paleale

I'm already feeling guilty for the transition my (almost 3 year old) CAG is about to undergo. My husband and I are separating. I plan to move her in with me at my mother's and stay through the end of December/beginning of January. We will then be moving again to an apartment. I'm nervous about how she will react. Not only will I be relocating her, but taking her from my husband. Although she will not let him touch her, she does mimic his voice and they have a lot of interaction with each other. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can most easily make this transition with her? Thank you for your words of wisdom, guys!

My husband and I are separating. Our CAG mimics him, but "cuddles" with me. Has anyone been through this? I know it will be hard on all of us. Anything I can do to prepare her? We'll be moving into an apartment.

Spare perch worked! Thanks again!

Thank you! DUH! I didn't even think about having her step up onto a spare perch! What a little stinker she is. I think she knows that if she gets put back in her cage Grandma has to leave.

My mother in law has contacted me via text while I'm at work (almost an hour away from home). She went over to my house to visit Pearl and let her out of her cage. She has to leave now and Pearl is refusing to go back in. She's already tried almonds and wrapping up fun treats and placing in the cage. I really wish she wouldn't have gotten her out! :confused: My mother in law will stay with her until she climbs into her cage or until I get home, but she needs to leave sooner if possible. Any suggestions?

I find it funny that Pearl rarely lets my husband give her head scratches, yet... She's recently started talking and has HIS deep voice! I think it's hilarious and my husband loves it. Everything he says, she wants to say too. They even stretch and yawn together. Adorable! Just thought I would share!

No bleeding yet! I'll leave it alone. Thank you.

Should I just pull it?

Hi Michelle! I have been diffusing oils for about 2 months. These have had no ill effect on Pearl whatsoever. They've been an amazing asset to our family and Pearl has stopped plucking completely! Also, the Lemon oil and Thieves blend from Young Living is what I dilute and use to clean her cage- sparkly clean and smells awesome! Our avian vet is okay with it, but I guess all of them feel differently. There are only certain essential oil companies I would trust and Young Living is one of them. Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks everyone. I did pull the feather. It was dangling and she kept tucking it back into her wing. Every time she messed with it the bleeding started again. I held her close and securely and yanked it out. She squeaked and it was over. I brought her to the vet yesterday and she's all good! She wasn't even mad at me- I'm sure she knew I was trying to help.

Spoke with the breeder who suggests pulling it. I'm worried (and so is the breeder) that she will mess with the feather over night or tomorrow while I'm away at work and cause more bleeding...

Hello everyone, Pearl flew off her cage door onto the floor and must've landed weird. I had her step up and noticed some blood on my finger. At first I thought it was her foot, but after further examination found that it was her wing. One of the larger feathers right around the outside seems to have sort of been bent backwards. I called the vet and used cornstarch to help stop the bleeding. She's cheerful and whistling away, but I'm worried that feather (it's tucked into her wing) is going to pop out from the wing again and start bleeding. I've attached the best pictures I can get. Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you!

I'm sure others on the board have experienced some sort of tragedy in their life with a Grey... My mother-in-law's house burned to the ground in October. Our niece and nephew lived there and our 7 year old nephew passed away in the fire. Our niece stayed with us for about a month while my mother-in-law recuperated at my mother's from a heal fracture she suffered jumping from a second story window to escape. Once our niece moved back in with her parents, my mother-in-law was on two feet and able to navigate our front steps. Now she is living with us while her home is rebuilt. Pearl has been a little trooper. We had loads of people dropping by immediately after along with Thanksgiving (25 people), and family moving in and out. It's been stressful for everyone, and I'm sure, especially our Pearl. Any tips as to how to keep her comfortable would be greatly appreciated.

She eats most of it. The crumbles from the bigger pellets are still in the bowl and she had veggies earlier today... Thanks Judy. She probably does it for attention. We've had a very tough time in the past couple months and I will admit our one on one time is not what it used to be.

Pearl has made this noise the last couple of nights after eating. She's done it before, but not nights in a row. I'm worried about her.

Bad news... she's plucking. Good news... there's nothing medically wrong with her. The vet says her skin looks great and she hasn't damaged it... only her feathers. I was worried about a completely bald strip I saw right down the middle of her chest and was relieved when the vet told me they all have this along their keel bone. She still has her fluffy little belly, but not a lot of her gorgeous grey feathers left on her tummy. We ran down a list of things that could've caused this, but have not come up with anything yet. The vet gave me Metacam for her (.26cc once a day for 10 days) and tons of reading material. He also recommended a behavior class that has to be scheduled in advance as it runs about an hour long. It would just be our family and the vet. We discuss behavior modifications and try to get to the root of the problem. Dr. Kersting also gave me some great information and showed me some examples of foraging to keep her busy enough not to think about plucking. I just hope we can help her to stop. Thanks for the support and advice, guys- have your fids send Pearl some "no plucking" vibes.

OH this is just adorable!!! I love when Pearl makes that noise! "I love you, I love you, pet me moreeeeee!"

Thank you so much for asking! I should've let you guys know, I had to change her appointment. We're going Saturday morning and I'll update everyone then. I do think, now, that she's plucking. I've really soaked her down (she gets a good spray every day, but I really got her dripping the other day) and she's got a strip along her belly that's basically bald. My poor sweet baby girl. Don't know what could've caused this. I guess the vet will have more insight...

My poor little lady. We'll see the vet Wed. evening. I'll let you guys know what she says. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

A few days ago I posted a video of Pearl for a couple of reasons- one of which is "fluffy belly". Not sure if this is the beginning of what a plucked belly looks like, if she's molting, losing more baby fluff, etc. Greywings made a good point in that I had pictures to compare to. Three days later I see more white on her belly. I'm not really sure what's going on with her... It's not what I pictured plucking to look like, although this just might be the beginning stages. I always envision a bald spot of pink birdy skin. I'm not fussing over her chest- in fact I'm completely ignoring the area. She's gotten a good spray down with aloe vera juice for the last few days. I chose to post these so others can compare if they're questioning like I am. Pictures are worth a thousand words. What do you guys think? From 3 days ago (cute little banana beak!): Yesterday: Today:

She has an avian light on throughout the day as well as two windows and we take her outside in her travel cage almost daily. I do think she's getting enough light.

That is banana dripping from her beak. Lol Her favorite treat! Thank you for replying so fast... I was thinking she had food stuck or something!

I only remember this noise from when she was very small after eating formula. Is she just really full? Also, her belly just started looking like this- with the fluff showing. Is she molting? I have found many small grey feathers on the floor and inside the bottom of her cage. :confused: Thanks guys! Edited: UGH- Soooo sorry for the baby talk!

Helloooooooooooooooooo!

Tuesday we inherited a Bearded Dragon from a close family friend. Wednesday I noticed he had a couple tiny bugs crawling on him and the substrate in his aquarium. After some research online, I'm pretty sure they're mites. We, of course, were not informed of this by the previous owners. Most of his care came from a 13-year-old boy who gave him up because he didn't have time for him anymore- I doubt he even noticed the bugs. My concern now is Pearl and our dog, Dozer. Pearl and the Bearded Dragon, Zeus, are not in the same room, nor have they come in contact with each other at all except for me showing Pearl his aquarium (she could've cared less... ). Does anyone have experience with reptiles and birds in the same home? More specifically the mite issue? We're giving Zeus a Betadine bath this weekend and totally disinfecting his aquarium and replacing his substrate and "toys". I anticipate they will be long gone very soon, but I hope there is no chance of Pearl contracting the nasty little things. Thanks as always! Alexandra