Plucking Grey

[Diablos pet]

I just adopted a 16 year old Timneh from a rescue. She/he is a speacial needs parrot (I have decided she is a she instead of a he but really do not know). She has plucked most of her feathers. She has some wing feathers, two tail feathers, a bunch of fuzzy feathers over the rest of her body, and ofcourse the ones on her head. I have heard there are sprays to help with the plucking. I took her to a pet store and showed her some toys. if she tried to play with them I bought them. I came home and now she seems to be afraid of all but the bell. I have a Quaker that is the same about new things. He has to get used to them. But I so wanted this one to have some shredding toys so she did not shred herself of her feathers. I placed one of the toys in the bottom of her cage thinking that it would be in a submissive position. That did not work.

Has anyone had this kind of experience?

She is totally content to sit on my shoulder all day. And although I move around she seems to spend a lot of time preening. I know birds do spend a lot of time preening but even rubbing her head against her chest seems to send a bunch of the small feathers sailing.

I have not taken her to the vet yet. Just picked her up late yesterday so will need to wait till Monday to make an appointment.

I am thinking she needs a supplement for molting birds. And know she needs other forms of stimulation so she has less time to pluck, but I'm not sure what else to do since she is afraid of the shredding toys.

Any ideas are welcomed.

Thank you.

[maggy]

Make sure she gets plenty of A,D,C vitamins,and calcium, real sunlight, and twelve hours sleep in a quiet diminished light environment. You can also make a grooming toy out of a cotton mop. Pull the strands out of the mop, fold them over bunch them up and tie securely with another bit of mop and hang this near where she likes to sit. Wash the mop well in clean hot water and dry well before you make this. She will preen it and not herself. I would also suggest you only use clean fresh water to spray her not any chemical or prouced stuff, I've heard its not much good and is expensive. Also let her settle in with you before worrying too much about the plucking. Great idea taking her to the vet..there might be a medical reason for her problem. Would also suggest you give her plenty of natural forage stuff for her to muck about with, both for the micronutients and entertainment.

[Super Parrots]

As far as the toys- very common for Greys to be afraid of toys at first. Don't immediately place in the cage. Put it on the other side of the room for her to look at, then slowly move it closer. You should also make a big deal of playing with it in front of your bird. Once she seems comfortable with the toy then place in the cage. I also agree that a trip to the vet would be a good idea. Good luck.

[Diablos pet]

Thank you very much for the mop idea. I was wanting something for her to preen. While on my shoulder she preened my hair a little but not as much as she was preening herself. I have one of the shreading toys she seemed to like at the pet store on a shelf near the cage she does not seem to mind it there, but in the cage is a no go. I also got her one of those calcium perches hoping she would knaw on it and add to her calcium intake. It is not in the cage now for the same reason.

She is such a low key, slow moving, easy going creature as compared to my high energy curious Quaker. I just want to give her the best chance to be happy and since plucking seems to mean unhappiness, I want to start things off right, give her the attention and the nutrition she needs and deserves.

She was routinely taken to the vet while at the rescue. But since I have a Quaker to consider, I thought it best to have my vet check her out too.

One more question, if I may, what is the best sized cage for a Grey --- The bigger the better?

Thank you again.

[SerBonz]

My vet told me I should put mine in smaller cage. So since Smock is in smaller cage that is cleaner than the one she lived in at her other owners home and eats better food there is no more plucking and chewing the skin.
I think with these things your bird would stop plucking all together.

[Diablos pet]

Thank you.
I think her cage is already pretty small. It is smaller than the one our Quaker, Diablo. I am thinking a new cage should be the next purchase. The current cage is 16 inches deep x 36 in wide x 30 in tall. I think it should be deeper.

[Scritch]

I'm thinking a new cage would help, not hurt. Other general points, you may have heard them all but worth covering...

- A good diet with lots of variety... plucking can be related to dry feathers and skin, common in greys who need a little more fats and oils in their diet. A couple of nuts (I like almonds for greys, lots of calcium) per day are worth trying.

