The fun but frustrating dance with Spencer.

[oblivion]

Very weird. I rode my motorcycle today and didn't even need a thermal liner or heavy gloves. Might hit 80 around Chicago - record-setting.

 

I don't know if the time change has upset Spencer or what, but I've noticed a few more body feathers in the bottom of his cage as well as some of his chest feathers appearing ratty - as if he's chewing the ends of them. This is a bit discouraging and I really hope it's just temporary. He's not acting much different/upset, so maybe I'm just being hyper-vigilant. I know he can't read a clock so the time change shouldn't matter, but of course activity in the house has shifted by an hour and maybe that's enough to throw him off a bit. Again, hoping it's temporary.

 

It's so funny how his moods change from day to day - sometimes adventurous, sometimes cautious. Sometimes boisterous, other times quiet as a mouse. Some days he's hesitant to climb into his travel cage for 'downstairs' time. This morning, I went and cleaned/refilled his water bowl and by the time I returned, he was nowhere in his big cage. I looked around the floor for him and called him a few times and eventually he clanged the bell in his travel cage which was by my feet. He'd climbed down and settled himself in that quickly, I never even saw him. So I took him and Anya downstairs for some time in the sun as I ate my breakfast.

 

I really never know what I'm going to get with him. That's probably my fault in part because he doesn't really know what he's going to get from me. I'm not really a 'routine' person and our household only slightly more so. I mean he knows he'll get fresh food and water in the mornings, snacks, out of cage, and downstairs if he wants in the evenings, but other than that - there's variance every day. Aside from weekends which are always different, my wife works form home some Fridays and not others. With a Kindergarten-aged kid, there are a lot of sick days when one of us is home mid-week. And my wake-up and bed times can vary by a few hours each day. I know that's not ideal for birds and I try to insulate them from it as much as possible, but there's only so much I can do. Luckily, other than this suspected feather damage (and very mild if any), all pets seem to take it pretty well in stride. But I have to wonder how much it's holding Spencer up.

 

. . .

[katana600]

I have a fairly predictable, routine and am home all the time and that has not been a huge asset where Gilbert is concerned. If we do have total predictability, it would likely compound the stress when something is not the same as usual. I think Spencer, like Gilbert and some of the other rehomed parrots has had some unpleasant experiences and it may take them a lot longer to get settled in. I think it will happen and I think he can figure out that when you leave you come back. Some of that builds trust. I think it is what you do while you are there that gives him a little confidence. Climbing down into his own travel cage is a big deal, he likes that you take him outside. Slowly, he will learn to communicate with you and I do believe it gets better in such small increments that sometimes it is hard to see progress, but I am sure you are making progress.

[oblivion]

That's very reassuring to read. I do appreciate that my pets and daughter can all 'roll with it' when things are out of sorts - traveling, odd routines, etc., and that's something I wouldn't easily trade, so it's good to hear that it's a bit a case of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence. I will say that BIG changes, like weekends or even weeks out of town, have never seemed to upset him to where I'd noticed feather damage (aside from his tail getting grunged up from being in his small cage). So he's really not fragile with regard to change. But other than the time change, or the lengthening days themselves, I couldn't really think of why the minor (perceived) relapse to picking some feathers. Again, I might just be watching him too closely and making something out of nothing. Feathers come out of their own accord and so far, other than perhaps some chest feather damage, it's not much more than that. We'll see.

 

We had another morning where he eagerly got into his small cage for downstairs breakfast and also hung in while I took a shower. He was less eager to join than he has been in the past, so he just hung out in/on his cage. Anya wasn't thrilled with getting wet this morning, either, so perhaps it just wasn't a shower day in birdland. Afterward, as I got dressed, the two of them just hung out in the room with me - neither making a sound, barely moving to shift weight occasionally. With the windows open to the sounds of distant trains and spring peepers, it really was a bit of heaven. I just sat on my bed and soaked it in for a few minutes. Then a straight-pipe Harley shattered the stillness and I herded them into their cages so I could get to work.

