Karen Wise

Thank You. Do you feed your bird veggies in the morning and fruit late afternoon? I have visited several sites and some feed three or four times a day, some feed twice a day. I am assuming it is going to to a slow process. Should I continue to give him a little seed and some pellets and offer veggies and fruit in small amounts to see what he likes? Thanks again Karen

I want to switch Cosmo from a all seed diet to pellets. Problem is I don't know how much seed to pellets. He was fed 1/3 cup of seed in the morning and about 90% was gone by the next morning. I need guidance on the ratio seed to pellet for the conversion so I can be sure he is getting enough nutrition. (this goes back to my paranoia when he started his feather plucking a few months ago which is now under control) I want to make sure I am doing the best I can for Cosmo. Whatever it takes is my motto for him! What about the dehydrated organic veggies which have to be cooked in addition to the pellets for variation? Thanks again for all your help Karen Karen

Thanks! I am so glad I found this forum. It has been invaluable to me! Now on my way to walmart! Karen

My picker grey as gotten past the picking, I think, no feathers in the cage and he is going through a molt now. The feathers on his chest look tattered and I see a whole lot of pin feathers coming in. What concerns me is he looks as though he is replacing all the feathers on his chest. Has anyone experienced this with their grey? Is there something else going on? I would appreciate any guidance you can give me on this matter. Cosmo is 15 years old. Thanks Karen

Thank You So Much! I have searched and searched the internet for the answer to this question and could never find the answer until now.

Y'all helped me with Como's feather plucking awhile back. That behavior has stopped and new feather's are coming in, but it seems like it is taking a long time for him get back where he was before the plucking started. How long will it take before Cosmo has all his feathers? The plucking was worse than I originally thought. A bath gave me showed me how bad it really was. Thanks Karen

Update on coz! Happy to report he is doing better. We didn't cover him last nite and after it got dark while watching TV Allan was able to observe Coz checking out the top of his cage. He had climbed up to the top and upside down went over every inch of the top of his cage. When I got up this morning he didn't have that wild look in his eyes but still a little jumpy. We scrubbed down his cage yesterday so we could get a better idea of feather drop. As of this minute it is free of feathers. Some are asking why cover his cage at all? He has always enjoyed being covered at night and in fact he has a sound he makes when it is 6:00 pm ,(which is annoying by the way and he knows it) the time he is usually covered. We are sticking with the no cover for now. As for taking him to the vet, we plan on doing that if the behavior continues, I would prefer to take the route of wait and see. At this time I don't want to do anything that is out of his normal routine. Thanks to all for your help

Hi! My name is Karen and I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and have had my Grey, (Cosmo) for 15 years. I was invited to introduce myself when I posted this morning about his plucking . I have learned a lot over the past 15 years and we have have enjoyed every minute of it. I got Cosmo after I had to retire due to a stroke He has been great therapy. He is so entertaining that sometimes we turn the volume down on the TV just to listen to him talk. Every once in a while he will go through his hole vocabulary, every word and saying he has ever heard including some he shouldn't say. Along with Cosmo, I have two Shelties who he loves to tease by getting on the bottom of cage and taunting them. Hopefully, taking the advice I got this morning, this plucking thing he is doing is temporary.

Thanks! I am going to take your advice and leave him uncovered at night for a couple of days and see how that goes. I will let you know how it goes. On to the welcome room! Karen

My African Grey has started plucking overnight. It started on Wednesday 10/10 when I uncovered him early that morning and noticed his legs looked as though it was missing feathers but I dismissed it as a paranoid owner. Thursday it looked as though he was starthing on is neck and the bird was wide eyed and looked frightened. I had no idea that my husband had put a empty water bottle on top of his cage so for 2 nights the bottle stayed there. The bottle was removed and I figured that that was the cause for the stress. Something strange is not a good thing to Cosmo. This morning I noticed it was getting worse. He still had that wild look when I uncovered him and the plucking has accelerated but at this moment appears to be fine standing on one foot and all fluffed up. I am thinking maybe his cover at night maybe part of the problem since the cover concealed the bottle on top of the cage. Any suggestions? Cosmo's last update. Today he is his old self. The fear in his eyes is gone and no more lost feather's. I hope this continues! Thanks to all!