Seuss, Plucking or stress from enviroment?

[Sarconastic]

I just got Seuss a few days ago, and everything is great, She's my best friend already. and her mood has been improving everyday.

 

What concerns me is her feathers on her chest, legs and under her wings are all pretty much gone. When i went to pick her up she looked pretty rough. She had not been out of her cage for 5 years, had no toys to speak of, so i assumed boredom was a big cause of her plucking her feathers. I figured she would stop once she was here and receiving more attention etc.

 

I have read all the threads about the Aloe Juice and will be getting that really soon. Most of her areas seem to already have other feathers coming in, but a few it looks like she may have gotten the whole follicle out, and left a tiny scab in its place. Under her wings, along the front edge seems to be the most picked at, though not bloody.

 

She also scratches behind her head a lot and so has those feathers roughed up pretty good. I have read about poor nutrition being another cause of this and the random orange feathers on her neck. They had her on a seed/pellet mix they got from wally world. and black sunflower seeds in the treat dish. and some veggies occasionally.

 

Any advice here would be appreciated, like how long till maybe she stops, if at all, or if this is just a molt? not really sure when those happen.

 

Thanks

 

Kevin

[Barbara2]

I know one thing that helps is "sunshine". Since it's not possible to bring the actual sun in, I got an avian lamp from Drs Foster & Smith. I turn that on the cage or area where my bird is 4 hours a day. My little Senegal was plucking quite a bit. The sunlamp seems to be helping. It might just be coincidence and he may have just been in a bad molt but I know it is good for them so I think it might be making a difference.

[AliAZ77]

Any thoughts on changing her diet? A couple of natural supplements we have used...Red Palm Oil and Booster as a treat can be good for just overall health. Both are made by Heal-X. Just a thought.

[judygram]

The poor dear, no wonder she plucked her feathers but a good diet is essential to feather health and if she has any dry skin problems the aloe vera juice should help with that. She probably does have some places where the follicles were destroyed and those areas will not support new feather growth but from the picture you shared she looks like she should feather out enough to cover her bare skin. It will take time but some greys do it and it turns into a habit that is almost impossible to stop but try all ideas and suggestions to see if any will work for her. You just got her so maybe just the fact that now she is able to come out of her cage and spend some time with the new members of her flock she will not pluck any longer but time will tell.

[Sarconastic]

I picked up the Aloe Juice tonight and just got done misting her down. She's mad at me now, but I am hoping it helps. I would guess baths haven't been a part of her life before. so there another thing I will have to introduce her to it.

 

I am int he process of changing her diet from the all seed that she was eating. i have been slowly substituting pellets for the seed. and giving fruits and veggies too. I need to look up the portions that I should give her. Like the amount of fresh food to seed/pellet mix and qtys. Do I leave pellets in the dish at all times and just supplement in the morning and evening with fresh? It all takes time. so i am doing this in moderation right now.

 

THanks everyone for your great comments btw, it is very much appreciated.

 

Kevin

[AliAZ77]

Hi Kevin- Sounds like you are on the right track. Greys will graze all day if you let them, so I would suggest only feeding in the morning and afternoon and not leaving pellets for the entire day. Just keep moving in the direction of pellets and keep an eye on Seuss' weight. We do fruits and veggies in the mornings, and occasionally a warm treat near bedtime with pellets. It takes time, and greys can be very stubborn about diet. Our Linus has liver issues and, when trying to switch him to a low-fat pelleted diet, would rather starve than eat it! So, I can't emphasize enough the importance of monitoring weight during the transition. A little scale is a great investment.

[Sherrie]

Kevin, I agree that your'e on the right track with everything. It could be several things going on with her like lack of sunshine, improper nutrition,lack of stimulation(boredom) lack of bathing/misting....etc I do not know if when they get in the habit of plucking their feathers if they will "grow"out of it Im sure some one else can answer that for you. I have no experience with that issue.

 

One thing I would reccommend tho is maybe just a well check from a vet just to rule out any skin disorders ie..mites,ringworm..etc and to put your own mind at ease-- Good luck but I think you are doing really great for this little girl and she is going to be so much happier in just a short amount of time--

 

Going a little off topic here........

