Plucking questions

[mas]

Hey everyone,

 

Zahzu has plucked out more feathers from the edge of her left wing - from her shoulder down - can see the skin - its awful!

 

Trying to keep her really busy.

 

Was reading up and have read that something that can help is filling the cage up with foliage for the bird to chew through and also putting loooots of toys in the cage.

 

I have about 10 toys in her cage - plus newspaper and paper to chew and she LOVES to chow macaroni! That keepps her really busy.

 

So, my question is: is it a good idea to put foliage in her cage for her to chew up? And what type would be good for her?

 

I just really wish this plucking would stop - Its really really awful!

 

-Sameera

[danmcq]

I am so sorry to hear this Sameera. I know you have been exhausting every source you can find to help alleviate this plucking problem.

 

It may be time to take Zahzu to an Avian vet and get a full blood panel and check-up to ensure there is not a vitamin deficiency or other issue.

[mas]

Yeah, I think that is probably a good idea - only thing is the vet we currently take her to has not been so gr8 - he recommends when we see her plucking we should spray her with water so she associates 'something bad' happening with plucking. I was like EEEEK NO WAY! and then in his next sentence he tells us bathing is important and we can use a spray bottle to mist her!!

Also, Dave007 pointed out when Zahzu broke her beak that sometimes this can happen when her beak is filed too much - and sure enough her beak was filed down a LOT, also, after her feathers were removed under anesthetic her toe nails were also filed and I noticed one of them was very short and had been bleeding when I picked her up from the vet.

So I'm not keen to take her back to the same vet, and in the town we live in there are no Avian vets I think the nearest would be 2 hours away. Also, she really gets stressed going to the vet... but I have heard of a vet here who breeds African Greys; however he is not an Avian vet - what do you think about trying him rather?

For Zahzu I think there are mulitple causes for this plucking:

1. Bad wing clip

2. We went away for a week - she had 2 ppl checking on her and cleaning her cage daily

3. Toe nail and beak filed down too much & having damaged feathers removed under anesthetic

4. Possible dry skin from not bathing enough

 

I'm home with her all day and she's out of her cage most of the time... and I'm trying sooo hard to stop this...its really upsetting - I feel like I've let her down.

 

-Sameera

[Dave007]

The only foliage that greys can safely nibble on is the type that surrounds palm nuts in the wild. The nuts are their staple food and when they nibble on it, they create openings in the ends of the branches which stimiulate more palm nut growth. It's not a good idea to put foliage in with parrots because even though they most likely won't actually eat the foliage but will only chew at it, many different types of sap which is in various leaves will adhere to the insides of the upper and lower mandibles causing a sticky residue that will take a while to fade away. In the mean time, when your bird eats what food you give him will stick to that gummy substance and create a possible infection. You really should consider going through the many different accepted methods of dimishing plucking/chewing of the feathers even though some of those methods might not work well. It takes a long time to slow down the process of plucking/chewing and most of the time, the bird will not look that great because all of the feathers have to come in evenly.

[danmcq]

Sameera - You have not let your Grey down!! You are doing everything in your power to help Zahzu.

 

Misting with Aloe Juice everyday will help that bald area as well as diminish any itchy areas troublesome nature.

 

Zahzu has been through a lot of malpractice at the hands of your present vet. I would contact the vet that breeds greys and get a feel for how competent they are. I would imagine they may be more so than the present vet your visiting.

 

Keep up the great work you've been doing and as Zahzu heals from all the wounds inflected she will become more normal in nature. Presently there is no way of knowing how much irritation is being experienced from all the filed, clipped and pulled feather areas. It could be that it is almost unbearable.

 

Do not doubt yourself, your right on track and doing everything you can. :-)

[dblhelix]

Agreed Sameera. Keep up the good work. Also going forward, don't let anyone trim Zahzu's beak or nails unless they are truly overgrown. An unecessarily trimmed beak can make it difficult for them to eat, climb and preen. Trimmed nails may make them unsteady on perch as they cannot grip properly. As a general rule, the beak is at a normal length when the tip of the upper beak is about even with the lower beak "jaw line". It can be a bit longer than that and most birds will keep them at this length on their own through filing, chewing, griding etc.

 

Nails may get sharp (and this is good, allows them to have good grip). Dont confuse sharp nails with nails that must be trimmed. If they feel sharp to you, you may just need to get used to that...Nails are too long if when standing on a flat surface the front foot pad is lifted off the surface. Otherwise, nail length is fine. Again, most birds will keep these at proper length on their own. Beak or nails that are too short can lead to plucking.

 

I am not suggesting you did not know these things, just wanted to put them out there in case it helps you or others.

 

Oh yeah, I agree, no foilage. This may lead to other proplems. Keep up with the chew toys (approved woods etc) as these can help diminish plucking by giving them an outlet for energy, plus its greyyyt beak excercise!

 

Keep up the good work. Sounds like Zahzu has been through a rough period, but will pull through and plucking will be eliminated with all your efforts! B)<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2008/06/22 18:36

[mas]

Well, in that case it seems Zahzu's beak and toe nails didn't even need a file. I didn't actually even ask for them to be filed down - her beak was a tiny bit sharp and so were her toes - but it meant she could climb myself and my husband easily! Up our jeans and tops onto our shoulders etc - now she slips off us if she's sitting on our knees poor baby. And, she can't fly at all - she just drops like a rock.... Humans often develop depression after traumatic injury, so for a bird that doesn't understand what's happened its no surprise she's upset.

Anyway - I am on the right continent to get palm nut plants - so will do a bit of research and see if I can get it here - fingers crossed! I think it'll also be much more nutritious than the bottled palm fruit oil she has.

Thanks everyone....will keep you all posted!

[mas]

Oh, another thing I've done is I notice she goes in the corner of her cage and grabs her wing in her foot and plucks the feathers - so I've put toys in the corners of the cage in the hope that if she can't access the places she goes to pluck in, it might reduce her plucking - or she might play with the toys instead.

-S