luv4jjt Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hello all. I am not really new to the sight I have had my profile for a while but haven't been on for some time. My Timneh is doing great we love her so much. I have to say she is the perfect bird. She's friendly, healthy, she dont' scream.......and healthy as can be. But the other reason i came back on is to get some help with my new grey. Today we brought home a wonderfull congo named Harley. She is such a happy little girl and very friendly, But she is a plucker. poor thing is completly bauld on her chest and belly. How can i tell if her feathers will grow back (if we can figure out why she plucks) or if they are forever gone?:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranaz Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hi, I cannot help on this matter, as my knowledge is very limited, but just wanted to say be careful. Greys copy each others behaviors easily, so you dont want your healthy timneh to copy plucking from the new grey (Im not 100 % sure about this, but better be safe than sorry). I hope other expert members can benefit you more on this. For the time being, dont keep them in the same room of possible, until you get some expert members' feedback... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4jjt Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Thank you Ranza, I agree with you on copying. But for safty sake to my Timneh I do have Harley in my office for now till I have her checked by a vet. She came from a healthy looking home but i can't ignore the fact that she is a plucker so i want to have her checked for mights or lice. She seams really healthy and very friendly other then her plucking. Her previouse owner said that when she got her she was a plucker and that her owner before her said she started plucking after her mate died. I except her baldness and all but i am going to try to figugure out why she is. Maybe I can get her over it. If for notheing else just so i know she's healthy. I am going to the pet store in a little while. Is there any bird baths or vitamins that i should get or avoid that might help her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 To answer your question, if the follicles are still there then the feathers can regrow but if she has damaged them when plucking then they won't. Why don't you post a picture of her so we can see what you are talking about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranaz Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 It would be great if you can post a close up photo, so we can see her. Its very smart to keep her in another room, even if the vet confirmed that she is healthy, better to keep her in quarantine and to always wash your hands between your birds. As you might know, greys do not show symptoms of sickness, they hide it until they reach a point where they are so sick, they cant hide it anymore... so dont be tricked by the looks... going back to plucking issue, I hope you might be able to reverse this habbit, it will take a lot of patience, love and trust between you two. Her having moved homes frequently has sure added up to her stress, so hopefully your home is her home for many many years. Her feeling of security will surely help. I advise you also to keep her very busy with wooden and foraging toys. The busier she is, the less time she will find to pluck. Also the vet will be able to tell you if the plucking is behavioral or if there is any medical reason for it. Sometimes a certain defficiency will be the cause, so the avian vet is the right person to advise you on this. Again I remind you to keep her out of sight of your other grey Timneh, as you dont want her to start learning plucking from her. They tend to catch habits and learn from each other much faster than they can learn from fellow humans... For the bath, I know that you have to bathe her as frequently as she likes. The more moist her skin, the less irritated it is and hopefully this leads to less plucking. Aloe vera bathing spray has been recommended by many members. I havent tried it with Kookie, as he hates sprays, and enjoys his own bath bowl, but many members use & recommend it. Last I would ask you about her diet, what she eats, as this will make a great difference in her health. Hope she enjoys lots of freshies & pellets as I know this is the right food for them. I would not attempt to make huge change in her diet immediately though, just give her some time to get used to her new surroundings and to adjust to you. Again, the vet would give you the best advice and of course other members in our grey family... Looking forward for photos and more news... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Luria Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I can only speak from my experience. We had a Congo Grey age 10 that we were taking care of for a friend. We ended up keeping her. When she came to us I made sure she had a really healthy diet and in two weeks you could see her feathers growing back. I think she did not contiue plucking because she was in a new environment and had plenty to occupy her as well. Later when my husband and I split up the tension was high she did start to pluck again for a little while and stopped when she was moved and we separated. We always gave her carboard boxes and wood chuncks to chew on. She worked hard at this and that must have helped as well. Good luck, Casey Luria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4jjt Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 I will keep her seperated for a long while. She is staying in my office where i am all day. She is getting soooooo attached to my husdband though and that is so great. Our Timneh is bonded with me and tolerates him. I am sooo excited that he will probably end up with her bonded to him. They sat together watching tv tonight for 3 hours together while he scratched her head. It was sooo adorable. I am waiting for a response from her previos owner to find out what she was eating. I went out today and bought a bunch of toys and different foods and perches and stuff for her. I needed the perches in her cage right away but the toys i played with on the floor in front of her so when i put them in she seemed real good with it. She started playing with them almost emediatly. She definatly seems like an all around good bird. Just a feather plucker. I will try to get the pics for you to see. I can say she has some feather shafts but i dont think she has as many as she should to cover her chest. So ther prob is some perm loss but hopefully we can get what is left to grow back in. How about vitamins?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 If you feed your grey a well rounded variety of foods then vitamin supplements are not needed, be sure to take a look thru the bird food room for lots of ideas and what not to feed your bird as there are some things that are toxic to them. Just give her a variety of different foods and you will soon see what are her favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tODDski Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Congratulations and welcome luvjjt. Get some us some pics of all your birds. We look forward to a clean bill of health from your vet visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4jjt Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 I dont know if this will work. I downloaded it hopefully it works right when i hit reply. Here is her pic. She's bald but beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicle Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Aww she's gorgeous. Congratulations. I don't understand much about feather plucking, as I never experienced it in my birds, but I have the feeling (for what I see in the photo) that she damaged the follicles already, which means she won't grow her feather back. I might be wrong though. Your vet and people from here will help with that. But honestly she's precious even without the feather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Congrats on Harley. Hopefully the new and friendly environment will encourage Harley to no longer pluck. Fingers crossed for your new sweet birdie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranaz Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 So cute and sweet... I hope too that Harley's new home will help stop the plucking. Waiting for more photos soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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