kyparamedic

I found out today that I have bird breeder's lung. It's known by a variety of other names such as bird fancier's lung. It's a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. While the doctor isn't 100% sure that the birds are causing it, there's very little else it could be. So that means Chloe, my CAG, and Dexter, a quaker, have to leave tomorrow, forever Anyone else have experience with this? It seems like it's actually pretty common yet I have never heard of it or seen it mentioned in any website or magazine that I frequent. I've got a call in to my vet to get his take but I don't really have a choice in the matter. We don't even know if it's reversible at this point. So I'm naturally pretty upset and worry a lot about how Chloe will adjust. She's 8 years old and I've had her for 4. She was a plucker when I got her and still is to some extent but it's much better. They will both be going to my parent's house for the time being until I can find them a permanent home. I really won't be able to visit except for maybe a few minutes at a time with a mask on. It's a very sad day.

Thanks for that info aquariscott. Glad to hear it helped! Is he still on it? My grey has been on it now for 3 1/2 months. While it hasn't completely stopped her plucking, it's reduced it greatly. She has lots of down feathers now and is starting to get new pin feathers in around her neck and head. This will be the true test to see if she leaves these in. In the past, she has always pulled these as they come in or shortly thereafter. I've been misting her frequently with water and aloe vera juice to help minimize the irritation and itchiness. I can't say I've noticed any side-effects from the Haldol. She may be a little less talkative now than she was before, but it's hard to say.

Thanks for the ideas. I have noticed it's the "non-toys" she has the most interest in, like cardboard boxes or cereal boxes, and paper. She loves to shred paper but loses interest after a few minutes. I put a hole in a phonebook and hung it up in her cage which was a big hit for a little while. Almonds are definitely her favorite treat so I have plenty of foraging toys where she has to figure out to how open them to get the nuts out. The quaker on the other hand doesn't have much interest in anything but food. I've tried every type of toy but he's not interested. He does like jewelry, but only if you're wearing it. He goes after rings, bracelets, earrings, glasses, anything you have on. I've tried putting shiny objects in his cage but he could care less. Thanks! P.S. Char, yes, I'm from Louisville. I will try showing them the toys and demonstrating how to play with them. Maybe that's all they need.

I have a 6 year old CAG and 2 months ago acquired a 6 month old Quaker. My grey is a plucker and the vet thought having another bird might help by giving her a friend for when I'm gone. So far they're not exactly buddies but tolerate each other for the most part. During supervised "play" time they may preen one another but usually one gets mad and they start snapping at each other. The main thing I've noticed is that neither one likes to play with anything. All they do is sleep and eat! I have tons of toys but they could really care less about them. The only ones they pay any attention to are ones with food or treats in them. My grey is so lazy that if it's a lot of work to get a treat out, she just gives up. I buy her almonds in the shell but she just tosses them to the ground after about 30 secs and I have to crack them a little bit so she'll be able to get it out easier. How do I get them more active and/or interested in their toys? I was under the impression quakers were supposed to be so active and playful. Mine's a lazy bum! I got him a shredding tunnel and everything to make a nest as I've heard this is something they all do (except for him). Any suggestions here? Thanks!

I've tried putting a TV by her cage before, but it didn't seem to help. Right now the only TV near her is a 52" LCD, so I'd prefer not to leave that on for long periods of time. When she's on her playstand she never pays any attention to the TV anyway. I read on here about using a phonebook for shredding. I hung one in her cage and I think she likes it. She loves shredding paper. There are very few toys I've found that she likes and most all of them involve foraging.

Dexter, after the Showtime TV series about the serial killer. I was reading the other day that you should be careful what you name your birds because they have a tendency to turn into what the name infers. So I'll be keeping all the knives away from him

Yes, it seems like we've tried everything. She has very little interest in toys, except for those with treats in them. I don't want her eating too many treats and she's able to get them out of most foraging toys pretty quicky. I at least make her work even after she gets them out, by using things like almonds in the shell, although she often gets frustrated with these and drops them. I put her in the shower with me which she tolerates although she hates baths and being sprayed. I've used a mister but it broke so I've ordered another one. She didn't mind that too much. So we'll see what happens.

Thanks, I will. I feel so bad for him having to be kept in a room away from everyone. It had to be a stressful experience being taken from his flock only to be placed in a cage away from his buddies. We try to visit him often and provide plenty of toys.

Intuitively this makes sense, so I talked to my vet about it. He basically dismissed it as total crap and said he'd like to see some research from a qualified individual. So I went ahead and got a 6 month old male quaker about a week ago. He's in quarantine now so in a month or so we'll see how it goes.

