Grey Issues..

[jewels2112]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums but so happy to have found you!

We have a one year old CAG named Katie and a one year old sun conure named Skittles. We got them around the same time (the conure was a rescue) but they don't have much contact except having cages in the same room. Katie eats well and seems to be pretty happy. She is starting to make noises that could possible be called words and loves to wolf whistle (wanted to kill my hubby for teaching her that!) and make other noises. Our problem is that all of a sudden she is damaging her feathers. Her chest has no feathers anymore, just down. Occasionally she will damage some of her back feathers but she hasn't pulled any out. I've found that wetting her down has helped some so she is getting quite a few baths these days, but I would like to find a better solution. She doesn't appear to be nervous or anything, just bored, yet she really doesn't seem to play with many of her toys, even when we switch them out. Does anyone have any cheap suggestions for things she can chew or other ways to keep her busy when we can't play with her?

Our next problem..we're not sure how often we should be playing one on one with her? The only thing she ever seems to want to do is fly to my shoulder, which I know not to let her do. If I put her on a table she will constantly try to get to my arm to climb up and won't do anything else. I'm not sure how to get her to enjoy interacting in other ways.

Last, but not least, I know that she was fully flighted before we got her and the breeder slowly started clipping back her wings until she could no longer fly but shouldn't she have grown new flight feathers in by now? She shows no signs of that at all and she will drop like a stone if she ever attempts to fly. How often do they typically molt and/or grow new flight feathers? Should we be concerned? She hasn't been to the vet for about 6 months but should I bring her back in?

Thanks in advance for your advice! I look forward to getting to know all of you in the near future!

Jo

[danmcq]

Hi Jewels and welcome to the Forum! :-)

 

You are out of my experience level, my CAG is only 11 Weeks old and still at the Breeders where I visit regularly.

 

The are many members here with several years of experience that will give you some very good answers shortly.

[judygram]

Hello Jo, and welcome to the forum and our family.

Has anything changed in your household lately about the time she started plucking? Sometimes something different will cause them to pluck. How long have you had her now? I need some answers so I can try to help you.

As far as playing with her, I spend about 30 a day with one on one time with mine, and she is a year old too. The rest of the time out of the cage is spent on a playstand or sometimes I have her on my shoulder.

It sounds like the breeder may have cut too many wing feathers or too short, she should not drop like a rock when she attempts to fly. They won't grow back in until she goes thru the next molt.

Last but not least, if it has been 6 months since she has seen a vet, since she is plucking, a visit may be in order to see if there is a physical reason for the plucking.

I'm glad you decided to join our family and hope we can help you with your problem. Some of the other members may have additional information I have not mentioned here.