Uglow started barbering. Cautiously optimistic.

Uglow

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Jan 19, 2016
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Little homie started barbering. 2 days ago we woke up with a bunch of these at the bottom of his cage. It looked bad. and my wife and I were devastated.
IMG_2354_zpsws0unnpm.jpg

I took his cage and tree stand apart and gave everything a deep clean and rearranged everthing. Made him a brand new batch of food leaving out most of the possible allergy culprits. Cut his treats. Contacted both his vets-going in tomorrow. Kept him with us for two days barely letting him out of sight. Cut his sleep time by two hours (I believe he's doing it during the waking hours)

He picked about 5 barbs off during the two days since the initial incident. He got a couple the night before and two more last night.

I couldn't figure out where they were coming from but after some inspection we found the impacted feathers.
IMG_2358_zpseggwjljy.jpg

IMG_2359_zps5bymypmq.jpg


Trying to figure out possible reasons.

-Stove. yesterday I noticed the burners on stove were burning with an orange tip on flames. I guess this produces more CO2 than just the blue flames. Put a call into the landlord. just waiting on the repair person to swing by today.

-sleep. Uglow sleeps for about 12 to 12.5 hours. the last hour of his sleep he's quietly chatty. Think he might just be awake and maybe bored. Maybe too dark to start playing so he turned on his wings.

-Hormones. for the last few weeks he's been wanted to seduce my hands almost every night. I would put him or send him to his flight stand and he would fly back to me to get to my hands. Nothing aggressive, just persistent. after about 5-10 attempts he would stay at his perch and start preening.

-Treats. Since he's been actively flying and regularly working his wings out I've been allowing more treats in his meals and foraging cups. I think this was a bad idea. He pretty much demands them now and we end up upsetting him when he doesn't get them.

-Toy fatigue. He's been pretty bored with toys lately. He's more interested in going to places and inspecting objects that are not toys. I think I gave him too many and now I can't seem to find something that's unique to him. Think I'm going to have to figure out more foraging options. gotta get creative.

-Training fatigue. Uglow's got about 5 or 6 tricks that he does fairly well. color rings he's a bit stubborn with. I haven't been able to train him on anything new in a while. He's so excited that he half asses something just to get his treat and move on to something. It's adorable but its frustrating too. if I pause for a second he hops on to me or he'll do spins until we acknowledge he's doing a trick.

-Night terrors. I don't know what causes them but every night or two Uglow screams and we wake up and tell him he's ok. It starts out softly and he gets louder and louder until we intervene. then he goes back to sleep.

-Allergy. the only new thing I can think of is milk thistle. After reading Katie's thread about poor Jasper I got some as a precautionary treat to give him once in a while. I made a new batch of fresh food leaving out some of the stuff I thought might be affecting him and adding some stuff he hasn't had in a while. He didn't care for it initially but then spent most of last night chowing down. Ordered allergy free sprout mix.

-Illness. Uglow was literally just tested for Psitticosis, Polyoma, Psiticine Beak and Feather Disease and had a complete blood count, fecal and mouth smear. He had his physical and everything came out normal.

-Daylight. it's cold now so he hasn't been getting any. Maybe I need to get a new bulb...do bulbs lose their potency over time?

-Calcium. earlier last week he toe tapped. 3 taps while sitting on my knee watching tv. I added a pinch Osteoform powder with his next meal. He didn't tap again that night or since. Osteoform was prescribed to him when his calcium level was a touch low earlier this year. he's been normal since.

-Humidity. I placed it next to his cage after the incident. The heat is on now so maybe it was probably getting too dry at night. During the day he usually gets two steam baths. I cut his showers down from everyday to once every 2 days because of the cold. but I'm going back to daily after this.

Nail biting. a few weeks ago my wife realized he was spending more time on his nails than usual during preening. there's no damage that I can see or any wounds or anything. he's feet look healthy. but I'll check with the vet tomorrow just be sure.

I don't know what else to consider and what else to change. Anything I'm missing?

