Carolina

Hello everyone, sorry for the late update but my husband has been diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer. We have tried to stay positive and Dali seems to not have noticed any changes. We're trying not to change our daily routine. He seems to be really liking the new place. He has 2 red tail feathers growing in and various flight feathers. He has not plucked at all! I'm just a little nervous because he has a couple of primaries growing in. I will keep an eye on them and him. Thank you all for your replies. Here's a pic of Dali enjoying his new view:

Hello everyone! A little update: We moved this weekend from a house to an apartment and I was worried Dali would pluck. He didn't! He seems to be enjoying his new, higher view outside. So, it seems that he's doing great now! Thanks for all the replies!

Thanks for the replies! I did not have him clipped, he was clipped before he came home with my mom. I am definitely having his wings grown out again. Fortunately, he doesn't have any bald spots, just no tail I do bathe him with aloe vera. The lonely tail feather he left is still there and he doesn't seem to pick at it much. I just wanted to hear your opinions about this because you guys have a lot more experience! He's definitely back to himself today....talking my ear off...lol

Hello! So Dali's feather issues continue. When we first got him, he shredded his secondary feathers out of stress and also because of a horrendous wing clip (he came like this, it wasn't my doing). He took a long time to molt and finally had 3 flight feathers come in. 1 fell out and the other he plucked because it was tender (he screamed when I touched it). His last flight feather looked like a blood feather and he injured it when he was playing in his cage (I saw it stick out in an odd manner). He fixed it and I thought nothing of it. Yesterday, I stepped out for a bit and came home to an almost tailless fid. The blood feather was out, there was a small amount of blood splattered in the cage, and he plucked all his tail feathers (both old and new) except for one. When I took him out of the cage, he was his normal happy self, he let me pet him and I noticed some blood under his wing. I took a closer look and it was just over his feathers and from the blood feather that he pulled. He's acting normal and eating normal. I bathed him today and he was happy, opened his wings for me to get the inside wet. Could it be that he plucked his tail feathers out due to frustration and pain from the blood feather?

First, I would like to thank all of you for your support and information. I have been overprotective of my Dali because of the death of my first grey, Beezer. Dali's beak has fully recovered. And I have some great news, he's finally molting his large feathers! He got 2 'big boy' feathers in his tail first and then his wings. He has grown in some new secondary flight feathers and 3 primaries! I know it will be a long time before he will be able to fly, but progress is always good! Us grey people get excited over the simplest things! :rolleyes:

The plight of wild greys: http://www.bonoboincongo.com/2013/09/26/watching-congos-grey-parrots-perish/#more-3007

Maybe it coincides with the fruit season from the oil palm?...

