Very concerned about Talon

[Talon]

Hi everyone. I have been very worried about Talon. Over the last few months, I have noticed her ankles are bear with lack of feathers. Mostly her right one. I don't ever see feathers anywhere for proof of plucking. So I let it go to watch and see if I see her picking at her feet. I don't . The last few weeks , I have noticed her chest is looking funny, like she is plucking a few feathers, although I never see it or find any anywhere around her cages. I have tried to give her more one on one attention the last couple of weeks as Nilah can be domineering over me. But Talon never was much of a one on one bird too much.

 

I posted some pics I took from my phone this morning, you can kind of see, but not very well. The only things different in her life, is me working full time for the past 14 months which means she is in her cage more than she used to be...which breaks my heart as there is nothing I can do to change that.

 

I have made a vet appt for a checkup on this Tues at 3:15 to rule out anything medical. I will let you know what the vet says.... I am worried.....

 

Please excuse the peanut butter on her feet, she marched across the peanut butter toast.

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2013 by Talon

[lovethatgrey]

Sending you both positive thoughts. HOpe the vet will be able to shed some light on her situation.

[judygram]

I am as puzzled as you are and you did good by making an appointment with your vet to see whats up, looks like something is amiss, of course you will keep us posted as usual.

[Timbersmom]

No experience and no clue here, but believing for a quick determination and solution and waiting to hear!

[Dave007]

Hi everyone. I have been very worried about Talon. Over the last few months, I have noticed her ankles are bear with lack of feathers. Mostly her right one. I don't ever see feathers anywhere for proof of plucking. So I let it go to watch and see if I see her picking at her feet. I don't . The last few weeks , I have noticed her chest is looking funny, like she is plucking a few feathers, although I never see it or find any anywhere around her cages. I have tried to give her more one on one attention the last couple of weeks as Nilah can be domineering over me. But Talon never was much of a one on one bird too much.

 

I posted some pics I took from my phone this morning, you can kind of see, but not very well. The only things different in her life, is me working full time for the past 14 months which means she is in her cage more than she used to be...which breaks my heart as there is nothing I can do to change that.

 

I have made a vet appt for a checkup on this Tues at 3:15 to rule out anything medical. I will let you know what the vet says.... I am worried.....

 

Please excuse the peanut butter on her feet, she marched across the peanut butter toast.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes that happens when a bird has an intense itch, or a feather stuck in the skin which refuses to grow out causing pinching or an external irritation. I doubt that your bird is suffering from anything serious. He'll probably give you some Baytril. Just put some aloe gel on it until you get to the vet. If you have no aloe gel, just use some hydrocortisone cream. It won't hurt your bird.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND---he might be doing this because he's annoyed with what you're saying to him. You know, feeling his oats.

[Luvparrots]

Here's hoping Talon is just slightly P O'd with you. I know Sterling Gris can be a bully, the big lug and my little Ana Grey only talks a little now. Extra attention is on the menu. Waiting to hear that Talon is okay.

[VStar Mama]

Hmmm...if Talon is a girl (I'm sorry I don't remember for certain if your parrot is DNA sexed or not) could pulling out the feathers around her ankles and chest be something related to egg laying?

[katana600]

You know her better than anyone. If you sense something is "off" it's better to have your vet alerted to help you watch over her and offer a different perspective. It is early so at least your vet will be ahead of it if there is an underlying medical cause. Talon still looks a great deal better than Gilbert on his best day and I have never seen him worrying his feathers and seldom find evidence. He has has blood panels and vet checks and his thankfully has not been medical and he gets better all the time. You are really tuned in to all of your flock so of course you would worry. Has there been a schedule change with your kids going back to school?

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

She is chewing! Let her know, you are not happy with the behavior. I am sure, it is minimal damage.As you work, as much as I do, who can you hire to come in to play games with her? Nancy

[Talon]

Nancy, I never see her chewing or,domg anything other than preening at might like my others do before bed. And there is really no one I would trust to play with my birds.....all my kids are at school or working full times also. I do leave the tv on, have the other birds in her room in their cages, and have my 3 cats home as well so she is not alone in the quiet.

