Any advice ?!?!

[babybeaky]

hello everyone, my name is marshal. i recently got an african grey congo as a birthday present ) lucky me ya? anyways she has been with me since aug 3 09. she is very friendly , loves going to new places (weird for a congo?).

 

she has been really dry lately, and when she is cleaning herself i can see dust particles fly. i got a humidifier (thanks to daves post). she has gotten much better but she is still itchy all the time, anyone know why? when i take her out of her cage she quickly climbs on top of it and starts rubbing her beak against the metal .. why does she do that??

 

can someone tell me which humidifier is good?? i have a warm mist one as of now. and is it ok to leave it on during the night and turn it off during the day. i keep it at 45-50% humidity.

[Dave007]

More than likely, your bird has dry skin which is common for all greys. They need bathing, misting or showering in order to get as much of the skin as wet as possible. The feathers aren't itchy, the skin is. As far as dust particles, a grey has the second most dander that's produced. The #1 honors go to the cockatoo. What you see isn't dust. It's dander and bathing and misting needs to be done with water on a constant basis (1 or 2 times a week). The secret is getting the skin wet, not just the feathers. A grey's feathers are waterproof. The skin isn't. There's an item that you can purchase from Walmart called Aloe Vera Juice which can be sprayed on a wet bird and it will make the skin softer and not as dry. Above is SEARCH FORUM. Type the words in or look for my article on the juice. As of now, it's moisture that your bird's skin needs.

The humidifier can be run on a slow to medium speed at 50 to 70 % humidity all the time or just during the whole day. The speed will have to do with the size of the room. The daytime is where humidity is most important. What else will judge the amount of time you use the machine has to do with the size of the machine. Some are 1 gal,3 gals, 5 gals etc. If you have lousy water use distilled water or spring water. Calcium in lousy water will mess up the machine and will make the filters much dirtier much faster and filters are expensive.