- Natural sunlight and/or full spectrum UV light, at LEAST 1/2 hr daily -- you can buy specialty bird bulbs or use reptile bulbs with a small flourescent fixture near the cage. Should be within 2 ft of the cage for the full benefit.

- Baths, lots of them, if she'll tolerate them -- and if not, this is something you need to work on. Daily mistings and at least 2x weekly soakings are ideal! Birds usually don't pluck when their feathers are wet, and frequent baths help improve feather quality and lessen dryness.

- A decent feeding, handling & attention schedule... not TOO uptight but a bit of a schedule so she knows when to expect food and attention, and when not to. It sometimes makes less secure greys feel more comfortable. It gives them one less thing to worry over.

- And yes, solid 12 hrs sleep every night!

Definitely keep working on offering toys, shredding toys and every other kind. My mom's grey Butters started off terrified of toys, but he's now to the point any new toy in the cage is immediately inspected & played with... it took a while, though. It might actually help to get her in a new cage -- her old cage is familiar WITHOUT new toys and is upsetting when it's different, but if the new cage becomes familiar WITH new toys, she might accept it all as a package. Don't let her get too used to the new cage with particular toys, though... switch them up on a regular basis, but do leave any particular favorite so it's not all brand new.

If she'll play with the toys outside of the cage, try introducing them to her that way and give her a good long time to get comfortable with them before putting them in "her" space.

You said you took her to the pet store? Does she enjoy getting out with you? Because if you're able to get her out safely and she isn't completely stressed by it, that's wonderful and you should do it as often as possible. I can only imagine how I'd feel if I were stuck in the house all the time -- much less one room, or one small cage! -- I'd feel about ready to pull my hair out, too. I think it's important birds be exposed to the great big world out there, as much as possible.

[Diablos pet]

She did seem ok in the store. She has taken to my son who goes out with me when I take her outside. He is taller than I am and acts like a shield. but when a sales person tried to have her step-up she went after her a bit she does not do that if my son wants to remove her from my shoulder but I think the stranger was too much.

Her first "Mommy" was tracked down and told me she had plucked her feathers for her. She was with her for about 12 years and much of it was as a pet in a pet store. It looks like this is a long term habit. But her appearance now is much more drastic then before.

We take her outside each day that is warm enough. Without her feathers she does not do well in cool weather.

Does anyone know if it is ok to use a humidifier in the same room with her? I was thinking that this house does get dry and that might help to use a humidifier on a low setting in her room.

She does not eat walnuts or almonds. She will work on opening the almonds though. Her original owner told me she liked peanutbutter so i gave her a little and yes she does indeed enjoy peanut butter. That is an understatement.

I am looking for a new cage for her. I think having more room would help her from feeling so confined. I let her out of the current cage as much as possible. She is doing better with noisy kinds of toys. The shred toy she still does not play with. She will play with paper cups and small pieces of cardboard. She seldom shreds the paper in the bottom of the cage like she did in the rescue.

She did like the mop suggestion but just as a small diversion.

I have come to accept that she may never stop plucking since this has been how she deals with stress most of her life. But she is adorable and so calm most of the time.

The vet says she may need Prozac. Does anyone know how this works with birds? It is an antidepressant for people.

[jdlilfan]

I have a rehome TAG who was a plucker from stress and poor diet from her previous owners. She quit plucking since she is with me.

She loves things that she can shred. I make little newspaper bouquets for her by tearing up strips of newspaper and tying them together with one strip of it. She also likes to tear up paper towels.

[tkirsch9368]

I have a CAG that plucks also. He has slowed down and was starting to get some feathers in and then he plucked them all out again! I see where ppl say to give them something to shred, I put a paper towel roll in between the bars and put some shredded paper in there and he has just started to chew on it but I think he has decided he dont like it and likes plucking instead. Is there anything else I can make homemade that will keep him oppupied??????