeee!

Thanks everyone for coming to look at my lil guy. More pics coming Wednesday next week

Week 2 Okay...here we go on WEEK 2! He is looking about a 20% Feather Fill right now up from last week at somewhere less than 10 percent. Doing great. I can see the tummy feathers too. It's fabulous. My boy will bring tears to my eyes with his new plumage. I'll keep posting the updates here weekly so there can be a progress thread. TUMMY FEATHERS!

I very much remember Cocoa and was so incredibly sad to read this. I am without words to describe how much I feel for your loss. I know how close they get. It is wonderful you had the incredible adventures you did with Cocoa. I remember all the videos and wishing that Isaac would get out on his harness. Isaac and I will send our love to Cocoa. Stephen

Thank you all for your hopeful wishes for Isaac. I swear, they are popping out all over the place now! Even from when I took that picture...it looks like they doubled. Next weeks pic should be much different.

We'll do a photo shoot every week to keep you updated. They seem to grow at a noticeable rate even over night. Maybe a millimeter a day sometimes it seems.

Week 1 Here are some photos of the lil guys new feathers. Kind of hard to see. There are about 20 or so that I can see on his back, and more on his wings and tummy. Only a few longer ones can be see in in the photos. You can see about 4-5 good ones in this pic. ..and a last one from far away. You can kind of see one coming in on the left wing there. They kind of blend in, but when he gets excited or you know...when the feathers stand up on them...Then I can see all the pins coming in. It's gonna take some months to get em back....but I'll just be happy that he doesn't chew 'em. He's doing his normal preening that I can see....so all signs are good. Wish him strength and energy to grow a beautiful set. I love him. Stephen

Hello all. My last update was in early January just after Isaac had broke off his feathers around his body. We speculate that he did this because he either sensed that I had impending sickness coming (appendicitis that resulted in infection and surgery) or if he was longing for a mate to mate with. At any rate....long pins are coming in all over his body now and he is leaving them be. Well, he is actually preening correctly and taking care of them. Good sign. I really hope to see my baby with all of his feathers grown in again soon....and I will post pictures of him!! He has been his usual very, very sweet self lately otherwise. I love him a lot. He is trying to master this humming whistle sound I do now. It is funny cause I catch his full attention any time I do it....and then he tries...and he's just about got it. Funny to hear him. He has been learning new ways to get my attention as well. Flipping the cabinets open and letting them bounce closed to make sounds that can be heard in adjacent apartments. Did I mention that they poop a lot. LOL. Funny little character! Come on feathers!!! Stephen

What an intense few days to wrap up the year here. Over the last couple of days, I had my appendix rupture requiring surgery...if ya didn't know...that is some level 9 pain right there and had me writhing. Thankfully I was an out patient within a day and was able to be back at home comforting my boy during his hard time. He seems to be making it thorough. He is still picking some feathers adjacent to his tummy....but he doesn't seems as fond of breaking too much lately. Hopefully he is not feeling as intense. I';ll keep reporting on the lil guy.

He seems to just get an itch to do it at some time...like....right now...getting some big ones and I can hear them snapping at times. Really sucks. All day...nothing. Then another wave tonight. Seems to come in waves for him. I am not sure if I should distract him or let him be.

Here is another interesting tid bit. I just remembered...he has been LOVING my underwear drawer lately. When I slide it open on my dresser.....he comes flying over to play in it. It does appear to be some kind of nesting behavior now that I think of it. He gets a little 'weird' around that drawer and it's pretty soft in there I guess.