Hi everyone. My vet just started Chloe on Haldol (haloperidol) for her plucking. If you're not familiar with it, it's an anti-psychotic that's used a lot in humans for psychosis and agitation. It's shown to be effective for birds with feather plucking that is thought to be behavioral/obsessive-compulsive in nature, which is what we think her plucking is. Anyone used this on their grey? She's only been on it for a few days and it seems to be helping some. So far I have not noticed any side-effects. It's just a hassle having to give it twice a day and I don't want to have her on this for life so there's the chance that when it's discontinued she'll begin plucking again. I've also acquired a 6 month old male quaker to keep her company but he's in quarantine for 30 days so we won't know if that helps for several more weeks. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. See, we thought she was reaching sexual maturity last summer as she was regurgitating for me a lot and was fairly possessive of me. This is a little different, although not entirely. The whole attacking her toys thing is more intense and frequent. She hasn't let my mom pick her up in several days. I'll tell her not to bribe her, she has just done that when she's trying to put her to bed. I usually leave her alone in play mode because that means she's not plucking! Thanks!

Chloe has suddenly become aggressive. Not so much towards me, but towards other family members and her toys. She has not let my mom pick her up in several days unless she bribes her with a treat or I give her to my mom. She is also going after her toys like mad. She swings them around, attacks them, yells at them. She's done that before but not like this. During these times she may act out against me as well, sometimes striking at me when I try to get her to step up. After a couple bites and a firm "step up" I get her to do it, reluctantly. Other times though she's perfectly fine. Why this sudden change? She's about 5 years old btw. Thanks!

Hi Mas. I have a plucking grey that sounds very similar to Zahzu. She too plucks and chews primarily at night. At one point she had almost all her feathers back and I took her in for her yearly exam and after a fairly traumatic experience, she resumed. It seems to be attention and boredom related. I think you may be on to something about weaning her off attention. I've noticed that the plucking actually increases when I shower her with attention or give her more than usual. I think she gets upset the next day and starts pulling feathers out. Occasionally she does it when out on her playstand during the day but that's mainly when we're ignoring her. The other day though I was watching TV and she was sitting on my hand and she started pulling on her feathers. That's the first time she's done that. My vet had me try giving her Benadryl (diphenhydramine) everyday as a first line pharmacological therapy for the plucking. This was several months ago. I'll spare you a long story but she nearly died after we went on vacation. The only thing we could figure out was that somehow she got too much of the Benadryl because it didn't get mixed in her water right or she had a bad reaction to it. We have no way of knowing if this is what happened but it's consistent with a Benadryl overdose. So the vet is holding off on any pharmacologic therapy for a little while and I agree. What medication was it that you tried and it helped? I've used Pluck No More as my vet had very good success with it. Unfortunately it didn't seem to do much and I couldn't justify the cost. Aloe vera juice seemed to do the same thing for a lot less money.

Suzzique, how do you do timeout? Do you put him back in his cage or somewhere else? Thanks.

Thanks for sharing your all's experiences. My vet had mentioned an Amazon as a possibility too but from my reading it seems like they can have a lot of mood problems, especially during 'adolescense,' so I had kind of ruled them out. I have read that Greys tend to associate better with birds of close to or equal intelligence.

My grey, Chloe, has been resistant to everything we have tried to try to keep her from plucking her feathers. Now she pretty much only does it when she's alone and not getting attention. The vet thinks the next course of action should be a companion for her that can be there all the time and talk bird-talk with her as she loves having someone to talk to. His recommendations are something small and not too expensive like a brown-throat conure or a quaker. Both of these look like pretty neat birds but my only concern is if she will get along with them and vice-versa. I'm also torn between getting a baby or adopting an adult, like I did with her. I'm just afraid of inheriting a lot of problems. The breeders in this area typically have sun conures, green-cheeks, greys, cockatoos, and amazons. Of course I'm willing to travel to get her the right companion. What are your suggestions and what kind of experiences have you had? BTW, Chloe is 5 years old. Thanks!

I acquired my grey, Chloe, while in college about 1 1/2 years ago. She stayed in my room in an apartment with 2 friends. While she never really liked my roommates, she would tolerate one of them because he would spend time with her when I was gone. However, she was still unpredictable around him and would sometimes bite, especially if I was around. So now that I've moved home, there are some new family members. My mom is very fascinated with her and wants Chloe to like her. Unfortunately, Chloe is not real fond of her. For the first week or so after moving, my mom would just go up and talk to her without trying to touch or pet her. Sometimes she would offer her treats, but that was about it. Later I started holding Chloe and my mom would try to pet her but this didn't go over real well. Ocassionally she would let my mom pet her but normally she would snap at her. She will step up on to her hand from mine, but will not step up on to her hand from her cage or any perches, which seems kind of weird. Whenever my mom puts her hand up near her, she starts scooting away. If my mom persists, she'll snap at her and try to bite. My mom is really discouraged because she really wants Chloe to like her. Will this ever happen? I'm not sure what to tell her. Thanks.

Oops, thanks, it's fixed. The problem with hard treats is that they tend to fall out easily as the opening is pretty big.