 

You are so right about the small increments. I forget that for the first year and a half, I got very little interaction from him at all and that this, now, is leaps and bounds ahead of how we started off. It's all good.

[katana600]

I have had to learn that grey time can be a blink of an eye, or it can be long arduous months for a caretaker. I have seen more change in one month than in all the previous months total, so that is encouraging. I have seen Gilbert barber his chest feathers in a flurry and with seemingly no provocation. But, what I wonder is if something is a trigger that brings up a bad memory for them, a bit like PTSD in humans? The one time Gilbert bit me the hardest and was the most surprise was after we were putting flooring in a bedroom, had all the furniture moved into a hallway where he could see it. Later, when I talked to his former caretaker Sarah, she reminded me that when she came to see him the first time, the man there had the whole house in boxes and said "You have to take him now, I am moving out in the morning." If we had a magical crystal ball we could cure all things, eh? I will take whatever progress I can get, one tiny little step at a time. It is awesome that Spencer and Anya will hang out with you for your morning routine. We sometimes can put table top perches on the kitchen island and Gilbert will come out with me willingly, but within a very short time his chest his quivering and heaving and he waves his foot and asks plaintively "wanna go back?" From your posts about Spencer, I am so encouraged that once Gilbert breaches the top of the wall he has cornered himself into, he will break the fear barrier and become less "locked in" and every positive interaction builds trust and courage for the boy.

[oblivion]

Aaaagggghhhhh! My Kindle Fire just lost a HUGE update I just did. I'll see what I can recreate. Gggrrrrrrrr.

 

First, Kat6, it's funny, but I have the feeling that each of us thinks the other is further along with their TAG than we are. They are so similar and yet each has his own strengths and hang-ups. But we are both making progress, and that's good. I remember reading about Gilbert's reaction to the 'moving' boxes. Gosh, it's amazing what these guys pick up on.

 

I am still not certain if Spencer is just 'assisting' a normal molt (he is chewing on the feathers that come out) or if he's full-on plucking. Luckily it's still only mature feathers which have fallen, no blood feathers and no flights (though one tail feather yesterday), and he doesn't have any bald spots, nor even downy areas. He's just looking a bit ragged. Still waiting and seeing and not freaking out.

 

One thing I realized is that, coincidence or cause, this feather business started around the time I had him outside for the first time this Spring. I wonder if the shot of UV stimulated a molt and/or (over)preening. I did finally get some aloe juice and gave him and Anya their first dousing yesterday morning as we bird-brains sat on the front porch enjoying the morning sun. It was kind of funny, they were both very upset about the plain water pre-soak - some of the biggest histrionics I've seen for a shower. Seriously, I worried neighbors might think I was abusing them. But when I switched over to the aloe, Anya quieted down, and Spencer got REALLY into it opening up his wings and feathers for a good soaking.

 

Wet birds on a sunny front porch. by oblivion9999, on Flickr

 

Oh, and the big news of that was he was on the front porch in his NEW travel cage! After ignoring it since that first quick visit right after I'd gotten it, he was in his original traveler and the door from that fit nicely into the new door - like a drawbridge. So I loaded up the new cage with food, favorite toys to abuse, etc., and he WALKED RIGHT IN! I gave him a couple treats (safflower seeds are his current fave as the batch of pumpkin seeds I bought are not to his liking - nothing like the home-roasted ones I've run out of) and let him settle in a bit before deciding to 'reward' his exploration with some outside time. It was a tough call, just let him hang out in his room in the new cage, or go on an 'adventure.' The adventure could backfire or go really well. As it turned out, he wasn't anxious to get out of the cage at all, even when I took him back upstairs to his room. In fact I had to lure him out so I could put him away in his big cage. He really REALLY does take to most new things very well, and for that I am forever grateful. The only thing about that new cage - MAN is it HEAVY! I'll still use the old one for shuttling around the house, but we'll 'visit' the new one from time to time.

