codiandme Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I was just cleaning Codi up and noticed some dry poop on his newly emerging tail feathers. I tried to soften with warm water as I removed it. I wasnt gentle enough as I plucked three or four tiny tail feathers still in the sheaths. There is no bleeding but I am concerned as to the long term effects. Will these feathers grow back or have I done permanent damage? Codi is just six weeks old and getting his first feathers in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 They should regrow but unfortunately i cant give an answer as to how long it will take,you will have to wait for nature to take it's course... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Yeah, I'm not sure how long it will take ether. As for the poop being on feathers... At the store I think the birds try to poop on each other...I mean, they nail each other so often that it really seems they have made a game of it. What we do is get a warm cloth and put it on the poop and just let it set on them for a few moments. If your bird won't let you do this then just stroke over the poop. Most of the time all of it will not come off, we just get the worst of it off and let the birds take care of the rest. The older Amazon parrots seem to get nailed the most by the macaws and they do not like getting their backs touched so we just get what we can off and by the next day they have gotten the rest. I know baby birds aren’t able to peen themselves yet but if it won’t come off with gentle rubbing the best thing to do is leave it...having a little poo on the tips of their feathers is better than pulling feathers out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Thanks Guys, I've been compiling information from all sources and it appears that I haven't done anything irreversible. The baby is going to go through two more molts within the next weeks from what I've read so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and going back to pine shavings instead of towels. I find that he was much cleaner and seemed more at ease with the pine. Matthew Vriends, the author of Hand Feeding and Raising Baby Birds,is against towels for the same reason.<br><br>Post edited by: codiandme, at: 2008/02/13 18:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 The tail feahters don't molt out right away. My baby is almost 11 months, I have had him sense he was 6 weeks and he has still not molted out any of his baby feathers...including tail feathers. At a couple weeks they loose their first set of down feathers and those are replaced with new down feathers. At 6 weeks your baby is getting his adult feathers in that will not molt out till he is around 9 months to a year. Given that the feathers were pulled out and not molted they should grow back before a molt but I have never seen or heard of a baby as young as your having feathers removed so I could not tell you how soon they will return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Also, the bedding should be changed at the VERY least once a day...2 or three times would be better...no matter if it is a towel of bedding. Also, Pine is not recomended. Aspen is much better because there is not a smell to it. Pine normally has a strong smell which could cause damage to you babies air sacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Thanks for all the added info BMustee, I did read somewhere about the pine not being recommended along with any shavings because of possible ingestion resulting in impaction. That writer was the one who recommended towels. As far as changing the bedding I do it with every feeding. (codi is at four right now)As you know they just keep going as fast as you feed them and have no problem sitting right where they poop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Those feather will grow back, you have not done any damage and have been given good advice by BMustee, she works in a pet store and knows her birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Thanks for the reassurance judygram, I value the input I received from BMustee and I have opted not to go to pine shavings. I spent a great deal of time reading on and off line today and there does not seem to be a bedding everyone can agree on as being the best.Shavings can causeimpaction if ingested and towels can have loose treads which can tangle in the birds feet, they also don't offer the level of cleanliness the wood shavings offer.Newspaper pellets are another option but again they should not be ingested. As much as I would like to I can't watch Codi 24/7. I don't remember having had this problem with my macaw or yellow naped but it's been a couple of years... I will stick with the towels for now as it seems the safest if not most hygenic bedding and try my best not to pluck anymore tail feathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 If you have this baby by itself do you have some type of little stuffed animal in with it to keep it company? I ask because when I was visiting my little one before she was weaned, the breeder had a small stuffed animal in with it for it to snuggle up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Yes, he has a little woodpecker(with a red head). He sleeps on top of it sometimes. He also has plastic balls which he rolls around constantly. Mom puts him in bed with her for awhile at night and they play with different toys.I'm the food guy! When he see's me he wants to be fed. I feel so used...:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I used Aspin when he was really young and towels as he got a little older. Every feeding is a good rule of thumb because like you said, they don't hold on to their food very long:laugh: . The store uses towels and we scrape the poop off before they go in the wash...that way they come out cleaner and you don't have bird poop at the bottom of the load. I normally don't use a towel if it looks like it's starting to fray, and I never really see any parrot babies rip into them...the only exception would be baby caiques...they get into EVERYTHING!:laugh: The stuffed toy is very important if they are alone. My Elmo has a little red bear the breeder gave him...he still plays with it too and he's almost a year old. Boy did he have fun with it when he was a baby though. It sounds like you are really giving 110% to your baby, and that is so good to see. I'm sure your baby will grow up big and strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 I'm really trying, BMustee, Codi is my second grey. My first passed away two years ago. He was a wild caught bird I rescued from an Importers basement where he had him in a canary cage! I brought him home and he bonded with my mom. He lived with us for eighteen years. I had no way of knowing how old he was when he came to live with us. But anyway, you get the picture. I vowed never to get another grey but then I went to my supplier and I saw these five little things in a shoebox. I went back several times and they were still there. The Mrs. and the kids saw how I talked about them and they insisted that I get one. Who am I to argue Codi is about six weeks old right now. DO you think I should go to aspen at this point? Also at what point did you start giving Elmo weaning foods? I'm thinking another couple of weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Well, I would go with the Aspen if you don't want to mess with poopy towels...I always stay away from the paper based bedding and anything with a strong smell. If he is 6 weeks you can start putting weaning pellots and fruits 'n veggies in with him but he probably won't really eat to much of it. It good to start putting all the things you want him to eat early so that way he can play with it...and the play will lead to eating. I have found that using the towels makes it easier for food play. You can scatter food on the top of the towel and you won't need to worry about him eating any bedding. I didn't really start putting a lot of food in for Elmo till he was about 8-9 weeks...he didn't have any interest in it before that. If you want to wait till he is a couple weeks older go to the Aspin and then maybe switch to the towels when he shows an interest in food. What a touching story about your first grey. I can only imagine what he had to go through before you brought him home with you, and I'm sure the 18 years he was with you were the best captive years of his life. Seeing as though your from PA, you would have nothing to worry about when it comes to wild caught parrots (importation ban was put in place in 92) and it sounds like you were ment to have another one. Let me know if you have any more questions...I would be happy to help.B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codiandme Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 Thanks again for all the advice. I can see your point with sprinkling the food on the towel. Makes alot of sense...I think I'll just stick with the towels and that way I can see what Codi is doing with weaning pellets and such when the time comes. Yes, Jay Jay was a special bird. Even though he wasn't what I would call a hand tame bird he was a riot. He said the darndest things at the right time. He told us all when it was time to go to bed. He complained and said "too much noise" when the kids were roudy. He loved to fight me, he would call me over to his cage "Come on, come on" and then he would puff up and pace up and down and lunge at me. This was a great game for him and he would do this whenever I came into the room. I have battle scars which show who the winner of these fights was. My macaw and yellow naped are both hand tame and very affectionate but they haven't left the lasting impression that crazy wild Grey left on our family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 LOL, Jay Jay sounds like one funny grey. Most wild caught parrots never really get as hand tame as hand fed babies, but it sounds like you had a special friendship with him. Having a little bowl of food and water is always good, and that is what all the books and such say to do but I have found that adding food on the towel gets more attention from babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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