Anyone have any experience with the Sock Buddy (http://www.thesockbuddy.com)on a plucking grey? I'm considering ordering one as it seems much more humane than a collar which will probably be the next step. I just can't seem to get Chloe to stop pulling out her feathers. It seems like we've tried everything. She has let almost all her feathers come back before, but then something causes her to pull them out overnight or in the course of the day. The last time it was right after the vet visit in which he was extremely pleased with her progress. It also seems that if I can just get her to leave the down feathers alone long enough for the remaining chest feathers to cover them, all is good. I don't know if they're irritating or what but she doesn't seem to give them enough time to grow in before she pulls them out. If they do come in, she tends to leave them alone unless something sets her off and she goes on a plucking spree. That's why I'm thinking if the Sock Buddy keeps her from pulling these out and allows the feathers to grow in, she'll find other ways to entertain herself and things to destruct. Once we take it off, she'll have a full set of feathers and hopefully leave them alone as she has new hobbies. Thoughts/experiences?

I bought one of the Bird Kongs for my grey. I'm sure you've seen them, they're very popular for dogs. Here's a link if not: http://www.bird.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=523001 Anyone else have one? I'm trying to figure out what kind of treats I can put in it. We have a peanut butter paste made by the same company that's used as a treat for dogs. Anyone know if it's safe for parrots? I guess the safest thing to do would just be to use regular peanut butter. Here is the list of ingredients in it: Ingredients: Whey, Soybean Oil, Water, Milk, Dextrose Maltodextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Sodium Phosphate Salt, Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Lactic Acid, Caramel Color, Annatto Extract (Color), Cheese Cultures, Rennet Amount per Serving Calories 14 Calories from Fat 10 Serving Size 1 tsp (5 g) Servings per Container About 45 Guaranteed Analysis Crude Protein (minimum) 2% Crude Fat (minimum) 20% Crude Fiber (maximum) 1% Moisture (maximum) 53% Contains No Trans Fatty Acids<br><br>Post edited by: kyparamedic, at: 2008/05/07 22:34

Thanks for all the responses. She's still doing fine. Wow, I didn't realize that stress could actually cause death in birds so acutely! Of course it's bad over the long term but that's crazy that their reaction can be so severe. I've been reading up on it. danmcq, yeah, I've used this shampoo for a while now. In fact, it's almost gone. I believe it's just a mixture of aloe vera with some other natural stuff. I'm not at home right now so I can't look at the bottle. spookyhurst, what do you mean exactly by toweling? Usually she's ok with the towel, especially when it's getting her out of the sink after a bath! I usually only keep her in it for a minute or two. The only other time I ever use a towel is when I have taken her across the street to a friend's house and it's really cold. She doesn't seem to mind this. I have also covered her with a towel and so has the vet in order to trim her beak or clip her toenails. Not sure if it's the towel so much as what we're doing to her while she's in the towel that stresses her. Maybe a combination. When she has gotten really stressed or angry before I have seen her chest actually bleed a little bit. I guess that's from where she's been plucking and the skin is already damaged or irritated. She really hates being sprayed even though I've been doing it for a year now without much change. Over the past couple of months I have begun giving her a treat afterwards and really praising her. Whenever she sees the spray bottle she starts doing what I call her "chicken noises" and starts trying to attack the spray bottle. I'll have to check into a mister.

No problem. I will probably just use the aloe vera juice when the shampoo is gone, as it's fairly expensive. I hope it was just the stress of everything that caused her to act the way she did. At the same time though, I hate that she was so overwhelmed so easily. I read some more about household chemicals and although I can't find any specifics, several articles have said that common cleaning chemicals that only cause minor skin irritation in humans and other animals can be extremely toxic or lethal to birds. So maybe there was a small amount that was enough to temporarily intoxicate her but [hopefully] not cause any permanent damage. She's still acting her normal old self.

Well, my vet recommended it as part of the plucking problem. He said the aloe vera was fine to use as well. Here's a link to it: http://www.kingscages.com/shampoo.php The article is written by my vet, incidentally. I think it is very unlikely that she ingested any of the Fantastik but I can't rule it out. I was pretty thorough in rinsing everything down but it's possible I missed a spot. I don't know enough about avian medicine to say whether it could have affected her but it would have been such a minute amount. Unless something in it is just extremely toxic to birds, it's hard to believe that was the problem. Post edited by: kyparamedic, at: 2008/04/26 01:34<br><br>Post edited by: kyparamedic, at: 2008/04/26 01:40

One thing I forgot is that, in humans, extreme hyperventilation can cause various physical symptoms such as unsteadiness and dizziness. She was breathing very fast and hard. Not sure if this is the same with birds.

I'm not sure what chemical you are referring to. The only ones I deliberately put on her are the bird shampoo and the aloe vera juice, which I believe are well-established.