 

Ok, I think that's most of what I had written before. We did have the, thankfully minor, first altercation between the two birds last night. We were on the couch watching TV and Anya was on me. She was about due for a poop, so I sent her flying back to her gym. She missed the landing and ended up on the side of Spencer's cage. He wasn't alarmed, but before I could get there, he very gently beaked her foot. She's generally a drama queen and didn't even react to him (just to me yelling. ), and I didn't see anything on her foot, so I don't think he 'got' her, but man, I was scared.

 

Ok, enough. Going to see if I can get back to sleep now.

Edited March 18, 2012 by oblivion
Added pic.

[katana600]

From the look on your face, I thought your wife was showering the birds and it was your turn next. LOL. I think the most important thing with our birds that pluck is to not overreact. If they are nervous and see that it upsets us, it exacerbates their nervousness. A lot more experienced parrot owners tell me that taking them out in the sunshine every day for fifteen minutes is a really good thing for feather care and lessens plucking. I haven't been consistently successful in moving Gilbert without having to chase him and I think it is so complicated with the stress plucking that time and trust is all that we can hope for with them. I see progress when I tell him ahead of time about the big noise of the vacuum cleaner and other things like that, and I see long long stretches where he doesn't pluck his chest. He hasn't pulled any blood feathers since he came home so for the most part, other than looking raggedy, there is no harm. Glad that Anya wasn't hurt, we have the same issues with Java and Gilbert but I am more afraid of her biting him on the toe on his own cage. We have reached a "cease fire" agreement with the two of them over the past year but I am vigilant and don't leave her out unless I am in the room. If only I could now get Java to reach a "cease fire" with my husband, we would be really cookin'.

[oblivion]

Heh, yeah, not one of my best self-portraits, but the sun was right up where I needed the camera. I hear you about no drama re: feather picking. I don't even examine them in front of him. I pick them out of the cage litter as I'm changing papers and check them out later. I'm more and more thinking it's just molt time as Anya has dropped a couple too, now, but I'm going to try to stop guessing until it stops of becomes an obvious problem. I'll just keep on with the showers and aloe and see what happens.

 

So, I had a pretty darn cool morning with Spencer. I wasn't up to the 'hassle' of carting his cage downstairs today and we didn't have a lot of morning time before we had places to be AND I wanted to fit in some reading time with Em (our daughter), so I told her to join me on the couch in the pet room and we could read there. I opened all of the cages and put up the gate so0 the bun wouldn't escape to the land of cords to chew on beyond the hall.

 

After a minute or two, Spencer shimmied down his big cage and got into his traveler which is always on the floor and looked at me like, "Ok, let's go!" I told him, "We're not going anywhere this morning, bud, we're just hanging out in here. He seemed to understand and a minute or so later he'd climbed up on top of the small cage and was looking at me pretty intently as Em read. He did what he often does - hold up a foot, I offer a hand or arm, he retreats. We did that a couple times and I gave him a few toys to throw off the cage, but more or less I was ignoring him and paying attention to Em. After a bit of that he crawled down to the floor and retreated under the couch where he spends a lot of his 'alone time' in the room. He had one of his bottles down there which I could hear him softly banging against the wall. After a bit, that stopped.

 

The next thing I noticed when looking over at my daughter was a little grey head poking above the arm of the couch. We have another gate we use to better secure the room from the cat when we aren't right there and that was leaning against the couch and he'd used it as a ladder. After a bit of effort (remember, not fully-functional feet), he pulled himself fully onto the arm of the couch.

 

Ta da!!!

 

Inquisitive Spencer climbed up to listen to Em reading to me. by oblivion9999, on Flickr

 

He was up there quite a while and though Em was doing her wild little kid gestures, I reminded her not to startle him and he stayed pretty calm (as did she, my brave little toaster - she's been beaked a couple times from not listening to me). He was up there quite a while and seemed to REALLY want to be by me, but again would always retreat if I'd move toward him. He eventually started dropping his head and fluffing up, so I traded places with Em, got the spray bottle, and gave him a bit of a soak, which he really seemed to enjoy. This was awesome. It ended on a good note, no drama, no pushed boundaries, no upset, and HOPEFULLY a little unfulfilled desire to be closer on his part - keep 'em wanting more. I went off to take a shower and start my day thinking, "Awesome morning!"

