DizzyBlue

ooooo now there's a good idea! cheers for that am gonna give it a go. Henni is usually clumbsy cos she hates to miss seeing anything going on and rushes around and trips over her own feet! then again after 17 years of seeing nothing but the kitchen I suppose everything moving and happening to her is well worth watching lol. She does love sitting watching the tv when we have our quiet time just before her bedtime (part of our routine) and if there is anything with music on the credits she loves to join in even if she really doesn't know the words ha ha ha!

Those pictures just about broke my heart until I saw the last one! now that is an amazing transformation! Bless his/her little heart. Thanks for the insight Dave much appreciated. Henni is loved with or without feathers at this moment she's trying to pull the chuffing keys off the laptop ....again..... and is in serious danger of getting tickled if she doesn't stop grabbing my fingers as I type... Hmmm do you think maybe a childrens night-light one of those plug in low glow things for the socket may be of assistance in the night time snipping....then again knowing my luck it will just help her to see them better to pick them out!!!

Henni has apple branches as perches and I just replace them as she destroys them, she also has java wood perches plus comfy clams plus two of those polly twisters to keep the nails in check and a variety of toys to destroy hanging up.... and when the trees are in need of cutting back in the garden I just do this..... Ok so she was rather stunned the first time it happened but since then when she sees me dragging the branches in she's really excitable as she knows she in for a good session of destruction lol and as you can see from the following my girlie gets around and about when the weather is good...she has apple wood on the back garden to climb around on when the weather is nice.

Cheers for that Dave! I know Henni will probably not grow feathers back and she'll stay a nudist lol she has grown a number of pink feathers back in some very strange places which my raptor vet says is due to the follical damage I strive to keep a head of any new information as sometimes it's the little things that make a break through for all the oddest of reasons. It's the way she will leave everything alone all day long I even set up cameras to video her whilst I'm out and she doesn't pluck....she goes to bed on a night time and hey presto she becomes a secret night time plucker!!! It's just really really weird. I'll give post a picture of Henni's chest eeeerrrrrr she is almost totally nude to the front! She has started to grow a few feathers back and has so far (she says fingers crossed) not ripped them out but rather over preened them and snipped bits off! Like I said she gets a bath whether she likes it or not and I do make sure she gets lots of praise for enduring it. As for nuts.....hmmmm unfortunately Henni doesn't like any nuts!! She's tried walnuts, pecan, cobnut, peanuts, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pine nuts and hates them all she just spends her time posting them out of her cage onto the floor she wont tollerate them in her feedbowl or even on the floor of her cage...... some days I wonder about her not playing with a full deck so to speak! If I'm at home Henni is not in her cage if the weather is good she accompanies me shopping and we go for regular days out to the playground etc yes the locals do think I'm really odd but Henni enjoys it and if she having a good time so am I. During the daytime she has a parrot sitter who sits with her and reads her the newspaper in the morning and in the afternoon and she has the telly on too....I know I'm as nutty as they come!! Aloe vera jucie I make my own as I grow it in tubs in the kitchen so we have that one covered. Have you come across anybody using colloidal silver in the misting bottle yet? I've heard a few people mention it but I only use it as an antiseptic. I've used vitamin e oil (the natural one not the human synthetic variety) do a varying degree of success in stopping the itchyness when the feather first start pinning. What do you mean about keep her out of the dark?

The only ones I've heard about are the Avitemp infrared heat panels...apparently they are cage mountable. Not sure how much heat they kick out or what the cost of running them are but I suppose it depends on where you are thinking of having them. My outdoor aviary has heater tubes in the roost box and two that run along the full length of the back wall of the aviary. The aviary is perspexed in during the winter (with vent holes to ensure correct controlled air movement/exchange) but it makes sure that the birds are protected from the worst of the weather winds rain snow etc whilst allowing the temperature inside to be kept controlled. am sure there must be plenty of people on here with loads of experience greater then mine on this subject and it'll be an interesting thread to follow for ideas for my gang too!

I hope admin don't mind me posting this link to a utube video but it's just a demo of a steam cleaner being used on a parrot cage. Ok steam cleaners come in all shapes and sizes and this clip is over a year old but you'll get the jist of how it works etc obviously your bird should never be in the cage when your cleaning it with one of these just in case anybody is confussed about it's use. hope the clip helps you

I've posted piccies in the health section of my little madam and the feather problem

This is Henni's cage and yes that's the little lady herself on top. Her cage is very unusually in full view of the window and not against a wall cos Henni spent a lot of time falling off perches she is so nosey she just has to see everything so for safety sake I moved her to where she was happiest with a blanket on the top right corner to give her somewhere that felt like a covered area....of sorts! This is how nosey Henni really is ....if the curtains are closed at night and she hears something she just has to spy on the neighbours!! This is my girl doing what she does best....destroying lol got to love her she just really has an abundance of enthusiasm!!

