Hello from another South African...

[jewelery]

Hello all...it is very welcome to find a forum like this to help with all the questions we have.

I have a Blue male ringneck, Sky...then a recently acquired green female, Jewel, and a rescued rainbow, Rio (he is the reason I am here). I also have a seven-month old African Grey Timneh, Storm, and my husband owns a Blue Fronted Amazon called Whiskey.

Rio was rescued from a family who had his cage in a fireplace, owned cats and loud children who would totally freak him out. When I took him home, his wings underneath were chewed raw, his tail feathers chewed and curled, and as you can imagine he would freak every time someone came near him. I have had him home now for around three months. While his wings have healed, his tail feathers have remained curled, and he still looks really scruffy. He has calmed down quite a bit. We feed him on a seed/pellet diet, with fresh fruit daily. I first was treating him with the spray to stop plucking, as well as the powder dissolved in his drinking water to anti-stress him. Is it possible that he may have a mite or skin disease ? He doesn't seem to chew at himself anymore, but is not improving in looks.

Any advice ?

[dean_harryman]

Welcome,

It would probably be a good idea to find a local avian vet, and take Rio for a checkup, otherwise....

It takes time for feathers to fall out and regrow. you seem to be doing things the right way, a healthy diet, and lots of fresh veg and fruit, and some time will heal him up, and have him looking and acting a million times better.

good luck to you and your RIO! and keep us posted!

[jewelery]

Hi there, thank you very much....will take pics of all the feaathered friends when I get home from work, and post....take care...

[Wessel Gordon]

Hi Jewelery

Welcome to the forum.

I'm from South Africa as well. My feathered family are a pair of budgies (male and female), 3 male IRN's and a female IRN that's busy incubating her first ever clutch of eggs. Can't wait for them to start hatching which should be during either the first or second week of September.

My female IRN has plucking issues too. She only has the tail and wingtip feathers intact...the rest will regrow every now and then just to mysteriously vanish. Nobody could explain her reasons for doing it so I accepted that she'll always do it. The fact that she's incubating her first clutch at 6 years old shows that whatever causes her plucking (medical or emotional) isn't enough to deter her.

My birds seems fine with the two cats and four dogs I also have...the cats even sleep on top of the birdcages every now and then without alarming or hurting the birds. The cats are both actually still kittens so it's easier to train them to leave stuff alone.

Is Rio in a cage on his own or does he share with Sky and Jewel? I adopted a female last December with serious plucking issues as well; when she arrived I put her in a cage with my other IRN's (she was kept on her own by her previous owner) and in a few weeks she had her full compliment of feathers but unfortunately she died a few months later. So considering housing them together might be a solution to your problem as well but like dean_harryman said it's better to have her checked by a vet anyway.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Wessel

[jewelery]

Hey Wessel, thanks, it is great to "meet" you....

Rio, Sky and Whiskey are all housed in their own individual cages....Jewel only arrived on Sunday, (in her own cage) and after placing the cage between Rio's and Sky's cages (you can imagine the excitement) we decided to put her in with Sky. They are playing the "cold shoulder" with each other at the moment, but every now and again will sidle up to each other, realise this and squawk away !!! I mean really !!!!

We have three miniature sausage dogs too, which are always around, and besides Sky "shouting" at Mac when he barks, the birds don't have a problem with them (Did I mention ALL the birds are indoors)

Anyway, I'm not really sure where in my area there is an avian vet, the nearest one although able to clip wings and so on, is not a bird specialist.

I'll do some more research into this tomorrow, but will in the meantime take pics of everyone tonight and show off....

Till then, take care....

[Wessel Gordon]

At least Rio and Sky tolerate each other and don't resort to physical attacks. I have an extra male with the pair that's breeding at the moment, luckily they just ignore him unless he intrudes on what they consider their territory and even then it's just a lot of noise but no fighting...not sure how that will change when the eggs hatch.

[jewelery]

Hello, and thank you very much. In our house we have a very strict "research" rule when it comes to any pets.....so in the zoo, besides Rio, Sky, Jewel, Whiskey and Storm....there are a budgie pair called "Fudgie and Budgie" (very inventive), three miniature sausage dogs, Gem, Mac and Chico, then two bearded dragons, Scarlet and Spike, a Guppy fishtank.....a husband Eric and two teenagers Chanene and Damian...all in all, a very busy, happy, noisy house in all.....oh yes....and don't forget the "fairy" who quietly and effectively manages it all...yours truly..... .

We try to keep as much to the rules as possible when it comes to the pets, and naturally are distressed when one of them is not well.

Whilst Rio has come a long way, he chirps quite happily, doesn't flap and freak and hide in the top corner of his cage like he used to...he still isn't 100% right.....so a little extra "help" never hurts.....

Thank you to all for the valuable advice here...it sure does help people like us......

[Wessel Gordon]

Jewelery,

It sounds like the fairy needs a break. Not sure I could cope with all that to take care of.

[jewelery]

Good one Wessel..the "fairy" has a secret for that....she goes to work....

[Wessel Gordon]

I'm glad someone else think going to work every day is equal to a vacation. Just put a "do not disturb" sign on the locked door, unplug and switch off all phones and sleep on your desk...works for me, lol.