[Talon]

The oly schedule chage was a little over a year ago. She seems happy, talking all the time, playing tease and case games with Nilah. I do feel something is going on with her.....I can't help but wonder if it's because she hasn't gotten wet in a long time. She despises water and I haven't seen her bathe in her water bowl for quite some time. Her chest definitely looks plucked as I see tonight. She is on my knee having her nightly noodle time, something we haven't done in a couple of years...but have started again this week in hopes it will help. She has seemed happier the last couple of days....hope it helps .

[birdhouse]

Hopefully, Talon gets a clean bill of health from the vet, for starters. If nothing else, it should make you feel a little better, I think. You're already apparently giving her a little more attention, which can only help.

 

When Kura starts her heartbreaking seasonal feather destructing, she gets tons of things that basically, she can destroy quickly. She has a couple of "straw bursts" at a time & they're probably replaced at least weekly. She gets smaller toys & toys designed for smaller birds, lots of loofah, telephone books & anything that makes a big mess in a small amount of time.

 

I think her favorite is an industrial sized (literally) roll of those brown paper towels that I hung in her cage. She loves to unroll it all over the place (think puppy w/a roll of toilet paper ) & she can shred that thing for hours. As long as she's happily focused on that type of destruction, she's not at her feathers & it seems to help her, at least.

 

You also said Talon's not bathing much even by her normal standards & Dave's recommending aloe. We all hate to inflict misery by bathing them. But maybe that's just what she needs right now. Maybe the solution is something that simple. Hope so, anyway.

[danmcq]

Oh Penny, i feel for you knowing how much you love Talon and all your flock. The slight over preening or plucking I see is not that severe. Like Dave said, I suspect more irritation and maybe a build up of god knows what residual substance stuck to her talons and bottom legs. They get juices from fruits and other items eaten on their talons and legs when eating various items and like all birds like to stay clean. If your not bathing or misting her good at least twice a week, she is going to be very irritated from the severely dried skin and build up of dander. Plus her legs and talons are not getting rinsed. When dayo has stuff on his talons or legs he will nibble and lick until clean as he can get it. I would mist with Aloe after getting her soaked with water. Thats what I do with Dayo.

 

In regards the pine cones, a grey will either love it or hate as others have said. I pine cone is nothing more than an object for them to chew on and shred. Favorite wood toys and other items to keep them busy and happy work just as well. I do like the looks and suppleness of those leather collars versus those harshly rigid plastic collars. But, a collar is not needed other than for a bird that has been plucking a long time and is displaying a bare spot with fresh bloody wounds or an entire bare chest as seen in photos of worst case pluckers. Talon is no where needing a collar. Does she have favorite things to shred and keep her busy? I know you know the importance of this, but just thought I would ask. I truly believe just regular bathing and Aloe juice will resolve Talons issue.

Edited September 1, 2013 by danmcq

[Talon]

I think you are right Dan. I do think it maybe lack of bathing....feeling like a bad parront. I am going to put her in her cage and spray her today with aloe and water. She does have lots to shred and chew both I'm and out of her cage.

 

I like the idea of an industrial paper towel roll. Can you post a picture? I seems big in my mind.

[danmcq]

I think her favorite is an industrial sized (literally) roll of those brown paper towels that I hung in her cage. She loves to unroll it all over the place (think puppy w/a roll of toilet paper ) & she can shred that thing for hours.

 

Dayo has loved shredding paper towel rolls since he was very young. I had never considered hanging a roll in his cage. Thanks for the for the great idea to keep him happily shredding another item he loves that would be in his cage.

[birdhouse]

She does have lots to shred and chew both I'm and out of her cage.

 

There's chew toys, then there's chew toys & idk if I can explain that. But degree of difficulty might be part of it. Level of interest, too. Something to munch for 10 or 15 minutes once or twice a day vs totally destroy in a day or even one sitting? If nothing else, the level of destruction demands a more rapid toy rotation while she's acting all hormonal & twitchy w/a greatly diminished attention span.

 

I like the idea of an industrial paper towel roll. Can you post a picture? I seems big in my mind.

 

We all know parrots. "Too much of everything is just enough". lol I'd think new rolls weigh a couple of pounds at least. Which is kind of the point. She really has to work to roll off a layer until she gets it maybe 3/4 gone. And I move it just enough so that some days she can sit in her perch to shred around the edges & others she has to bat hang from the bars. };-> Fortunately her cage is big enough to accommodate this.