To add to the stress of all this. We're gonna be boarding him at the vet this Christmas cause we're flying out of town and my in laws have cats. We got him a macaw cage so he'll have a bit more room but still we keep going back and forth on cancelling.

Anyway, Thanks for reading if you got this far. sorry, just had to get this out and organize my thoughts.
 

plumsmum2005

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Nov 18, 2015
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Fly free Plum, my gorgeous boy.
Hi so sorry to hear this and just to pick up re the bulbs. Yes they should be replaced often, mine says 12 months but working on the side of them being cautious left a while longer. Probably best to got through the instructions again, do a refresh. Dont overdo the usage also.

Foraging, have found the Caitec fixed to cage foragers brilliant, have a look.

Hope you can get to the bottom of this for your little green man?

Boarding, can Uglow build a bit of a bond with any staff before you leave him there? Can you do any short initiations prior to actually boarding him.
 
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SailBoat

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I am going to address this Thread in two Posts. You have put great effort in defining what you have been doing and what possible issues that could drive this behavior.

This Post:
There is real and true fear in knowledgeable owners that their Parrot could be damaging their feathers. When seen, that pain cuts deep. With very few exceptions, in most cases, we just do not know why! Your efforts in line by line reviewing is to be much commended.

Take care not to make a ton of changes, all at one time, as you will have no idea as to what may have start or caused it to end.

Thank-you for what you are doing for your Parrot!

In the next Post, I will comment, line by line!
 
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katie_fleming

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Oct 30, 2012
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Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
I'm so sorry to hear this :(

Do you have a foraging ball you can stuff with shredded paper and other interesting things?
 

GaleriaGila

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May 14, 2016
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As some of you may recall, our first visit to a world-class avian vet (as opposed to our well-meaning hobbyist vet) revealed that the Rb had barbered his mid-wing feathers. This was about 2 years ago, I think. I was mortified. I had seen a few barbered shafts over time, but it didn't dawn on me what they were, and I coudn't see that wing region very well at all. I don't know exactly how long he was barbering because the previous vet didn't spread and examine his wings!

I confess to freaking out and changing everything I could think of at once, taking every shred of information the vet gave me and acting on it. I moved the Rb's cage downstairs where I could visit him constantly; I gave him more playstand and shoulder time; I stopped making him fly lest he be having arthritis pain (anytime he held a foot out, I gave him a lift); I loaded his cage up with his favorite toys and stopped experimenting with new ones; I gave him more baths; I bought him a best-of-JLo CD (the only singer he mimics). He stayed on his natural light schedule... diet stayed the same (Harrison's plus produce, etc.).

By the next big moult (around last August), new feathers were growing in. In February (his next bi-annual check-up, we'll see, but I haven't found any more barbered shafts.

I know this isn't a very good experiment, because I changed everything at once, but it does suggest that there's hope!

Good luck. I remember how awful I felt when the vet showed me the barbered feather stubs.

Hang in there!

P.S. Man, I'm tired of J-Lo but I dare not change ANYTHING.
 

SailBoat

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Little homie started barbering. 2 days ago we woke up with a bunch of these at the bottom of his cage. It looked bad. and my wife and I were devastated.
IMG_2354_zpsws0unnpm.jpg

I took his cage and tree stand apart and gave everything a deep clean and rearranged everthing. Made him a brand new batch of food leaving out most of the possible allergy culprits. Cut his treats. Contacted both his vets-going in tomorrow. Kept him with us for two days barely letting him out of sight. Cut his sleep time by two hours (I believe he's doing it during the waking hours)

Rearranging everything is not the best choice, since Parrots are not crazy about change. Targeted changes of specific items, is better a approach. Removing allergy culprits is always a good choice.

Double check the Treats, they are only to be used for Training and/or rewards! When they become a larger part of the diet - they can result in behavior or health problems.

Sleep is a dangerous area to play - as just how much a specific Parrot needs on a specific night is never the same. Adjusting in segments of 15 minute is much safer when playing in this mine field.


