forkeeps

Hi davek85, No I didn't get him from Project Perry. His original owner died and his family didn' want him and he got passed to someone else. It's already 2 wks since I got him and he hasn't plucked any feathers since his first night with me. I started to spray him with aloe water once a day and 3x's a day I use pluck no more to spray him with, plus it goes in his drinking water and so far it's really working great. He lets me rub his head, he's not at the point of complete trust where I could put a sock buddy on him---I'm hoping he won't need one, plus he's loving all the different toys I put in his cage for him to play with and the out of cage time is doing wonders for his attitude. He's also on some antibiotics as he had a crop infection. Now that's he's getting good food and I'm lucky he likes to eat everything I've given him so far, unless of course his antibiotics are in the food then he won't touch it...

I always get my fids checked out and in the past I was very lucky with my other two they didn't have any health issues. I will say in the short time I've had Andy, he's gotten friendly with me and allows his head to be petted. It's my boyfriend who's going to be giving him his syringe, for some reason Andy bonded with him the first time he met him and let's him pick him up, figures I'm the one who rescues him and my guy gets all the glory:) Really I just wanted any newbies that are just getting into parrots or those that don't think vet care is needed, to put their fids first and get them checked out. DAWL you are 100% that birds hide their sickness and it can be to late at times to get them help when you do realize they need it. Birdhouse I might try the oatmeal idea, it's not as easy to give birds meds as it is the dogs or horses.

Hi everyone, last Friday I got my new CAG Andy that was a rescue, I posted some pics of him in a few of the other threads. One thing everyone needs to be aware of is how important it is to have their parrots, rescue's or not checked out at least yearly by an avian vet and a rescue within a week or two of getting them. If I didn't take Andy to the vet I wouldn't of known he had a crop infection that needed antibiotics as he was eating and acting fine and also blood work showed his calcium level was a little low, not at a dangerous level but something that needed to be addressed. His vet was very thorough in his check-up and overall educated me more on the care of a CAG. The fun part for me is going to get him to take his medicine and to get him to eat some of the supplements the vet gave me until he decides to eat some of his new food...good thing is he seems to like everything that is given to him to eat.

JMO, I'm not a fan of parrots in a busy place of employment, I found a problem that most people may be interested in the bird and others without supervision can cause harm mental/physical without meaning to because they don't know the proper way to care for the parrots. Also, a parrot can become a liability if people come into the business and get bit. My 1st CAG that I owned came from a person that had an small accounting business, she moved him to her office from her house once she got married because her husband didn't like him and one of her clients got bit by sticking his finger in the cage and after that incident Tango was put in a secluded corner and only fed and everytime someone went by his cage if he even put is beak by the bars the cage would get hit and he lost his free time outside of the cage. He started to become aggressive when his original owner would go to change his food water dishes (old style cage that you had to put your hands in to remove the bowls) and would go to bite her and the owner couldn't understand why. I was asked if I wanted him because he turned "Bad", it took me almost 6mths to regain his trust and he became a great part of the family.

Hi, Your baby is adorable. You'll learn a lot of useful info reading up on the posts.

Hi Alan, Welcome, I recently joined too and am learning lots of things from reading some of the posts.

I currently have one rescue that is a 15 yr old grey Andy, I only have him about a week and we are making tremendous progress. I also had a B/G macaw and CAG, the B/G was left to me by my Uncle and the Grey was a rescue that both passed in the last year (b/g was 70-75 yrs & the grey in the 50's) both lived great lives.

Thanks everyone again for the Welcome, here are pics of Andy. GSD stands for German Shepherd Dog.

Another pic of Andy, I know he looks pretty rough, hopefully he'll come around and I can help discourage his plucking. If anyone has ever worked with a severe plucker, any tips or advice would be appreciated.

Hope the pics come through.

Thanks for the Welcome Ray & DawL

Jimmydreams, train your dogs to learn the "leave it" command, it comes in handy in many situations, you have to train the dogs seperately and then work them together. You start by having the dog on leash and place something the dog likes on the floor, if the dog starts towards what is on the floor say leave it and gently pull the dog towards and as soon as the dog looks at you praise and give him a reward, you eventually move up to items the dog really wants such as food or a favorite toy and eventually the minute you say leave it the dog will look at you come towards you, remember to always praise and in a few days you'll see a big difference. Also I let my dogs go by the bird cages and they all grew up with my Macaw that taught them all to respect the birds, Trouble would take the tip of his beak and poke my dogs noses if they got to nosey, he never bit them but the tip of his beak was enough to let the dogs know to leave him be.

New to the forums. I've recently added a rescue CAG to my home. Andy's 15 and his owner died a yr ago, his family couldn't care for him and he went to live with another person for the past 6mths. I took one look at him and knew I had to take him, he was once fully feathered and has plucked, his neck, back, belly and top of his wings. He is by far the most challenging parrot I've ever had and hopefully he'll come around with some TLC and proper nutrition. I recently lost my B/G macaw that I've have had since the early 90's that was left to me and he was approx 70-75 yrs old and last year my CAG that I rescued and had for 10 yrs died also and he was about 50 yrs old. Both of my past parrots taught me a lot, my B/G learned to like everyone and was only a little nippy when he didn't get his way and my grey Tango loved everyone. Hopefully being on the forum I can learn some new things that can help with my new guy, as soon as I can figure out how to post pics I will.

Hi Luvparrots, my B/G macaw Trouble taught me a lot about parrots and after a while became friends with most people and my Grey Tango was a pretty sweet grey that liked everyone...my new guy is going to be a challenge as he's a bit nippy and the exact opposite of what my others were. He is getting comfortable in his new house and is starting to let me know he has quite a vocabulary. He came from a home that had dogs and he's more interested in trying to interact with my dogs than me which is ok, my gsd's are "parrot aware".

Thank You Judy, I will get pics posted soon. I am enjoying reading through the threads, it seems like a very friendly group of people on here.

Hi and Thank You. He does have a Vet visit scheduled for this coming Thursday, I do know his diet needs to be adjusted and I'm getting him to try fresh veggies and fruit. His diet wasn't the best, basically just seed and he was on a cockatiel mix---I've picked up Pretty bird species specific grey food, Ecotrition organic blend seed and I'm mixing Zupreem pellets in with the seed, he's at least starting to try the new food. I am hoping a better diet will help. He got upgraded to a larger cage and I'm just starting to put new toys in with him, as he wasn't exposed to them.

Hi my name is Kim and I recently have taken in a CAG that is 15. Andy's former owner passed away a year ago and the family couldn't properly care for him, he was placed into another home for the past 6 mths and I went to see him the other day and had to bring him home with me. Andy is a male (DNA was done on him) and has developed a severe plucking habit. I am not new to owning Parrots as I lost my B/G macaw this summer at approx 70-75, he was left to me in the early 90's and last year I lost my CAG that I rescued and owned for 10 yrs and he was estimated at 50 yrs when I got him. Both of my past birds were wonderful and had their own quirks, yet never plucked feathers. I'm hoping to find ways to help my new Grey Andy alleviate some of his feather plucking and look forward to any hints that may help me to help him live a better life and to talking with members of the forum.