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.

LoL, well I guess its good that they can eat a variety of things.

Well the bribing has begun. I was able to feed him two peanuts and bunch of blackberries and raspberries. His face was so funny the first time he tried a raspberry; his eyes kept dialating large and small like he was tripping out on how good it was! He even tried to grab a pizza crust from my girlfriend. One mistake I think I was making earlier was holding the berries directly in front of his beak. I know since they are prey animals their eyes are situated on the sides of their heads, so when I just kind of shoved it in his face I don't think he realized I was giving him food and just nipped it thinking it was my finger. I have been holding them to the side of his head now and he eagerly plucks it from my hands and chows down. I dunno if this a is a typical noobie mistake, but it seems to have worked for me and my bird. So now I am going to condition him to relate me with possible food and safety, and then try and bribe him to step up with the berries down the road. Thanks again for the advice guys.

I remember the first time I saw a Grey when I was about 15. My good friend's mother owned one and I was intrigued by her relationship with it. I could tell there was a stong bond between them. I was taken back with how sophisticated and intelligent it looked. Compared to the two parakeets I owned at the time (who liked each other much more than they liked me!), I could tell the relationship was much more rewarding. I told my self that one day I would have one. Here I am more than a decade later and I finally dove in last week, having the means to actually provide for one. Before the purchase I scoured the internet for information. Grey information sites, while very informative for the basics, were a little too general and could not answer all of my questions. I searched for a forum and found this wonderful site. It helped me realize the great responisbility that I was about to partake in and opened the doors to hundreds of other questions. Luckily it seems like most of the questions I had have already been brought up by other fledging owners. This seems like the most logical place to lurk before commiting to a African Grey, and getting you aquainted with your new friend. I felt like this was a secret society, some kind of "African Grey Guild". It is a special world that only a few people are able to enter. It made the purchase even more exciting, and solidified my dedication to it. Walking through the pet store, I knew I made the right choice. Walking by the flashy and preening cockatoo cages and past the bucking and screeching macaw section (I likened that area to a bird version of Silence of the Lambs ) I saw the lone, sophisticated looking form of my Pazuzu in his cage, quietly and cautiously eyeing me. I knew there was something special about it and I wanted ot make it happy. That is also the main reason I am here, I know this is the right place to help me hone my novice Grey-keeping skills. This place is a wealth of information, and the "bird sages" of this community seem more than happy to offer their advice which seems to stem from a genuine love for this species and birds in general. I plan on being here for a long time and I am very excited about the road ahead for all of us here

Thanks for the encouragement. I will try and bribe him to step up tonight to get him out. I can't wait to get home now

Thanks Jilly. Is there a suggested way to entice him to step up? Like I said, he backs off when I put my arm near him and refuses to go into the cage, so I don't know what to do when I need to put him back in the cage, or to encourage him to step up to come out.

Thanks Capster, I can see how he would associate stepping up with going back in the cage if that was the only correlation. I usually just leave the two cage doors open when I want him to come out, and let him leave the cage on his own accord. Getting him back in is the problem. He usually does not step up and I am forced to try and get him on my arm or actually pick him up to return him to the cage. He screams and flaps and I am worried that he will not trust me if I continue to do this. Should I not be letting him out this early? Any advice or wisdom? Thanks.

Thanks for the welcome and replies. Will it be bad in the long run to let it out on its own this early and then have to pick it up to put it back in the cage? I do not want it to be afraid of me, or associate me with any trauma. Thanks.

Today was pretty productive. He explored the entire cage and tested out each of the toys. He has been eating, drinking, and pooping A LOT, which I assume is a good sign. I opened his cage doors and let him come out on his own again and he seemed very content and even started to make some consistent noise. He seems to be getting a little more comfortable with us and even comes to the edge of the cage that we are standing at to check us out. He also has started to eat and drink from the outside bowls, so I am thinking he is getting more comfortable outside the cage. The thing that seems to still bother him is if we put our arms anywhere near him. The only issue I had was the same as last night; when I reach to put him back in the cage he screams bloody murder. Hopefully this reaction will stop over time, once he figures out I am not trying to kill him. Should I not let him out like this until he is more used to interacting with me? I don't want him to associate me as the scary guy who suddenly puts him back in his cage. Anyways, thanks for any advice.

Hello, My name is Derek and I just picked up my first African Grey; a 6 month old CAG that I named Pazuzu. I am extremely excited, as I have wanted one since I was young and I cannot wait to start bonding with it. From what I can tell it has seemed to adjust pretty quickly. At first it just perched at the swing on the top of the cage, taking eveyrthing in. He did not move or sing, he just seemed very wary of everything around him. He seemed to settle in a bit and even started to explore one of the nearby toys I had bought for him. It was as successful purchase, I think he likes it alot. Upon seeing him getting more active, I decided to try and give him a raspberry, which he promptly plucked from my fingers and threw to the floor. I also noticed he didn't eat any of the millet or pellet/ dried fruit/ seed mix I provided for him, but I figured he is just stressed out. I decided to leave him alone for a bit and just watched him from afar. After a few more hours I opened the top entrance to the cage which leads to an external perch. I did not expect him to leave the swing, but to my suprise he actually started exploring the top portion of the cage and then crawled out the entrance butt first. Keeping a watchful eye on us he slowly climbed to the top of the cage. At this point a few of my friend came over and we all talked near the cage. The bird was still wary, but he let out a few noises and seemed very interested in our conversation. My two friends extended their hands to him, but he backed off, not ready to be approached. After a few minutes we wanted to go to the basement, so I decided to try and put him back in the cage. I expected to get chewed up but very politely he simply grasped my finger with his beak and simply pushed my hand to the side as if to say "You seem ok, but I can't trust you yet". It was pretty endearing, but I did need ot get him back in the cage so I put my forearm in front of his feet. After some backing up and loud protesting he did eventually step up to my arm and allow me take him back inside the cage without me restrainign him, so I guess that was a good thing. I hope I did not spook him too much, he seems torn between trusting me and being afraid. After that I left him to sleep in his cage. I can't wait to get home tonight and see if I can make any more progress with it trusting me. I want to give him room adn not push him too far, too fast, so please let me know if there is anythign else I could do for him during these first few days. Thanks in advance.