I adopted my first CAG

scunan

New member
Aug 2, 2011
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We have many animals and adopt whenever we can. I just adopted a female CAG who is about 7 years old and she is a feather plucker. The place we got her from was not the greatest, the people were nice but the place was very dirty. Anyways we have had Alley for a couple of days now and have been giving her lots of attention, have her eating pellets, fruits, vegetables and sometimes a little of what I am eating. Things are progressing nicely. I noticed that when she is plucking she appears to be itchy.

I have her scheduled for an appoinment with an avian vet tomorrow but may have to cancel until I can socialize her so that I can get her out of the cage. Ali is very friendly until I reach in her cage to try and get her to step up. When I do this she growls and bites and is very afraid. So if I can not get her out of the cage I cannot take her to the vet.

I plan on working with her everyday putting my hand in and trying to get her to eventually step up. I know eventually I will gain her trust. I dont want to reach in there and just grab her and really strees her out.

What would you do in my situation? Wait a week or two and then take her to the vet? She is growing feathers back that are all fluffy down feathers and she is always occupied by one of the four of us with someone being home 24/7 and we keep adding toys so she wont get bored.
 

MikeyTN

New member
Feb 1, 2011
13,296
17
Antioch, TN
Parrots
"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
There's different ways to do it. One is to let her come to you on her own. Another is to try to train her to come to you. There's different methods so you need to find out what works for you in your best interest. Watch some training videos on Youtube such as target training, which I really like but I have my own methods of training as well. Good luck and thanks for rescuing the poor baby out of the filthy condition.
 

Netty

New member
Jul 30, 2011
125
0
GTA ontario
Parrots
none yet. have owned avians in the past
Hello,

i saw your post about your new CAG,
first off CONGRATZ! i plan on getting one within the next few years.
second, what a saint you are for helping out a bird in need.

third! if you have to cancel the vet appointment until she is properly social enough to get her out of the cage try:
spraying her down with a 50 -50 mix of aloe juice (try for organic and make sure there is only aloe and water in it)

add some organic red palm oil to her food.

if your house is fairly dry try adding a humidifier to near her cage to raise the humidity in the room (aim for around 50% min. where she spends most of her time)

and finally! try and keep her VERY occupied, the less of a chance she has to pluck the less she will pluck!

also avoid peanuts in her diet it can cause skin irritation that leads to plucking.

But def try to get her to a vet ASAP
(also continue doing these things as a general rule of thumb the greys i have met with the aloe baths have soft feathers. same with the palm oil but they have awesome beaks and nice skin to! and the birds come from a fairly humid environment naturally so it makes sense to have the added humidity on a regular basis especially in the winter.)
 

musser1972

New member
Jun 24, 2011
11
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Ohio
Parrots
Congo African Grey
Scunan,

We have a lot in common right now. I just adopted a COG that was with his original owner for 15 years. His original owner died and I don't think his wife did much with the bird. Then he went to another home for 6 months. I have him now and he has plucked all around the front of his neck area. I could tell when I picked him up that they didn't offer him anything to play with other than the two old torn up toys that had obviously been in his cage for years. They also fed him peanuts daily. So, at this point his plucking could be due to stress and the itchy skin from all the peanuts. I've only had him for 4 days. I moved the old toys to the back corners of his cage and put several new toys in for him. I also put some small plastic toy balls on top of his cage. He went crazy playing with them. I have been talking to him and telling him how sweet and pretty he is and feeding him lots of fruits and veggies and pretty much anything else good for him. He saw me petting and scratching the dogs last night and obviously wanted some for himself. I cautiously approached the cage, as he has not given me an ok to step up yet, but when I asked him if he wanted scratches, he put his head all the way down and let me rub and pet his head forever. I had to go back several times to rub his head. I was overjoyed at his quick progress and I already love him very much. I'm so glad I found him in time and he is going to love his new home with us. Good luck to you!
 
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scunan

New member
Aug 2, 2011
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I finally took my bird to the vet today. We took her in her cage because she growls at us when we try to handle her. The vet was a very experienced avian vet and she calmly talked to Allie and then went in with a towel got her in the towel and showed us how to hold her without hurting her until she is calm enough to be held without a towl. Anyways her lungs and heart sounded good. The vet said she appears to be in pretty good shape aside from the feather plucking and a poorly healed broken leg that appeared to be a very old injury. The leg is healed and she is not in pain, it is just shorter than the other leg due to the way it healed.

We also had the vet remove her leg band which was sometmes cutting her leg. I ended up leaving with her nails trimmed, some new Harrisons pellets, aloe spray, some sort of liquid vitamin and an educational video. We are scheduled to return in about 8 weeks for blood work and a follow up.

Overall it turned out to be a good appointment but somewhat stressful for Allie our new COG.
 

Cowtown

New member
Aug 4, 2010
1,192
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Great State of Texas
Parrots
Abby 2 year old Female Eclectus & Solomon 12 year old Male CAG & Dickens 4 year old CAG.
Congratulations on being a good guardian for Allie.
I commend you for taking her to the vet in her cage.
It will take some time for her to adjust to you and her new surroundings. I have had Abby for a year now and I do not reach in her cage to get her out. I open the door and she comes out on her own and then I get her to step up.

research on the web for CAGs diets... as was said above... no peanuts... or dried fruit or veggies... they have chemicals in them that is poison to birds.

Keep us posted and we would love to see some pictures of Allie.
 

Netty

New member
Jul 30, 2011
125
0
GTA ontario
Parrots
none yet. have owned avians in the past
research on the web for CAGs diets... as was said above... no peanuts... or dried fruit or veggies... they have chemicals in them that is poison to birds.

LOOPHOLE : dried fruit and veg CAN be safe, you can pick up a dehydrator for pretty cheap at walmart and do them yourself ;)
 

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