Dan, you would think that there would be more information on greys. They are one of the most common parrots kept as pets and yet research on their captive habitat is very limited. I really think this has to do with people not knowing about their high intelligence and social interactions. There are still people recommending a seed diet! Ugh. Even wild greys are not researched enough. Their numbers are plummeting in the wild and they are close to being classified as endangered. Unfortunately, very little is known about their life and habitat. Dave, what I was told by my avian vet and what I found from my research is that the pineal gland controls a grey's molt (and breeding). The pineal gland responds to changes in daylight hours and by increasing the amount of hours slowly, it would help trigger his normal molt. We are trying to achieve a cyclic change seen throughout the year in the amount of daylight hours. A grey's pineal gland is on a circadian clock, which is heavily influenced by daylight hours. In vitro studies also show that avian pineal glands respond to temperature and magnetic fields, maybe there's a connection between those two and the pineal gland's control of migration in migratory birds. The Hardarian gland found in their eyes is what senses the amount of daylight and this is then sent to the pineal gland. Probably having full spectrum on during your location's daylight hours is a good idea to assist the bird's circadian clock. In nature, the intensity of sunlight varies with the sun's position, this is why I was suggesting a lighting system that mimics the changes of UVA/UVB availability. I have not found any studies that focus on the pineal gland and UVA/UVB changes. Anyways, I know not all his feathers will be molted and it will take close to 2 years for him to have all his feathers and be fully flighted. I have spoken to local grey owners and those that have their birds outside have to clip their wings almost twice a year because of how quickly they molt out. I am guessing this is due to their exposure to our wet and dry season and changes in daylight hours. Also, wild parrots don't need to stay in direct sunlight very long. Humans only need about 20-30 minutes in direct sunlight to produce enough vitamin D, I am guessing it should be less for parrots. I imagine that Dr. Stanford's recommendation of 2.4% UVB for greys must come from the average that wild greys get. Like I said before, I am not an expert in this and I am just sharing current information that I found. We are still finding out new information about greys. We are constantly trying to do what is best for them. Opinions will always differ, just look at how opinions have changed about pellet food and clipped wings. Some of us are still having the debate about raw foods, whole foods, and pellets...while others are still debating clipped vs not clipped. At the end, all we can do is take in the information that we have and make a decision that we think will benefit our greys. The problem with the information out there is that most of it is not species specific. This is a huge problem because, for example, macaws and greys have very different needs. For example, hypocalcemia is more common in greys than in macaws. A recent study showed that increasing UVB lighting for greys helps with both vitamin D and calcium levels. Scientists are still not sure why hypocalcemia is more common in greys but more studies are planned. Interestingly, there is an inverse relationship between melatonin levels (released by pineal gland) and calcium but I am trying to find more information and studies. While continuing my research, I found another study by Dr. Stanford and he points out the greys' breeding season actually differs depending on where they are located. West African greys breed November-April, East African greys breed June-July, and those in Zaire July-December....interesting. I also found how adequate protein levels (amino acids) are essential for healthy feathers and molting. Melatonin is synthesized from tryptophan, an amino acid. Anyways, just wanted to share the information that I found.

Actually, from my readings on wild greys, it's a combination of both. In the wild, breeding season and molting usually starts at dry season, which runs June-November and coincides with the lower hours of sunlight but more hours of daylight because of less rain. Changes in both sunlight and daylight affect the hormone cycle in greys, specifically the pineal gland, which control molting and breeding. This has to do with wavelength changes in the light and time length of light. Equatorial birds are also very sensitive to daylight/sunlight changes, even 30 minutes is enough for their system to see a change. Now, this is just for molting and breeding but not vitamin D synthesis. Vitamin D synthesis occurs mostly from UVB rays and daily full spectrum lighting helps greys avoid low vitamin D, which can lead to hypocalcemia (seen too often in greys). Full spectrum lighting at 12 hours a day takes care of the UVB and vitamin D but it does nothing for the natural changes of light length that triggers hormones (melatonin) that control molting and breeding. Weather does play a part in this, too. I am lucky enough to live in a tropical location and take him out during wet season to get rained on (he loves it). I was just missing the changing cycles of light length to stimulate his molting. All this information I got online from scientists that study wild greys and avian vets. I also had a very long chat with a local avian vet about this. BUT, like everything else in science, nothing is 100%...a study may come out challenging all our current opinions on this matter.

