New user

[CiaraMatthews]

Hi All!

 

My name is Ciara and I am hoping this forum may be able to help me with some of the challenges I am having with my African Grey. I am looking for advice on how to handle what looks to be the start of feather plucking by my CAG - Ruby - after her last vet gave her a WAY TOO SHORT wing clip. It's been more than a year and none of her flight feathers have come back in. Every time they come in, since the wing clip was so short, there are no feathers around the new blood feather coming in, and she ends up breaking it off when she hits her wings on something. In fact, some of the clipped feathers haven't even fallen out yet and the cut feather is irritating her wing skin, causing her to chew.

 

I am desperate for a solution.

 

We tried cutting a hole in a piece of felt and slipping that over her head as a collar, but that has caused her to pull at he neck feathers, which I am concerned will turn into plucking if I leave it on.

 

I have some cream the vet prescribed for the wounded skin, and I think that has helped it heal, but I am worried this isn't breaking the habit.

 

I would like to keep her in a much smaller cage to keep her from being able to move and hurt her wings, but I am worried the small environment will be stressful for her.

 

Finally, the vet also have be a liquid pain killer/sedative to keep her too tired to pick at those feathers, but I can't seem to get her to take it.

 

Any help, advice, or thoughts on your own experience would be VERY help.

 

I'm getting to the point that I check her feathers and wings obsessively and I am so afraid that is going to start causing her to pay too much attention to them too.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Ciara

Edited August 18, 2016 by CiaraMatthews

[katana600]

Hi Ciara, welcome for joining us. I'm sorry it is for the situation you are in. I don't have experience with this issue, but someone else will check in soon that can do better. How old is Ruby? I did have a young grey (under 18 months) and when I needed him to take medicine, I would place him on a table top perch and ask him and he would drink it from the dropper. However, that was after the first time when I toweled him and got more medicine on the towel than I did in him. As strange as it sounds, I talked to him, told him what I wanted and from that day on, he would allow me to put the dropper in the corner of his beak and take it himself. You also might try something tasty from a dropper such as Simply Limeade. If you can get her to see the dropper as a positive thing, you can work the medicine routine in between one dropper for Limeade another made up for meds and switch to meds and quickly back to Limeade to keep her interested. Good luck, I hope you help her get relief soon.

[SRSeedBurners]

It sounds like you need to find a real Avian vet. Butchering a wing clip AND giving your bird a semi-permanent sedative to deal with this is borderline malpractice in my opinion.

 

 

There is a procedure whereby a vet (that knows what they are doing) can use feathers molted from other birds to strengthen the existing feathers by attaching them. I forget what the procedure is called but it can be done. You may look into this.

[judygram]

[quote name=

There is a procedure whereby a vet (that knows what they are doing) can use feathers molted from other birds to strengthen the existing feathers by attaching them. I forget what the procedure is called but it can be done. You may look into this.[/quote]

 

Its called imping and it just might be what this poor bird needs to allow the feathers to regrow enough that they are not an irritation but you will have to find a certified avian vet for it and it won't be cheap. I just do not understand how someone, especially a vet could butcher a bird's wings that way.

[Giannine]

I agree that sedating the bird constantly is not a good idea at all. Poor thing will be like a zombie all the time. I would start researching reputable avian vets in your area and switch. Please check back in and let us know how you all are doing. And welcome!