please help!!

[algamble]

First time here. I have a beautiful, affectionate 10 month old congo african grey.

 

This morning my 2 year old and I were saying goodbye to my husband in the garage, then I heard the bird screeching and my son (back inside) laughing saying "bath bath"

 

apparently, he discovered the bottle with bleach/water solution on my husbands tool shelf that I disinfected the bird cage with last week, and had sprayed my poor birdie (he's seen me giving her a bath with a spray bottle before) She was on the floor, and I smelled her, and sure enough, she had bleach/water droplets all over her.

 

I ran her over to the sink and rinsed her off under the faucet, poor thing was growling and biting almost making me bleed. She has never, ever bit before.

 

I am almost positive she will be ok, her feathers were nice and slick, so bleach didn't soak into them, I was worried about her eye. She keeps closing it, but it isn't red or irritated, so she may just be exhausted. and she has only sneezed once, probably from her forced bath.

I am very worried about gaining her trust back. I was trying to comfort her after her terrible ordeal, and she would bow her head and let me pet her, then remember and growl/bite my hand. I feel awful for her, I am afraid this will really traumatize her. How easy is it for greys to bounce back from things like this? How can I help??

[judygram]

You maybe should consult an avian vet just to be sure about the bleach/water getting into her eye and causing some damage, better to be safe than sorry.

 

I would continue to handle her the same way you have always handled her and soon she will get over this as she was reacting to your reaction. You got all upset over this incident and so did she and her reaction is natural. But now that it is over she will settle down and go back to her normal self but how long that will take depends on your bird, some get over it quickly and some take longer.

 

Why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room.

[danmcq]

Hello algamble and welcome.

 

You took the right actions, by immediately rinsing your Grey in water to get the chlorine off.

 

It may cause some eye irritation and you should keep an eye on it to observe if it becomes reddened and inflamed.

 

Right now your Grey is upset over the whole snatch and rinse ordeal, not understanding the danger of what just happened. He is/was probably still in a heightened mode of alert and thus bit out of excitement still.

 

I would not view this as an issue right now of losing your Grey's trust. Things will calm down and he will soon realize everything is back to normal.

 

Please keep us posted on how things are going. Also, when you get a chance, why don't you go to the welcome room and introduce yourself. :-)

[BMustee]

Dan and Judy have both given great advise. To echo them, you did the right thing by doing the snatch and rinse. Elmo got in the pool once and I snatched him out and rinsed him off...he was not a happy camper.

 

I would be VERY careful about your sons interations with your grey and what he can get into. Parrots don't like kids from the get-go, so if your grey is mad at you for rinsing him just think about how much more mad he is at your son because he was the one that sprayed him.

[Tycos_mom]

Poor baby I glad you got her in the water quikly she just felt your stress and became stressed herself she will forgive you. Last summer my amazon flew into a fly paper strip now that was a serios ordeal first I had to oil her down with olive oil to disolve the fly paper glue and then I had to bath her in dawn dish soap to get all the oil off her it took hours and I was so lucky that she loves me or I'm sure I would of had to go to emergency for stiches she's one big bird at 450 grams and shes not fat. I wouldn't worry If she loved you before she will love you again just be extra nice to her and give her a few extra treats and mabie spoon feed her her favorite foods she will be back to normal before you know it.