Hello everyone! I have been doing some research about CAGs, their native habitat, and full spectrum lighting. As most of you know, Dali came clipped and his molt has been very slow. His clip was bad and he does not glide, he drops like a rock (he chipped his beak). I want him to be flighted and am patiently waiting for his new feathers. The vet recommended full spectrum lighting with increasing hours to stimulate his molt. I want to share the information that I found but please know that I am not an expert in this subject and please do your own research before changing your greys' lighting. First, let's start by the differences between daylight and sunlight. Daylight is all light, both direct and indirect, that we have daily. This is usually from sunrise to sunset. Sunlight is direct sun, when UV light is the highest, this includes infrared light, visible light, and UV light. This is usually around the hours before and after noon. As a nutrition practitioner, this rang a bell. The best times for us to get UVB to produce vitamin D is between the hours of 11am-3pm. Now, our greys come from areas in Africa right by the equator. My research found that the Congo gets 12 hours and 6-7 minutes of daylight daily and only varies 1 minute during different months. How do their bodies know about seasonal changes? I think this has to do with sunlight and maybe weather. Here are the number of hours and minutes the Congo gets of sunlight, divided into months: Jan: 05:19 Feb: 05:38 Mar: 06:01 Apr: 05:52 May: 05:56 June: 05:15 July: 04:03 Aug: 04:17 Sep: 04:11 Oct: 05:11 Nov: 04:44 Dec: 06:00 The difference of sunlight during the months must be what stimulates molting and other behaviors. Maybe this is what we should aim for, not just 12 hours of full spectrum lighting. What we have to watch for is the % of UV lighting per watts. Sunlight at zenith (the sun right above us) consists of 44% visible light, 3-5% UV, and 53% infrared (I got this info on wikipedia and the sources checked out). These diminish the moment the sun moves out of zenith. According to Dr. Michael Stanford (vet from UK with extensive research on UVB, vitamin D and calcium for greys), a bulb that provides 2.4% UVB is recommended for greys. I couldn't find any information about UVA and greys but, in general, it is recommended that parrots get 12% UVA. By using our greys' native habitat sunlight hours, we can try to imitate the sun and seasons. A very simple way of doing this is to have 12 hours of full spectrum during the longer months of sunlight, and diminish them by 1-2 hours for the months with less sunlight hours. The more complicated way is to have various bulbs (varying UVA and UVB %s) and have them turn on at different times, imitating sunrise to sunset (similar to a reef tank). I recently bought the FeatherBrite bulb for Dali and realized that it only has 4% UVA and 0.05%UVB, ugh. I will start out how my avian vet recommended and increase the amount of light in 30 minute increments weekly. She recommended to start at 8 hours and work my way up to 12. Eventually, I would like to have a multi-bulb system.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the replies! This morning Dali was eating a little of the vegetable mash I gave him and his bird bread He removed the hanging tip of the beak on his own. The vet said the fracture was not too deep and did not affect the rest of his beak. They sedated him and filed the tip down until they found the fracture, cleaned it, plugged it with surgical glue, gave him a pain/anti-inflammatory shot, and he was all set. He's on pain meds for 5 days. He's doing great tonight! He even asked for his pellets and he was eating them without any problems. Unfortunately for him, no more high stands until his flight feather are molted...sticking to low stools with a low stand lol...he's not happy. The vet advised me on how to stimulate his feathers by using full spectrum lighting and slowly increasing the duration of daylight. I hope it works! Thanks again for all the replies, you guys are the best!

My CAG chipped the tip of his top beak when he fell off his perch (I can't wait for him to be flighted). There is visible blood (it's dry now) from the opening but no blood dripping, just looks like a small open wound with dried blood. He is very sensitive and won't eat or drink water. This happened around 3:45 PM. I called my avian vet and I have an appointment tomorrow. He said to feed him soft foods and not to worry. I am worried sick! I made him vegetable mash and soft bird bread but he won't eat. It seems so painful to him. He won't drink water either. The tip is partially attached and he tries to rub it off but stops because of the pain. He is still pooping normal. He seems to be resting more than usual. Should I be worried? He has an appointment tomorrow but hasn't had water or eaten anything since the incident. Thanks in advance!

I had the same issue with my CAG. I live in Miami and none of the vets did imping here. If you contact Parrot University they can find the feathers for you. I found a raptor rehab biologist and she was going to do it but Dali started his molt and we decided to let nature take its course.

I haven't posted in a while...hectic life!...but I just wanted to post some important information for those that feed pellets. Just like your food, always read labels! I was shocked to find that some of my pellets (Haggins In Tune) have cane sugar in it...SUGAR!!! Why the heck would anyone want to give a CAG sugar!?! Please read ingredients!