DizzyBlue Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hi all, I'm new to this particular forum. I own a AG (Henni Penni) who's 32 and came to live with me a year ago. Her owners no longer wanted her as she is a plucker and was a self mutilator the latter of which Henni has stopped the plucking bit is still a major biggie!! But as you all know there no exact science to stopping it. I am not new to owning parrots and was owned by a wild caught 47 year old BFA until he passed on. I have owned cockatiels, budgies, kakarikis, lovebirds for about 30 years and still keep an aviary full of them! So hello everybody and hope to chat with you all soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hi DizzyBlue, welcome to the Grey family. Looking forward to hearing more about Henni Penni and getting to know you and your flock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Welcome! This is a great place to get info and support from fellow bird lovers. We would love to see pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hello DizzyBlue and welcome to our family. So glad to hear you could take Henni Penni in and give her a new forever home, she is lucky to have found you or you her but what matters is that she is healthy and happy. Has she been seen by an avian vet, I am assuming she has but that is one good thing that she is no longer mutilating herself but the plucking continues, if she has been doing it for a long time then it has become a habit that is hard to break. Maybe your avian vet can give you some help with that but don't focus on the plucking for any reaction to it is attention so just ignore it. If you have some pictures of Henni Penni you would share with us we would love to see them, it doesn't matter that she is plucked as their beauty is from within and we have seen oven ready birds before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hello and welcome! Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures with Henni Penni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hi DizzyBlue and welcome to the grey forum to you and Henni Penni. And yes we love pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I have an oven ready one too! We call him our nudist! We don't even notice it anymore. At first we focused on it, trying anything and everything short of the collar, only to find the more we focused the more he did too. It's just him and we accept it. Congrats on your new addition, your in for a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 what a fun name welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyBlue Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hey all and thanks for the welcome I'm not actually new to keeping larger parrots I've had others passed on to me over the years and I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to parrot stuff and reading! Henni has a raptor specialist as her vet. Henni basically plucks due to the usual things left to her own devices for 17 years living in a kitchen without company toys and a rubbish diet that plus abuse. She's been tested for everything and come up clean which is great she had malnutrition but that's been sorted and she was retested to ensure it was spot on. As you all know there is no exact science to stopping the plucking and since she is 32 and the plucking has been there for at least the last 17 years its gonna be a hard thing to get to the bottom of if ever! She is feeling happier because for easter she laid me three eggs which i let her brood to get it out of her system didn't expect her to sit for over 50 days though!! She took parrot gestation time to a whole new level LOL. She'll be right with out without feathers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyBlue Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 its like living in a nut house....Henni has gone in to nesting mode......there are no zips left working on the settee or chair cushions...what is it with them if you dont give into their demands for a box they start inventing them!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 lol @ the nesting preparation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 They are both wonderful and challenging, welcome to our Grey world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Welcome to the forum. Henni Penni may think she has the great fortune of such a wonderful new environment that is just right for her ticking biological clock that now she feels safe to bring babies into the world. We have a plucker that was about ten when he came, and he was presented to us with about thirty bloody feathers he ripped out in frustration at a change in his cage to a travel cage before I picked him up. He has not done that since but he does chew feathers and worry them a bit. He will go a long time without chewing his feathers but the slightest change that gets him frustrated will be followed by him chewing off all his chest feathers. What has been good news is that that period of chewing diminishes with each episode as he becomes more comfortable. Hopefully in time Henni Penni will relax in her new home too. I agree with what you say and would love Gilbert just as much plucked bald as we do now. I would love him if he didn't talk and if he didn't come to be a hands on kind of guy. There is nothing like seeing him exceed our expectations as we get close to the two year anniversary of his arrival. It will be interesting what you and Henni Penni can teach us as we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyBlue Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 Henni is errr for fear of this sounding really "not right" a night plucker!! She very rarely tugs a feather during the daytime. When she has gone to bed its a whole different story. She not only over preens and nibbles bits of feathers off so the main quill is still there but the rest looks moth eaten, she grinds the feathers to bits that are growing whilst they are still in their outer sheath... I have tried her with her cage covered and not covered she gets regular spray mistings (she hates baths!!) she's had everything from vit E oil all the way through to home made aloe vera juice added to her spray. When I'm in she's out, has minimum of 10 hours sleep, full spectrum lights, she seriously has more toys then sense from shredding toys to preening toys puzzles etc etc.... I never give her attention when she's plucking ...but that doesn't work either cos she does it at night and I'm presented with night-time destruction in the morning!! I've even tried out if it's to do with seperation anxiety and slep next to her cage....I got no sleep and a stiff back for my troubles she kept popping down during the night and yelling in my ear!! The only blessing that we have is that the self mutilation stopped within a couple of weeks of arriving here and for that I'm eternally thankful. I'm on multiple websites and forums trawling for new ideas and options as I know what works for one doesn't always work for another and sometimes there is no cure it would seem. Feathered or not I lover her to bits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyBlue Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 I've posted piccies in the health section of my little madam and the feather problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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