Worried about my, Tui.

[Cheshire Cat]

The dreaded plucking began on Wednesday! I came home from going out and noticed a hell of a lot of feathers across Tui's cage. When I inspected her she'd plucked that much above her tail that she'd made herself bleed.

 

I took her to the vet on the Thursday and they basically told me they're not specialists with birds so have recommended another vet to me and I'm seeing them on Monday as they couldn't fit me in this week. All I've been doing is worrying about my Tui. She's only about 6 months and is already plucking. She now started on her chest and yesterday I could have sat and cried at her when I held her on my hand.

 

The vet I've already seen gave her some anti bacterial wash which I put on her twice daily to stop infections flaring up. Thankfully *fingers crossed* she's calmed down a little today, but still has a few patches which are quite red.

 

I feel like I've done something wrong and failed her. All me and my fiancee have done is be there for her, love her and do everything in our power to make her happy, and now this has started. It's worse because she's so young. Could it be because of her molt and she's itchy? The vet said it *may* be behavioural, but at this age? And the plucking began so suddenly. It's not as though it's started and continued on for weeks. Her behaviour (apart from the plucking) is fine; she's eating and drinking, although she does seem a bit more clingy. This morning me and my fiancee had her in bed between us and she was purring as he stroked her. That's one thing which is different in her and she's more clingy.

 

On Thursday afternoon I had her out in the living room while I was on the laptop and had her perch across the room from me. Every now and again she'd fly over and land on my head which is very unusual. Could the plucking be in some way related to her attachment to me and my fiancee? She has also started making a strange purring/gurgling noise when we are affectionate to her. Obviously she's enjoying this, but the noise only started today.

 

I really am walking along blind at the moment as I just don't know what's causing this and it's worrying me so badly. On Wednesday night I was terrified to go to bed in case I woke up and she'd ripped her whole tail out. :( Every morning I hate waking up to see what I'll find.

 

I've also written up a little schedule of when to wash her. I'm going to spray her twice a day and then apply some of the anti bacterial wash and shower her fully twice a week on Tuesday and Friday. We've (me and my fiancee) even tried to work out exact times to get her out and play with her to try and keep her to a proper schedule.

 

She is also still preening herself. She's been doing this a fair bit the last few days and most times I turn around she's preening her tail or wings, so she's very conscious of her feathers at the moment.

Edited July 31, 2010 by Cheshire Cat

[Birdnut]

Oh, dear. What a bummer! I think it's true that the sooner you address the problem, the better the chance of success. Sounds like you're doing everything you can. And I really doubt that you've done anything "wrong."

 

Do let us know what the bird specialist has to offer on Monday.

[ranaz]

I really feel with you. A grey is like a baby and once something goes wrong, we cannot but feel guilty. I hope you get down to the root of the problem and be able to solve it.

Just think, did anything change in the last few days before this plucking started? her cage, something in the room is new, an airfreshener you are using, a plant in the room, some food causing her discomfort, a new toy???

Any change in her surrounding might be the cause, even something simple. I hope you find out soon.

Post some photos please

Thank you and keep us posted on Tui's condition

[judygram]

I know this is really frustrating for you and it is unusual for a 6 month old grey to start plucking itself but something is just not right and I think when you figure it out then Tui will be ok. You are doing the right thing in taking her to a vet who specializes in birds and hopefully he/she will be able to help you with her. I know you are devastated by her plucking but please try to ignore it for she might just continue to do it for the reaction she is getting from you. Please do keep us informed.

[danmcq]

The others have given good responses. There are just so many things it could be.

 

It's great that you have an appointment scheduled with an avian vet that will do tests and know what to look for. As Ranaz said, please check for any recent changes in your Greys living area, including perhaps anything new you placed close to it or even in it like a new toy. IT could be allergy related to some food items like nuts, an illness etc.

 

The vet will certainly be able to help immensely.

 

Please update this thread when you have some news.

[Cheshire Cat]

The only thing which changed for her was that me and my fiancee brought her some new toys. One of which she destroyed (Lol!) and the second one we've taken out of the cage. I hope I'm not speaking too soon but she does seem to have stopped plucking and only preens herself. I'm sure Monday which bring us the answers we need.

[shanlung]

If there are no underlying medical reasons for the plucking, and your Tui is given lots of emotional and lifestyle caring, it might be with the diet.

 

I have so many people writing to me that ever since they changed to Tinkerbell Mash that their birdie stopped their plucking.

 

See how Tink Mash is made, and perhaps you might like to change too.

 

Morning with Harry & the decision// Sultan of Oman Palace// Tinkerbell Mash Batch 7

 

http://shanlung.livejournal.com/109957.html

 

 

Warmest regards

 

Shanlung

山龍

 

http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9/

[Cheshire Cat]

Well, Tui has her appointment at 9am in the morning so I'm hoping we get answers then. Thank you to everyone for your help and I'll definitely keep you posted on her progress.

[KimKim]

Hi, did you find anything out from the vet?

[tarm]

Star to break it down. Make yourself a list.

 

You said you had just given her a few new toys. Maybe an allergic reaction to the dyes or a unknown to you used chemical on it. You said you took the other one away and now she seems to have stopped. So this comes to mind.