[jewelery]

Nice one Wessel and Ariahna, however, this fairy thrives on activity and noise.....I am one of those very rare people that does not like silence of any kind, or inactivity...when I'm not doing any of that, I'm either on my laptop, or epad.....(gadget freak)......don't forget the mom taxi thing, cooking, (I do hear this is the best road-house around ) so there is a constant trail of feet thru here more so in the summer months....not to mention Rugby Saturdays.......we were house-bound pretty much for the last eight years or so, and I guess it became a habit which comfortably stuck, so the house is pretty much geared uo as the social spot....keeps us out of mischief....

[jewelery]

P.S How does one post pics here ?

[Wessel Gordon]

Ariahna

Think the only way she copes is loads of caffeine.

[jewelery]

This would be true....It's Jacobs or nothing buddy.....no seriously....I thrive on activity....don't even get me started on going in to the bush.....or camping.......

[Wessel Gordon]

lol, you can have my share of camping...slept in a tent one night during a rainstorm and nearly drowned so I'll stick to a fixed structure.

[jewelery]

lol, you can have my share of camping...slept in a tent one night during a rainstorm and nearly drowned so I'll stick to a fixed structure.

Hear you Wessel, I am the biggest phillistine when it comes to that...I absolutley abhor camping, bush, fishing....if it don't have a toilet that flushes, and running water, a bed...and signal ... do not use thos words in the same sentence as my name.........

[jewelery]

So I got home from work today, and Rio's main middle tail feather has blood down the length of it and there's blood spots on the bottom of his cage....Is he trying to pull this feather out ? I've been watching him and while he preens quite a bit, he doesn't seem to be pulling at his feathers. The tail feathers are the deformed ones from his "previous life"...I've given him a good spray of "Pluck Stop"....but will have to seriously track down an avian vet around here....

[jewelery]

Thanx Ariahna, (btw...you have a fabulous name)....I've been phoning around trying to find an avian vet, and one particular person that I spoke to now, says that unfortunately birds who have been stressed like he has, although you do whatever in terms of food, meds, etc...once they are in the habit of pllucking, will never get out of it.....(much like humans in the sense of cutters and so on)...I hope not...but will not give up on him....not till the fat lady sings, and I'm gonna duck-tape that chick's mouth shut so she can't sing....... Will keep you guys updated...

[ellieelectrons]

I've never used it but I once read about a product called Avicalm that you can give to anxious birds. I wonder if it might work for pluckers? Has anyone used it? I would be extremely reluctant to use something like that without a recommendation from my vet & lots of research but it might be worth investigating.

[ellieelectrons]

Just reread your initial post. Sounds like you've already been using something like Avicalm. Sorry for the repetition.

Are you providing any foraging opportunities? This can take their mind off plucking. Are you able to do any low key training activities with him or is he too traumatised? Training activities can help build rapport.

Ellie.

[Wessel Gordon]

Hi Jewelery

I hope Rio is OK.

Had to break up fights twice now between my two males that share a cage but luckily I could stop the attacker before he managed to injure anything but the other bird's pride. I know it's sensible to separate them but my only other available space is with another male that never shared a cage in his life so I'm not sure how territorial he could get.

[jewelery]

Hi guys....

Ellie, if you stand near his cage and talk softly to him for a while, he is o.k...the minute you attempt to get too near the cage or put a hand inside...he freaks, so we try to just be calm around him. Bearing in mind, when we "inherited" him, he didn't know real sun, fruit or anything in that line. He would hang in the corner of the roof of his cage...at least now, he sits on the perch a bit...if we put fresh apple at the end of the perch and walk away, he'll sidle up and take the apple.....

Wessel, Rio is actually housed in his own cage. We have decided to move him to a bigger cage tomorrow, and move the position of his cage...then change his toys, and see if this perhaps makes a difference...in the meantime I'll keep misting him with the "pluck stop"...

Hubby and I were actually wondering if he might have a mite....but don't want to traumatise him until we have to. I am going to go to the pet store tomorrow and get the dusting powder, then we'll catch him, dust him and move him in one foul swoop, so that all the excitement can get over all at once....we'll see how it goes after that.....

Thanx again guys for all the great advice, with these little guys, it seems to be trial and error....

Take care of all of u till next time.......

[Wessel Gordon]

Jewelery

I was referring to my two birds that needs to be separated but I don't have suitable accommodation right now. Hope Rio likes his new cage.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi jewelry

I commend you for taking on this task. I suspect it would be difficult for most here to give you valuable advice because your bird has experienced serious trauma and will have specialized needs.

I don't know if she will respond, but I would consider emailing Barbara Heidenreich of good bird Inc. She has extensive experience with companion parrots, zoo birds, etc. & has probably worked with birds who have experienced severe trauma.

From what you're saying though, sounds like you are doing the right things by trying to give him a comfortable environment, letting him dictate how quickly you move with him and discovering his favorite foods.

This is reminding me of a radio interview I heard where a scientist conducted experiments on chimps to essentially simulate bad/abusive parenting (it was an awful experiment) but the findings were that the chimps still tried to cling more to the "abusive" mother than they had before. I guess what I'm trying to say, and as you are discovering, although it is fantastic you are giving your bird a safe environment, it will take some time before he will feel comfortable in it.

You are doing the right thing trying to check his physical needs too. Have you taken rio to an avian vet?

Ellie.