Woody6 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hello, I'm in need of some guidence regarding plucking. I have two African Grey's (male 13 months old and female 10 months old. They get along well together. My female began plucking her feathers around Christmas and I chalked it up to the cage being moved and it being Christmas but my grandmother also moved out to her own place on Jan 5 now my little girl is all peach fuzz except for her wings and her head. My male is fine. She is friendly, loving, playful and noisy as is my male. I have introduced new toys, I spend time with her and him and I spray her and him with aloe vera juice. I do not know what else to do. She does not pluck when I hold her. She plucks any other time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hello and welcome to the family, Woody, glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about your two greys. First thing I would suggest is you take your female in to see an avian vet for a complete workup to rule out a physical problem. Now there have been some changes happening like the cage being moved and now your grandmother has moved out, could she have been attached to her and is responding to her absence by plucking. Maybe some of the other members will have some more suggestions for you. Please read thru the many threads on various topics for lots of useful information, including ones on plucking feathers. You can do a search forum with the words plucking feathers and lots of threads should come up. Do not hesitate to ask us specific questions you may have and we will do our best to get an answer for you and help you in any way we can. If you have any pictures of your two greys you would like to share with us we would love to see them. BTW, what are their names? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Greetings Woody. As Judy indicated, there are a lot of issues to consider in dealing with factors that may impact plucking. The more info you share, the more we may be able to help. Solid advice on the vet visit. However, often the check up comes out fine and we are left with trying to evaluate less tangible factors. It stands out to me that you mention several recent environmental changes including a cage relocation and your grandmother moving out. Did your grandmother spend a lot of time with or near the bird? Talking to it etc? Was she home a lot while you perhaps are at work? If so her absence now could be enough to set off plucking for some birds. Couple that with a cage location change etc and we may have some factors. We look forward to hearing more from you and hopefully helping with the plucking issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MazyAK Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Woody6, Welcome. Are the birds in separate cages or in one? You have had some changes which can be contributory . Definitely there is a lots of threads on plucking and will probably help you immensely. The vet is always a first start if you can. Good luck. Bruce & Mazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Welcome here Woody, i hope you will like it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody6 Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thanks everyone. Their names are Messiah and Delilah. Delilah came home to us in June when my grandmother was already here. Messiah came home offically in March and did not have anyone home during the day. Yes, I feel Delilah misses my grandmother and was quite attached to someone always being home. I contributed the plucking to the multiple changes. In every other way she is perfectly fine. She looks pitiful in all her peach fuzz but otherwise playful, healthy, vocal, and loving. I am hoping she stops the plucking because she looks pitiful. I do not draw attention to her plucking but it does bother me. Messiah is perfectly fine. They share a big cage together and I do seperate them when they are outside the cage but they always fly back to each other no matter how many times I seperate them. I guess I will have to consider a vet call but would like to specify what exactly to check for because the last time I took Messiah to the vet it cost me $500.00 with the extensive checks they did on him. I sadly do not have $500.00 to spend this time around. Her stools are fine, she is eating fine, she looks fine (except for the fuzz), she acts fine, and she sleeps fine. Any suggestions on what tests would be appropriate so I don't get banged another $500.00? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody6 Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 I have pictures of them on my cell phone but do not know how to upload them to the computer. Once I figure that out I will post pictures to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody6 Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 plucking update - Deliliah has stopped her plucking. Yea!!!! Messiah has started plucking a little here and there but otherwise he is okay too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Hi Woody & welcome, sorry it's a bit late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 That is great news Woody, Deliliah has stopped the plucking and Messiah only plucks a little here and there, soon it will be none at all, good work to you girl. Karma coming your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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