 

 

But she doesn't have a roll right now. She'd get tired of it if she always had one. It's one of my weapons that I save for 'that time of the year'. lol Luckily I already posted pics & the "hanger" which is actually a swing w/a replaceable perch.

 

 

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?194975-For-DawL-amp-anyone-interested

 

Dayo has loved shredding paper towel rolls since he was very young.

 

Which is funny because this is strictly Kura's thing. Phenix isn't the least bit interested. But I'm glad if it makes Dayo happy.

 

 

Also, a nice bonus with this is there's always paper towels w/in reach to clean the cage.

Edited September 1, 2013 by birdhouse

[Luvparrots]

I have adding machine rolls hanging sometimes for the gang.

[Talon]

Okay, I put Talon in her cage and gave her a soaking with 2 spray bottles of water and aloe juice. She didn't like it at first, but finally sat there and seemed to enjoy the constant misting. guess I better make this much more of a weekly habit for now. I still can't do this to Rikki, but she seems to like to bathe in the water dish on our tree stand in the kitchen once or twice a week.

 

[Talon]

Thanks for the pics. Talon seems to like small toys, but maybe I will try something different with her and make her work harder! Thank you everyone for all the advice and suggestions. I need to get more creative. It's hard to remember to change things up when working full time and kids and other animals. Guess I need a kick in the butt.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Talon

[Wingy]

Jake really likes to work on getting treats. This morning I took a toilet paper core and suspended wrapped in shell almonds in it. I used a knife to make holes on each side of the core in several places. Then I wrapped the in shell almonds with coffee filters so they looked like a piece of wrapped hard candy. I put the wrapped almonds inside the tp core and used a skewer to push the coffee filter wrap through to the outside on each side suspending it in there (start on one end and work to the other). I did place one near the opening so he was able to grasp the idea that there was something good in there. He really worked to get all the almonds out and it took him a bit to figure out how he was going to get the ones out of the center. It was fascinating to watch him work the problem.

[murfchck]

I do that same thing for the greys. For Gus i have to use a water bottle, i put shredded paper in it and a nut then squeeze the air out and twist it some. 30 minutes later, he is eating his nut, lol. I gotta find something a little harder for him to master. We tried a Kong but that doesn't hold his attention. We have the adding paper in all the cages and they love it!

[katana600]

Wow, I am delighted to see all the ideas for foraging and enrichment on this thread. Gilbert has been so long in avoiding things that I may have forgotten some great things to try and engage him. You all have wonderful ideas. And Val (birdhouse), Kura's set up looks so inviting, I think I might want to move in. That paper towel roll might be just the thing to try on the outside of his cage to give him time to get adjusted. He does punch his ticket on the adding machine tape, but the soft side might catch his attention. Maybe I could cut through the larger roll with an electric knife or saws-all to make smaller chunks of fun. This is a great example of our forum coming together for the good of all our parrots. And Penny (Talon), I would highly suspect this is not about complacency or lack of motivation to please Talon, more like you know she doesn't like being soaked and you probably felt guilty for being gone so you didn't want to spray her and aggravate her in the precious time you are home enjoying her company. She is adorable in her wet look and it gives me the incentive to try again with Gilbert to bathe him properly. Wonderful thread, hope to get an update after her vet visit that says you have it all figured out already and there is confirmation that bathing is the key to healthy feathers at your house and ours.

[Wingy]

I do that same thing for the greys. For Gus i have to use a water bottle, i put shredded paper in it and a nut then squeeze the air out and twist it some. 30 minutes later, he is eating his nut, lol. I gotta find something a little harder for him to master. We tried a Kong but that doesn't hold his attention. We have the adding paper in all the cages and they love it!

 

There are large birdie bagel tubes but you could probably make your own far cheaper with newspaper, and a paper mache glue made of equal parts of flour and water. Just imagine the birdie creations you can make with embedded nuts wrapped in parchment paper and covered in paper mache.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I thought all suggestions were wonderful! I hope Talon does well with the suggestions! I will try many of them myself. Nancy

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Penny... I would also suggest putting in toys that are shreddable. Pinatas are Sophie's favorite. Anything she can shred, she is happy! When I have a week of very late shifts, I do ask several teenagers to go visit with her, and play some board games that she loves. ( of course I am lucky that she trusts several of ryan and Seans friends). I pay them, but I know they would do it for nothing! They all grew up with her. Her " over chewing"... does stop. Its a matter of boredom. Nancy