 

But wait, there's more!

 

Since my wife was up in our room and I'd put Maggie the bun away, I left the gate down in case Spencer wanted to explore a little bit. He'd gotten as far as the hallway before and I thought he might enjoy hanging out there where he could watch my wife folding laundry or Em doing 5-year-old things - or who knows, even hang out with the dogs. A couple minutes into my shower, my wife came into the bathroom and said, "You've got company," and I could hear Spencer doing one of his squawks. A few seconds later, he came waddling around the corner and marched right over to the shower. Honestly, I don't know if he was more looking for me or the shower, but it was AWESOME that he was so adventurous AND knew where to find me. he'd never come into our bedroom on his own before, let alone all the way into the master bathroom. Sure, I've carried him in there in his cage - especially a lot recently - but it still took some 'putting it all together' on his part. My wife said he'd hesitated a bit when he first got in the bedroom, looking around like, "Hey, wait, yeah, I know this place. The bathroom's right over there!"

 

I can't tell you how awesome that felt. I was done with my shower but offered to leave it on for him. He didn't seem too interested in having the water on - he just seems to like standing on the edge of the door checking things out. After a little bit of him just hanging out in there, we had to get going, so I went and got his cage, he climbed right into it, and from there right into his big cage back in their room.

 

TWO successful adventures in one day with NO DRAMA!!!

 

Fan.

Tastic!

 

On top of all of that, I am incredibly proud of Em and how well she's reading. There's a whole lot going on in our house these days! Happy Sunday, everyone.

[katana600]

Thanks for the update, your house sounds like a little bit of paradise this morning. I think you are right about always leave them wanting just a little more. An experienced parrot owner once told me that if you push a parrot until they bite, soon they will bite out of habit rather than communication, so that has been my approach as well. I always want more interaction and it is hard to back off when the going is good, but it does seem to leave room for them to come to you. So happy for Spencer to come to you in previously uncharted territory for his adventures. I am going to have to rethink this "maybe he will fly one day" and put ladders in place so Gilbert can follow me around a little to see what he will do. Congrats to Em on her reading, it is always more fun to share with dad. I have a book that I read to my girls and just had the best time, it is a chapter book, but I bet she would love it. It is called "Snot Stew" by Bill Wallace. It is about the world as viewed by a small kitten.

[Greywings]

All good things on this update, wonderful to hear how your relationship is progressing.

[oblivion]

Thanks Kat6 (I'm officially making that my new nick for you) and Greywings. I'll check out that book for Em.

 

True to the title of this thread, he was a SNOT this morning. After climbing up to the arm of the couch again (a new favorite place?), but not following me into the bathroom, he hung out by himself this morning giving the occasional contact call. When it was time for me to go to work, I was wondering how I was going to get him back to his cage. When he's roaming the floor, it's pretty easy to lure him with one of his bottles and/or food. But up on the arm of the couch, he wasn't BUDGING. So I got his travel cage, offered it, and he stepped RIGHT onto the door. Nice. Good bird! Worth a treat.

 

Then I took him over to his big cage, threw in one of his bottles, and expected him to charge after it like he usually does. Nope. Wouldn't budge. I tried another bottle, then a toy, then Nutra-berries. He wasn't moving. I could tell I was getting frustrated, so I took a deep breath, set his cage down for a bit, and formulated a plan. I figured that his travel cage generally means going SOMEWHERE to him, not just back into his home, so I thought I'd take him outside for a quick minute, bring him back, and see if that was good enough for him. I wish I could say it worked like magic, but he STILL wasn't anxious to 'go home' after the quick tour, and I was getting frustrated again. It's a good thing I have a flexible start time at work, but this was really pushing it.