Lets see if I can upload piccies....excuse me if I make a mess of it all!! Right this is Henni Penni (hopefully fingers crossed!) these are her tail feathers a view from above her rather then from underneath if you get my meaning Her back and finally her wing feathers.... She has moulted whilst being here and this is what happens to the feathers if they make it to full length snip snip snip!!!

Firstly I'd like to know how to upload pictures to this forum please I have photobucket do I do it that way? I'd like to show my Henni's feather issues to see if anybody has any ideas that I haven't tried yet regarding her chewing/plucking/squishing and general diabolical treatment towards her feathers! Henni is 32 years old (leg ring verification which has now been removed!) and lived with her last owners for 17 years after being bought down the pub on a whim!! Unfortunately for her she wasn't given a proper balanced diet nor treated with much errr for want of a better word "respect" no time out and living alone in the kitchen for 17 years took it's toll but Henni's past is of little relevance to this thread except in how it impacted on her the ill-treatment took it's toll, all I have to do is try to figure out how to un-do it!! And that's where your brains come into play lol! For those 17 years she was thought to be male....she moved in with me Sept 2011. Laid eggs this easter much to my astonishment! Her self mutilation has stopped completely she had chewed two toes and had to have joints removed plus a hole in her chest just under her wing - everything has healed fine. It's just the feather thing...or the lack of feathers....and the semi-chewed ones! The "I hate baths" stance is a bit of a nightmare but then again I'm no push over and she gets mistings mixed with playtime and lots of praise and treats afterwards it's amazing what she will do for a nice grape!! I'd like to show people the state of her tail feathers if you can call them that, the chewed remains of feathers that are on her back there are no feathers to speak of remaining on her chest and tummy!! She's a bit of a baldy but much loved regardless!! Henni has had blood tests, skin scraping, poop analysis and a multitude of things inbetween and nothing is coming back that way she clear of everything (including feathers!!) Any help gratefully received even if we've already tried it! My theory is there has to be something that I haven't tried or come across yet that may help her even just a little bit!

If your keen on it being totally chemical free how about a steam cleaner like they use on bathroom tiles / kitchens? Basically just hot steam jet with a high enough temperature to kill any nasties and makes dried poop and caked food really easy to remove. Quick wipe down afterwards just to make sure it's totally dried and whilst your doing that it's cooling enough to make it bird safe.... just a thought....

Henni is errr for fear of this sounding really "not right" a night plucker!! She very rarely tugs a feather during the daytime. When she has gone to bed its a whole different story. She not only over preens and nibbles bits of feathers off so the main quill is still there but the rest looks moth eaten, she grinds the feathers to bits that are growing whilst they are still in their outer sheath... I have tried her with her cage covered and not covered she gets regular spray mistings (she hates baths!!) she's had everything from vit E oil all the way through to home made aloe vera juice added to her spray. When I'm in she's out, has minimum of 10 hours sleep, full spectrum lights, she seriously has more toys then sense from shredding toys to preening toys puzzles etc etc.... I never give her attention when she's plucking ...but that doesn't work either cos she does it at night and I'm presented with night-time destruction in the morning!! I've even tried out if it's to do with seperation anxiety and slep next to her cage....I got no sleep and a stiff back for my troubles she kept popping down during the night and yelling in my ear!! The only blessing that we have is that the self mutilation stopped within a couple of weeks of arriving here and for that I'm eternally thankful. I'm on multiple websites and forums trawling for new ideas and options as I know what works for one doesn't always work for another and sometimes there is no cure it would seem. Feathered or not I lover her to bits!

its like living in a nut house....Henni has gone in to nesting mode......there are no zips left working on the settee or chair cushions...what is it with them if you dont give into their demands for a box they start inventing them!!!

Hey all and thanks for the welcome I'm not actually new to keeping larger parrots I've had others passed on to me over the years and I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to parrot stuff and reading! Henni has a raptor specialist as her vet. Henni basically plucks due to the usual things left to her own devices for 17 years living in a kitchen without company toys and a rubbish diet that plus abuse. She's been tested for everything and come up clean which is great she had malnutrition but that's been sorted and she was retested to ensure it was spot on. As you all know there is no exact science to stopping the plucking and since she is 32 and the plucking has been there for at least the last 17 years its gonna be a hard thing to get to the bottom of if ever! She is feeling happier because for easter she laid me three eggs which i let her brood to get it out of her system didn't expect her to sit for over 50 days though!! She took parrot gestation time to a whole new level LOL. She'll be right with out without feathers

Hi all, I'm new to this particular forum. I own a AG (Henni Penni) who's 32 and came to live with me a year ago. Her owners no longer wanted her as she is a plucker and was a self mutilator the latter of which Henni has stopped the plucking bit is still a major biggie!! But as you all know there no exact science to stopping it. I am not new to owning parrots and was owned by a wild caught 47 year old BFA until he passed on. I have owned cockatiels, budgies, kakarikis, lovebirds for about 30 years and still keep an aviary full of them! So hello everybody and hope to chat with you all soon