Post by lmevers on Nov 9, 2008 18:49:27 GMT -5
Hi...so happy to find this forum as it is hard to get reliable information on birds sometimes. Avian vets are not so easy to come by and with the economy...well...you know. 
I have had a number of birds throughout the years and recently was just down to three....two b/g macaws and an african grey. The one b/g (Jo Jo) had a feather plucking (LOOKED minor) when I bought him from someone who had to keep her in her garage as she had developed an allergy. I had quite a number of other birds so I could not keep her out of her cage as much as she had been accustomed to and the feather plucking became more serious. Had her checked at the vet...and it was behavioral they said. I purchased another b/g (Casey) hoping they would bond. They got along for a week and then the new b/g proceeded to try to peck her to death while sitting on her.
They went to separate cages and I had all three large birds in one room in separate cages. We tried every cure we could find to get her to stop picking but to no avail.
A year and a half ago Jo Jo (feather plucker) fell off her perch in the middle of the night. (by now she was totally plucked on her chest and legs, head and wings totally feathered) I thought I lost her as by the time my daughter and I woke up and realized what was going on (she was screaming bloody murder) she had caught her wing under the crate at the bottom along with a foot (no doubt trying to get her wing out) and proceeded to try to amputate her foot/wing to get out. Took her to the vet and luckily she was OK but badly shaken. After that night it was almost impossible to hold her and only one daughter could get her out. She shook really bad and flared her wings/eyes/etc when anyone would go by her cage. It broke my heart and I tried to spend a lot of time with her but she would make me think she wanted to bond and then proceed to take a chunk out of me.
My children convinced me in May she would be better elsewhere as the two b/g were so competitive (screaming matches) and we couldn't hold her. I found a sanctuary for her and she seems to be happy. I miss her so much and feel so bad that after 15 years I couldn't handle her.
She and I used to be so close.
NOW the problem I am writing about.
The b/g cages are larger than the one I had the macaw in so I scoured out, disinfected and rinsed well the cage Jo Jo was in and put my grey (Onyx) in her cage so he could have more room.
Guess what? He is picking his feathers more than the normal molt feather loss we used to see.
What is up with that? Any ideas/suggestions?
Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.
I have had a number of birds throughout the years and recently was just down to three....two b/g macaws and an african grey. The one b/g (Jo Jo) had a feather plucking (LOOKED minor) when I bought him from someone who had to keep her in her garage as she had developed an allergy. I had quite a number of other birds so I could not keep her out of her cage as much as she had been accustomed to and the feather plucking became more serious. Had her checked at the vet...and it was behavioral they said. I purchased another b/g (Casey) hoping they would bond. They got along for a week and then the new b/g proceeded to try to peck her to death while sitting on her.
They went to separate cages and I had all three large birds in one room in separate cages. We tried every cure we could find to get her to stop picking but to no avail.
A year and a half ago Jo Jo (feather plucker) fell off her perch in the middle of the night. (by now she was totally plucked on her chest and legs, head and wings totally feathered) I thought I lost her as by the time my daughter and I woke up and realized what was going on (she was screaming bloody murder) she had caught her wing under the crate at the bottom along with a foot (no doubt trying to get her wing out) and proceeded to try to amputate her foot/wing to get out. Took her to the vet and luckily she was OK but badly shaken. After that night it was almost impossible to hold her and only one daughter could get her out. She shook really bad and flared her wings/eyes/etc when anyone would go by her cage. It broke my heart and I tried to spend a lot of time with her but she would make me think she wanted to bond and then proceed to take a chunk out of me.
My children convinced me in May she would be better elsewhere as the two b/g were so competitive (screaming matches) and we couldn't hold her. I found a sanctuary for her and she seems to be happy. I miss her so much and feel so bad that after 15 years I couldn't handle her.
She and I used to be so close.NOW the problem I am writing about.
The b/g cages are larger than the one I had the macaw in so I scoured out, disinfected and rinsed well the cage Jo Jo was in and put my grey (Onyx) in her cage so he could have more room.
Guess what? He is picking his feathers more than the normal molt feather loss we used to see.
What is up with that? Any ideas/suggestions?
Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.