 

Eventually, I had to resort to something I was not entirely fond of doing and only had to do one other time. I essentially 'poured' him out of the cage by tipping it to where the perch wasn't really easy for him to stay on. He seemed to give a thought to being stubborn and hanging onto the bars, but then gave in and walked into his big cage. To take out his frustration, he pounced on one of the bottles with which I'd tried luring him and he tossed it out onto the floor defiantly. The silver lining to the episode is that I praised him for being a good boy and (eventually) getting in his cage and he graciously accepted a safflower seed from my fingers and set into his pellets, so I don't think the 'tipping' and the rest of the experience did him too much harm. I guess we'll find out later.

[katana600]

I like the nickname, thanks. Spencer HAS to be related to Gilbert, at least in a round about way. We have a pretty good routine of giving him an almond at bed time or when he needs to go into his cage from the cage top. But... if I am needing to go somewhere, I best coax him in before he realizes I am leaving because he digs in his heels and hangs on tight. I doubt it gave him a second thought to be unceremoniously "tipped". He is going to spend all day today working a plan of what to do the next time you try that though. LOL. Until you got him, you probably only had an inkling of how devious you would become as Spencer's buddy.

[oblivion]

Well, crap.

 

Spencer pulled a brand new blood feather last night/this morning. Judging by the freshness of the blood on the cage papers, but the dryness on his feathers/feet, I'd guess it was in the morning. He's fine and it had stopped bleeding on its own after a few big drops, but I feel TOTALLY guilty. Is it because of our cage issue yesterday morning? Is it because I got home late last night and never saw him (though of course my wife took care of him, she likely didn't interact with him like I do)? Or was it just coincidence that it got to a length that annoyed him/that he could grab? There's only about 1/8-1/4" of feather extended out beyond the sheath - a VERY new feather. That kind of goes against one of my theories that he pulls them because his wings don't set right and they interfere with the left wing's feathers. This really wasn't long enough to do so.

 

SO many questions. And so incredibly depressing/disappointing.

 

 

I guess the good news is that this means at least one of those follicles is still functional for now. Also, I don't know if this is 'good' or not, but it didn't look chewed up, just pulled and dropped, so it seems at least he isn't doing it as some replacement for toys.

 

So, so, so very bummed.

 

There were 2-3 other downy feathers around the cage, too. I'm going to up the aloe sprays.

 

*sigh*

[katana600]

Aww, I am sorry for Spencer and for you. It is a long term concern for our rehomed guys. Although we search and search and try to find the cause so we can "fix" this feather pulling issue, sometimes there isn't an answer. Don't let it get you down Mark, you are doing a fantastic job for him, it is something he will work out in time. It seems like such a big setback, but all we can do is love them in spite of these moments and find all the silver linings. If he were not with you, imagine how hard it would be for him to adjust to more changes. I find little pieces of evidence that Gilbert chews his little downy feathers occasionally. The longer he is here, the more I find times when he would have nervously chewed but will find other ways now to express himself.

[Malikah]

I haven't heard from you in a while Mark, I hope all is well with you and your zoo!

[4fids3kids]

I want to say you are doing a great job. Just relax. I have rescue birds and re-homes and all birds pluck now and then. My TAG was occasionally plucking for attention when he came to me. You have to ignore it. If you have another bird or even another person in the house, you can give them a treat when your TAG plucks. He will learn what the other person/bird is doing is the behavior that gets rewarded, not plucking. Reshaping plucking behavior is hard b/c the biggest thing you can do is nothing. Other things that help a plucking bird from my experience is foraging. I have a minimum of three bowls in each of my birds' cages. They all have a little bit of food in them. I started out by covering them with one piece of newspaper with a hole I stabbed into it with my finger while they watched. It took no time at all and they were ripping the paper. Now I cover each bowl with a thick layer of paper wrapped around it and use the wire rim holder to tuck the paper covered bowl in. Easy! Next, I also put pellets in tiny paper souffle cups - just unstack them and teaspoon in pellets, fold shut, drop in bowl, foraging toys, baskets in cage. Last, all treats go into boxes. I recycle toothpaste boxes and an small footprint box. If the box is too big, I cut it up into fourths and puzzle it back together. The nuts and nutriberries are wrapped in souffle cups and stacked intermittently with newspaper. I put a nutriberry and an almond in each box, run a piece of string through it to make a loop I attach to a quick link I leave in the cage. My birds are very busy and since they are doing so much shredding they don't shred their feathers.