Hehhehehe...yes...I am not afraid to say that he can be quite intimidating. In normal contact...he has a decent range of beak pressures he uses to get messages across. Light ones are friendly contact or possible beginnings of warnings to move away from contact. Medium ones are if ya don't get it...and if you still just don't get it...he may clamp pretty good....which can surprise you pretty good. When he feels scared or violated though....he does something completely different. If he gets part of your hand with this....hoowwwllleeeeee shizznit does it hurt...might get that beak tip to the bone. This doesn't happen too often though...usually if I find something offends him that much...I will defer to other action. I could try to point it away from him and let the mist fall....I'll figure something clever out. Maybe if it doesn't spray or look so much like a gun. He just hears that hissing of the spray and sees something that looks like an eye spraying things at him. I'll grab some aloe juice for him tomorrow and get that bulb ordered tonight. I checked the bird store here and they didn't have em. Otherwise, I am not outwardly stressing about it so much as trying to work the problem and get him as comfy as he needs to be for this tough little time. He seems perfectly happy and continues to be his cute self. I still tell him how beautiful he is even though he is looking like a grey cotton ball on his tummy. I will also see that he actually preens sometimes without chopping feathers...so I am hopeful that this passes and we can get him a new set soon. Keep hopes high for my lil boyeee. I love him and he is such a wonderful friend.

Just picked this up at Target. Thanks for the recommendation. It's running about 6 feet away from his cage right now....humidifying. I also stopped by the bird store and got 4 new toys for him along with a new rope for him to sit on in his cage. None of the new toys scared him at all so it looks like he's got a fresh clean cage with some new fun stuff to play with. He didn't pick when I was out at the store for 3 hours.

Any best instructions on how to wet his tummy with aloe juice will be greatly appreciated too. He will attempt to remove my trigger finger if I point a spray bottle at him. LOL....so alternatives are good.

Okay...that looks manageable...I have an outlet by the cage. The prospect of spending 200 bucks on a humidifier isn't awesome so soon after Christmas and spending 200 on the vet bill. I have wanted one though...I will have to see what I can do.

What if I pop some of these in a ceiling fixture above his cage....how close do they have to be? http://www.mybirdstore.com/FULL_SPECTRUM_LIGHTING-FEATHERBRITE_FULL_SPECTRUM_SPIRAL_15_WATT_BULB.html

I don't have an avian light for him actually. I can get one though. I would like to know what I should get though as the last time I researched this, I researched it out of the question. Where do I get Aloe Juice that can be used on Isaac? You humidify him with Aloe? How do you do this?

I hope your are right about him lightening up on this. Woke up to a decent pile of feathers in his cage this morning. He is working a little on the outside forward parts of his wing. Super sad to watch him do this. I am just stunned really. How he can go from being the perfect preener to a complete basket case. Typically I would never even see a pin feather on his body because he is so diligent about taking care of himself. Is there nothing at all I should do for him?

Oh yeah...blood results and everything came back normal. He's fit as a fiddle otherwise.

Yeah....lately he had been trying to regurgitate to me when I get out of the shower. He is always so welcome to kisses and cuddles, but maybe it's not the best thing right now. When I think about it, I probably 'adore' him just a little too much....which would also be an understatement. Maybe a little more adoration from afar.

Ohhhh my how I love him. I was happy to see him back to making his rounds on his noises this afternoon. The vet visit was a bit traumatic for him. He cuddled very close to after all the fuss. He seems to be back to his normal self now. Still picking some stragglers just now from the tummy. It's just a soft furry covering now. He has moments when he is just preening normally...but around his tummy...he is not wanting the feathers there right now. I wonder if I have been having too much physical contact with him. Sometimes I can't resist rubbing my face on him, or kissing him on his back...or beak...or tummy...or the top of his head...side of the beak......ok..... I am a bit fanatical about him at times. I have heard that it might not be good to do because it could further make difficult feelings they get around mating season. I will try not to kiss him too much. LOL

I live out in California and had been running the heat...so I had thought that too. The vet said his skin looked good though.

Thankfully...this morning there was no new pile of feathers. That was a little reassuring. We are just trying to carry on as normal now with a little added TLC.

Yeah...I will try a few more things to get Isaac into bathing...if not just getting him in when I first get in the shower. He's gonna get some new toys too. Not that he isn't spoiled and showered with attention...lol...gosh....my daughter is often jealous I am pretty sure. I'm there for him.