 

Do you give her showers daily? How about a spray bottle with a aloe/ distilled (important) water mixture to sprays her with every day. That is very soothing and has great healing properties. Aloe plants is something everyone should have growing on in their windows IMO. As all the gel or juice you get in the store has much smaller amounts of the nutrients it did when fresh cut. There is a great step by step of how to slowly get them use to showering I can dig up if you need it.

 

How about diet?

 

What is her normal food?

 

Thing with food allergies is they can just start for no good reason.

 

How about any fresh veggies? Is it possible she got some that was not organic or might have had chemicals on it that did not get washed off?

 

Did she get into any of your people food that might have bothered her?

 

BTW Is it confirmed She is indeed a "SHE" While she is young for breeding behavior who knows? You said she was acting a bit strange.

 

 

Plucking till she bleeds especially at only 6 months makes me think its something physical not emotional. Why I think a very close inspection of things that could have caused a skin issue of some sort.

 

Please over of the much more experienced members correct me but would not regular soaking showers with aloe spray after wards be a very good idea?

 

One thing though do not let this issue turn into something even worse. So as hard as it is do not let her see you or have your actions or voice show any kind of fixation on her plucking, the feathers etc.. Last thing you want to have happen is have her make a connection of any kind to the plucking and your behavior. Maybe use redirection to something positive if you see her going to it.

 

Hopefully it was something (chemical, allergy, etc) with the toy and things may get back to normal. You did say she was acting better since their removal.

 

 

Good Luck!!!

 

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

Edited August 4, 2010 by tarm

[Cheshire Cat]

Right, here's a rundown of everything which has happened concerning Tui.

 

Firstly, we took her to the vets on Monday. Personally I didn't like the man and could have throttled him when he grabbed her and she began screaming the place down. Nearly made me cry. He sat with me and my fiancee for about an hour going through everything with us as in her history and what we do with her day to day. He can't pinpoint an exact problem but gave us some special vitamin supplements to give with her food and gave us a help sheet on plucking. It goes though the medical, environmental and psychological aspects of plucking. So far I've made sure she only eats fruit, veg and beans, sprouts, lentils, etc. I'm trying to wean her off sunflower seeds and peanuts; the vet said that she seems to have taken a liking to peanuts in particular (even I knew that. I've seen her with the things) and she won't eat anything else. Tui will actually throw her food out the dish and in the past has only eat peanuts and left everything else. This may be one problem.

 

The vet has also given me a pot to scoop her poo into to get tested for different diseases, although I don't think he was too worried about this being the case with Tui, but would prefer it be ruled out as a precaution. He also asked me about Tui's documentation when I brought her; well, it was actually my mom and dad who picked her up for me from the pet shop while I was at work. No documentation was ever given to them for Tui which the vet saw as unusual as most pet shops screen their birds for diseases.

 

So, onto phase two. I rang the pet shop today asking if their birds have any documentation. I'd assume they'd have records of Tui from her ring number (which is 212 JW) I spoke with the manager and she said the breeder who sells their birds to this shop does not have any documentation for the birds at all. But the lady on the phone was very kind and gave me lots of information including spray her with aloe vera as it could be her first molt and she's reacting badly to it. I'm spraying Tui every day and showered her today, but it scares her at the moment. She obviously knows something is up and doesn't like being sprayed/showered. I'm going out tomorrow to buy some aloe vera juice for her as I was a little worried about buying it because I wasn't sure which specific places sold the 100% juice. I didn't want to spray Tui with stuff that had anything else added. She also recommended lots of red fruit and vegetables and has said if I want to go and speak to her anytime I can. So I'm going down Saturday with my dad to speak with this lady. She owns a grey too who plucks so she gave me a lot of tips over the phone.

 

I'm personally swaying more to the idea now that Tui is going through her first molt. I've read up on it and I know it's uncomfortable for a lot of greys when they have their first molt. All I can do at the moment is try and get to this problem from every angle. Me and my fiancee have even been spending more time with her than usual, and thankfully at the moment, she seems to have slowed down on the plucking. I keep her cage bottom clean (cleaning it more than usual) so I can check for any new feathers which appear and obviously to keep her clean too.

 

As for what you said Tim about being a 'she', I've never received anything saying that Tui is male or female and the pet shop assistant even told my parents that it doesn't matter if you aren't breeding. I would like to know if 'she' is indeed male or female, but I can't very well call Tui 'it'. That's just an awful thing to do so I, at the moment, call Tui a she. I've been looking up for different ways to get her DNA tested as personally I felt what the vet was asking for was a ridiclulous price. At the moment I'm also out of work and haven't got all that much in my savings so I'm concentrating solely on her health first and the sexing will come later when she is no longer plucking.

 

One thing I did mean to ask, when putting aloe vera juice with water, is it half and half or five times more water? I was told five times more water by the lady I spoke to today, yet I was looking around and I saw somewhere that it's half and half.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Cheshire Cat

[Dave007]

Go to the Health Room. Look for 100% AloeVera Juice. There's a complete set of directions, amounts to use. But a quiock tip--use it undiluted.

[Cheshire Cat]

I've just been to your post and seen your directions on its use. I never realised you could use it undiluted on birds. Thank you for your help with it. I said to the lady I spoke to today, a lot is down to personal preference with owners. I've read different things concerning certain subjects with Greys. Each owner knows their bird better than anyone else.