I wonder tho-- with a grey's (or any bird for that matter) intelligence, does anyone think that they can remember their past lives when they go to live with some one else-- the reason I asked this is when I rescued Robyn(my mccaw) like Kevins' Seuss, he had been in similar living conditions and shortly after getting Robyn (less than 6 mos) when the old owner came over to see Robyn, He immed stopped what he was doing, litteraly RAN over to his previous owner and commenced to pretty much running him out of the house.. I mean He HATED this guy and wanted nothing but blood from this guy.. I had never seen him do that with anyone else just him and this happened everytime the prev owner had come over! 1year later he did the same thing and the last time the prev owner came over Robyn had not seen him in prob 5 years but same exact thing- Robbie just stopped what he was doing, and immed went right towards him and wanted blood!!! just curious if they have the ability to retain those memories...I am sorry Kevin for getting off topic on your post but I get these little brain farts and have to write or I'll forget my train of thought sometimes!! please forgive me

[Val27]

What about the red feathers growing on Suess's neck? Is that normal? I had read that it could be a liver problem. Hopefully his new environment and diet will fix him up. Not to mention the love he is now getting. Just curious.

[Sarconastic]

Sherrie, no problem with the ramblins, we do it all the time too. In our house if someone catches you wandering off on your train of thought we yell "SQUIRREL", from the movie UP. It's Hilarious. I don't really think that Seuss has ever been mistreated in an intentional sort of way, I feel it more uneducated neglect more than anything. Though I sometimes wonder. I have noticed when I leave for the day to work. even if someone else in here all day she is rather standoffish for a little while and won';t come out of her cage for me after I get home. I leave the door open for a while and she will wander out in her time. Then she wants me the rest of the night. Funny critter.

 

Val - I read about the red feathers too, and was sort of wondering about them as well. I also have read about birds that have them like that from birth. So I don't know which it is. I am working on her nutrition first, to help eliminate that. She doesn't show any signs of illness at all. and she is better everyday on her interaction level with me and the family.

 

We live 80 miles from the nearest avian vet, si it will be difficult to get her to one of them, unless absolutely necessary. Then I have to find out if they take our PET Medical Credit card. You know its bad when you have a credit card specifically for your animal vet bills. Our Personal vet for our other animals doesn't handle what "they" call pocket pets. Birds, hamster etc. When they told me that, I said, I'll bring Seuss in, and watch you put her in your pocket.That would be fun :-) whoops SQUIRREL!!!!!!! But they are AMAZING with all our other animals.T

 

Ali, i will look into the scale. I had a digital one down stairs I use for weighing my freight shipments, but it won't read low enough.

 

Barbara I think where she is at in our house she will receive plenty of sunlight, and our windows right now are old enough that they weren't built with UV glass. BTW: fro thaose that don't know. you can look down in the corner of most glass windows and see if they have a UV coating. On some new ones it is stamped on the separator piece between the panes of glass, if they use a gas UV inhibitor. But there is light morning and night in the room. The lady we got her from said she put her out on their closed in porch during the summer months to get some fresh air and sunshine. I was planning on selling the cage she is in now once we get her new bigger one, but I think I will keep it and use it as an outdoor cage for her to be outside with us in the summer. We practically live on our deck in good weather.

 

Kevin

[Morana]

Hi Kevin!

Just wanted to say...IMO it is kinda not very probable that previous owners got her to avian vet, for her yearly checkups. In other words, do you know if they ever took her to the avian vet? IMO it would be wise to take her to the avian vet (although you are far from one) for a thorough check up to rule out all sorts of problems which you may not even be aware of, not to mention, problems that may, in any way, influence you or someone else in your household. Just to be on the safe side and to protect all your loved ones:-) And then, all what had already been said: bathing, spraying with Aloe juice, sunlight, good nutrition, maybe some vitamin supplements (I was recommended Nekton S), red palm oil, learn her how to play with toys, foraging and very important-bird scale! It can be regular scale with a home made t-perch but (in my country we say) it must be in grams (I hope you understand what I am trying to say).

 

And Sherrie, about that question whether they remember their past. I really think they do, but check out this awesome link that someone else already put on the forum, but I'm not sure anymore where it is so here it goes again: http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=798

[Val27]

Keeping the cage for on the deck is a great idea. My birds LOVE to come out w/ us. If I don't bring them out when the weather is nice they get mad since I spend alot of time in my butterfly garden. Your bird will love that! About the red feathers, I'm glad it can happen from birth too. I guess they could have birthmarks as well. You never know what you read. I have heard alot of different opinions/facts from people. So glad your Suess is doing great!