PrimusDCE

Well I have been giving him good showers where he is drenched but he is still not opening up his wings so I know under his wings and the folds of his wings are not getting as wet as they could be. He is continuing to break of his wing feathers and he looks like shit now. The more this goes on the more I feel like I am not up for this. I've spent thousands on him and have pretty much regulated most of my free time to him. I may find another grey owner to give him to. Obviously I am not able to provide him with what he needs to be happy. This is too much.

Uhg I did notice him chewing a feather today... I take my Grey into the shower so it is not a bath so to say. I put his back under the shower stream for a few minutes. Is this sufficient, or do I actually need to submerge him in a shallow bowl/ sink of water? Sorry about Monty, the way his feathers look on his wings is how my Grey looks, just not as severe. Hopefully we can both get our back to normal!

Well I was away for business for a week, but now I am back. I believe he is doing better. I think the mangled feathers I see are just the previous damage that he has preened and brought out. I took today off and sat with him, watching an entire preening marathon and not a single feather was bitten, so that is hopeful. I guess I will just keep watching him. The bloodwork tests came back and he is a perfectly healthy male, so it is something environmental- still hoping its dry skin. I am not sure what type of lamp I got but I got it from the aviary I shop at and it had a big Grey on the box . A quick question- Does the lamp need to be right over the cage or is it ok a few feet back with the bulb aimed right at his cage? Thanks again guys for all the advice, I will continue to post updates as they come.

Well, I bought the humidifier, and a UV lamp. Thanks for the additional suggestion, I did not know they needed it. I also bought a bunch of new toys and completely redid his cage, just on the off chance that he is just bored with all of his toys I took him to the vet today and pretty much threw every test at him. The physical didn't show anything, he is healthy, with a little dry skin. Hopefully that is the culprit. A few of the tests will come back Tuesday, I also got him(?) sexed. I noticed some more biting today which is really discouraging. I jsut hope it is dry skin and he will get over it eventually after a few more weeks with the humidifier and showers/ spritzing.

Yes, he is right next to a glass sliding door that has no drapes or anything obscuring it. His wings look much worse than the first picture I posted (I still see him biting the tips off) , but I will keep bathing him more often and have the humidifier running. Thanks.

Yes, I started spritzing him every day before I go to work and once I get home. I will keep actually bringing him into the shower for a soak on Sundays like I have been doing since I got him. I also have been running the humidifier and I believe things are getting better. I was scratching him and his feathers felt a lot softer and his skin didn't feel as "crusty" lol. Hes preening, and there is less dust. I am noticing him biting someo f hsi feathers still, but its not as bad as he was doing the past few nights. If he doesn't stop in the next few days after all this I am going to take him to the vet.

Thanks for the additional tips on the blanket guys. I bought a full house humidifier and have had it running all day. I also have been spraying his back twice a day with a little water bottle I have. He is still ripping the tips of his feathers off. I really hope this fixes the issue over time, his back is looking really mangled now

Thank you so much, I feel so much better now. I am going to set the temperature lower tonight to begin with.

Thanks so much for the advice Dave. I try so hard to give him plenty of time out of his cage and toys... I felt so bad thinking he could be plucking. I will get a humidifier and pick up some of the aloe juice you mentioned. So 70 isnt too cold for Greys? I prefer my house colder but I have turned up the heat since I bought him because I figured an African Grey would want it as warm as possible since they live in the jungle. I know they can acclimate but I did not want to him to go to bed cold. Are you saying I could stick with the cover and he will adjust to it over time? The only reason I started doing it because it has been colder at night. As you cna see I am very paranoid about his comfort with the temperature! Thanks again.

Here is a pic I took. You can see a few of the fathers are missing parts to them. No bald spots... yet.