 

Also be sure to reward all good behavior. I heavily reward my TAG talking. He even says "wanna eat?" at dinner time. Keep up the good work and don't worry about a few feathers. Just keep reinforcing positive behavior.

[chezron]

Excellent ideas 4fids3kids!

[oblivion]

Thanks for checking in on us, folks. I have to admit, the plucked flight feather had me a bit down, and also worked picked up a bit, so I kind of fell off the forum. The good news is that some combination of aloe sprays and time/changing seasons have gotten us back to 'normal.' A few more feathers came out after that one, but nothing as major and it's all pretty much ceased now (though he did lose a full-grown flight feather this weekend, that one may have been due - he's had it a while and it wasn't accompanied by any barbering). It's still a 'dance' with him, but not as frustrating. We've had good days - one where he climbed up on our bed and head-butted me for some scritches - and bad days - one where he nipped me when I was just trying to give him a safflower seed. You take the good with the bad.

 

In the last month or so, he's been showcasing some of the voices and phrases he's picked up since coming to live with us. I'd gotten used to him saying "Hello!" in my wife's voice and screeching like my 5-year-old daughter, but it really blew my mind to hear him, in my voice, say, "C'mon Spencer. *pause* Spencer, dammit!" BUSTED! He's also, since we've had him, said, "Good night!" and "Go to bed!" but according to my wife, he's now picked up our cockatiel's name and the other night said, "Go to bed, Anya!" He's working on some other stuff I mostly hear between covering him and lights out, but I can't make out the mumbles yet.

 

All in all, it's going well. And I made the missus happy last week by finally steam-cleaning a lot of the poop out of the carpet in their room.

Thanks again for checking it. It's one of those notices which got me to come back, give a few reports (on Anya, too, in her thread), and check in on my friends here. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

[katana600]

Way to go mister carpet cleaning man! Ha ha, that is the out take from your post. I want that on video, it would be the greatest cheerer upper I could find. Don't be so hard on our friend Mark about life's little issues that you really only have an imaginary sense of control. You don't make Spencer pluck nor can you make him stop. You can only love him and accept him and some day he may or may not stop the plucking. He is part of a loving family, that means he is living a charmed life that many humans can't experience much less a little leftover parrot. You are the man. You cleaned the carpet, I am doing a little happy dance for you and your wife.

[oblivion]

Not much new here, but I do have one quick, cute story. The last few days have been pretty hectic around here and the birds didn't get out much at all over the weekend. Yesterday a.m. when I went to close Spencer's cage after giving him food, he actually stood in the doorway and pushed back against me closing the door. He poked his head out and was eyeing up his travel cage like, "TAKE ME SOMEWHERE!" I felt bad having to leave for work, but we hung out a fair bit last night, so hopefully he's not too mad. I was going to bring him for the car ride to Anya's vet visit this morning, but ran short on time to get his traveler ready. Oh well. Otherwise, no news is fairly good news.

 

Thanks for the kind words Kat. No video, sorry.

[oblivion]

Since I've been back on the forums up update about Anya's passing in another thread, I thought I'd update here. Spencer continues to be Spencer. There haven't been any major 'plucks' since he pulled that one flight feather. He's a little upset about missing Anya, but so far that's just limited to a lot of calling and taking a while to wind down at night - so far no plucking. There's still good days and better days - luckily very VERY few 'bad' days. He's getting more and more adept as mimicking my voice. It's going to break my heart the first time he says, "Go to bed, Anya!" again. I love that little dude, to pieces, though, even though he is still a bit aloof.

[katana600]

Thanks for coming in to update Mark. We are on the same path with Spencer and Gilbert, I think. We have really great highs with mostly even days of him still learning that we aren't trying to poison him or chase him with a broom. LOL. He is a suspicious little character easily set off track by a change in what he can predict from us. All in all though, if we compare the early days with now, it is a huge improvement in his dispostion and communication. It is like have a lake filled one drop at a time. You can't tell there is an improvement on a daily or even weekly basis, but slowly and surely we do progress and one day we will find our relationship with Gilbert and Spencer to be full, productive and delightful. Keep up the good work with him, I am sure he loves you just as much as you love him. It is harder for our guys to trust and show their free spirit, but I think we are going to get there. Correction, I know we are going to get there!

[oblivion]

I agree with all you said, Kat.

 

Sadly, I just noticed today that he's actually barbered a pretty good collar of chest feathers. At the risk of anthropomorphizing too much, I have to assume he's either picking up on my sadness about Anya, or he's grieving himself. We did have some good floor time this evening, though, so he doesn't seem upset with me directly. I hit him with the aloe spray and we'll see where this goes. He has a new tail feather coming in, still encased, so I hope he leaves that alone.

 

Thanks, as always, for the encouragement.

[katana600]

Don't take his plucking as a reflection on your success with him Mark. Sometimes what they started before our time in their lives becomes habit which they revert to in times of uncertainty and change. Gilbert just got a whole clump of beautiful new tail feathers. It is the most filled in I have seen his tail feathers in sixteen months. I sprayed his little backside with aloe, and he was fine while the pinfeathers opened. We went away for a day and a half to see our daughter while he had the best of care with my other adult daughter whom he just treasures like I have not seen him care for another human. When I came home, he had barbered off all but one of his beautiful tailfeathers and once again, his balance is precarious at best. He also chewed the chest feathers. I look at it like chewing our fingernails and sometimes even when it is good stress, it still could cause regression. I agree that Spencer likely misses Anya as well as picking up the sadness and heavy heart that you and your family have following her loss. But, it isn't like that caused his plucking. I am balancing trying to find ways that will distract Gilbert when he gets the notion to destroy his feathers with understanding it is just one of those things that he will do with no illusion that I can control it no matter how much I wish I could. My saving grace is the realization of just how much worse it could get if Gilbert were really fearful or under great duress. Never again do I wish to see the flurry and fury of a real pluck of growing healthy feathers. After the first greeting in that condition, I have much to be grateul for in that department. I think there will come a time when Spencer and Gilbert really turn the corner and realize they are accepted, bad habits, baggage and all and when the day comes that they relax and accept our homes.

[oblivion]

Thanks, Kat. Your words and others' as well convinced me not to take any plucking or barbering personally in the past. The fact is, he still looks a lot better than the condition I got him in.

 

It's funny you put it in terms of a person chewing his or her nails - I was just doing that as I checked my messages. *shakes head*

[katana600]

The great thing is when you discover something that helps Spencer move forward just a little, it helps me with Gilbert too and vice versa. I am thinking it was you that played with a water bottle and although that was not something Gilbert embraced, just putting on top of his cage spurred him into starting for the first time ever to actually touch his toys up there. Now he will play a little every day. It made such a difference in his activity level and his confidence. And... I used to bite my nails as a kid, still some in adulthood, slowly getting less likely. Then... I got braces on my teeth last year as an older adult... long story, but one crown has caused a LOT of medical issues. Anyway, now I can't bite my nails if I wanted to, and when I get an adjustment monthly, I am best friends with a blender, LOL. Just as Gilbert gnaws off a tail feather, I am guessing some day when my teeth are released from captivity, I will absentmindly gnaw one fingernail off. LOL. Some habits are just habits. Glad to see you online every now and again, I've missed you but understand you have so much going on with a family and job. Give Spencer an extra treat and surprise the little curmudgeon, LOL. I will do the same for Gilbert.