I have a 1 year old CAG named Pazuzu. I have had no problems with him up until this point, but I have noticed within the past week or so that his wing feathers are looking ragged and are missing small sections of the soft parts of the feather that are connected to the shaft. I believe he is ripping parts off of his feathers, but not plucking the feather outright. This is only localized to his wing feathers. His chest is perfect and looks very good, along with his tail. Is this the beginning of plucking? I work 8 hours every day with the weekends off. If I am home, he is out of the cage so he gets plenty of time out of the cage, on a normal day he is out of his cage from about 6-midnight. I admit not all of this time is spent with direct interaction, but I am always right near him, he is never alone if I am home. I also provide him with a bunch of toys in his cage and keep the radio on when he is alone in the house during the work week. Other than this he seems fine, he plays with his toys constantly, sings, talks to me, and gives me kisses. He is also generally social with strangers. He just climbed onto my shoulder as I wrote this. I am worried about a few things: -Am I not giving him enough direct interaction? -I live in northern Va and it has been pretty cold, could his cause issues with dry skin, itchiness, and plucking? My house is usually somewhere between 73-76 degrees and is pretty dry. I shower him once a week, every Sunday. -I started covering his cage for the first time in the last few weeks. He attacks the blanket when I pull it off every morning. Could this change be upsetting him and this is a way to act out? Thanks for any input you may have.

Thanks for the encouragement. He actually was in a grumpy mood yesterday and refused to come out other than to eat . I figured I would leave him be and hopefully he will be more friendly today.

More progress this weekend. I was able to take Pazuzu into the shower. He did not appear to be afraid at all. I splashed a little water on his back and he did not protest and even stuck his head under the stream to get a drink. I think after a few more sessions he will be completely used to it and I can toss the spritz bottle. My girfriend took him down from his perch and put him on the couch and he actually walked up to me and climbed onto my leg. I placed him on the back part of the couch and was teasing him by attempting to kiss him on the back of the head. He did not seem to be as agitated so I tried to scratch his head and neck. At first he was a little upset but after a few scratches he realized that it wasn't so bad after all. He even came down to my chest as I was laying on the couch and rested his head on my shoulder so I could scratch him. After this he has started to bend his neck towards me to ask for scratches!

I am new myself, but I know you can also use a spray bottle. I would recommend one that makes a fine mist instead of a stream. I actually gave my new Grey it's first shower this morning while he was on top of his cage and he didn't seem to mind, but I have heard other owners say that it upsets their bird. Another idea I read was to fill a clean paint pan with shallow water and have the bird bathe itself. Like you said you can also take it in the shower with you, but this might be a process. I am eventually going to try and train mine to do this once it trusts me a bit more. Ultimately I think it will depend on your bird's preferences, but those are a few things to try.

You guys know what you are talking about! I really appreciate the advice. I bribed him up to my forearm with a raspberry lastnight, and he cautiously stepped up when I asked. I was able to bring him down to the basement to the stand I bought him and he watched some Dexter with my girlfriend and me. Throughout the rest of the night I was able to ask him to step up, even without food and with minimal protesting. He even let me give him a few kisses on the beak and seemed relaxed enough to preen while on my arm. I was very pleased with both of our patience with each other. Today before work I continued the training and he stepped up again with minimal work and no bribing. He seemed more relaxed, but he still gets upset if I try and scratch his head. I dunno if he doesn't trust me to do it yet or if he just doesn't like to be scratched. I hope he eventually becomes acceptive, but I really can't complain with how much he was willing to do in such a short amount of time with me. I picked up a very small spritz bottle that seems perfect for giving him a shower. I tested it right before I left for work. It dissipates the water perfectly so that a gentle mist falls on him. I was scared he would get spooked or become agitated, but he stood in place and just kind of shook it off. Does anyone have any recommendation on how much water I should spray on him, and how frequently throughout the week? I just gave him a light spray, didn't drench him or anything, but I wasn't sure if it was enough. Thanks in advance! So far each day has shown progress, this first week has been very rewarding. I believe in a few weeks he and I will be good friends with a solid routine.