He picked about 5 barbs off during the two days since the initial incident. He got a couple the night before and two more last night.

I couldn't figure out where they were coming from but after some inspection we found the impacted feathers.
IMG_2358_zpseggwjljy.jpg

IMG_2359_zps5bymypmq.jpg


Trying to figure out possible reasons.

-Stove. yesterday I noticed the burners on stove were burning with an orange tip on flames. I guess this produces more CO2 than just the blue flames. Put a call into the landlord. just waiting on the repair person to swing by today.

You are correct that a orange flame will produce more CO2 than a blue flame! Great catch, far too many miss this possible cause! If you have a gas fired hot water heater and/or furnace, have those checked also!

-sleep. Uglow sleeps for about 12 to 12.5 hours. the last hour of his sleep he's quietly chatty. Think he might just be awake and maybe bored. Maybe too dark to start playing so he turned on his wings.

Barbering is commonly linked to over-preening and a bored Parrot have been known to over-preen. This is first seen as 'in specific places' feathers missing section that have been cut (barbered) away. Being Bored is a difficult behavior to identify and correct. Avoid major changes in length of sleep, you are in a good general time period of this time of year. Reducing sleep time at the first of December is to early IMHO!

-Hormones. for the last few weeks he's been wanted to seduce my hands almost every night. I would put him or send him to his flight stand and he would fly back to me to get to my hands. Nothing aggressive, just persistent. after about 5-10 attempts he would stay at his perch and start preening.

At 12 - 12.5 hours of sleep, unless there is something that is keeping him awake, is about right for this time of year based on Chicago Day /Night Sun schedule. So, look at an issue with Food, how its served (avoid warm foods). We are into the entry of Hormonal Season and you taking care of not simulating is very important!

-Treats. Since he's been actively flying and regularly working his wings out I've been allowing more treats in his meals and foraging cups. I think this was a bad idea. He pretty much demands them now and we end up upsetting him when he doesn't get them.

This is a very common error! Treats have a very specific and 'limited' use! Just adding them into the diet 'cause' he's fly is problematic since too many Treats can seriously screw-up the diet and drive a Hormonal response. Plus, as you are now seeing a pissed-off Parrot! You're now caught and having to back-out the same way you came in, cutting back a few at a time. Not fun!

-Toy fatigue. He's been pretty bored with toys lately. He's more interested in going to places and inspecting objects that are not toys. I think I gave him too many and now I can't seem to find something that's unique to him. Think I'm going to have to figure out more foraging options. gotta get creative.
Yup, that can happen! But also, could be hunting-out a nesting sight is just as likely. We rotate toys overtime, assuring that we are not making major shifts, but targeting transition! If your Parrot enjoys foraging toys, go for it! But like any toy, transitioning is important.

At this point, I'm short on time, so I will make this the end of Post #2 and will complete with Post #3.

-Training fatigue. Uglow's got about 5 or 6 tricks that he does fairly well. color rings he's a bit stubborn with. I haven't been able to train him on anything new in a while. He's so excited that he half asses something just to get his treat and move on to something. It's adorable but its frustrating too. if I pause for a second he hops on to me or he'll do spins until we acknowledge he's doing a trick.

-Night terrors. I don't know what causes them but every night or two Uglow screams and we wake up and tell him he's ok. It starts out softly and he gets louder and louder until we intervene. then he goes back to sleep.

-Allergy. the only new thing I can think of is milk thistle. After reading Katie's thread about poor Jasper I got some as a precautionary treat to give him once in a while. I made a new batch of fresh food leaving out some of the stuff I thought might be affecting him and adding some stuff he hasn't had in a while. He didn't care for it initially but then spent most of last night chowing down. Ordered allergy free sprout mix.

-Illness. Uglow was literally just tested for Psitticosis, Polyoma, Psiticine Beak and Feather Disease and had a complete blood count, fecal and mouth smear. He had his physical and everything came out normal.

-Daylight. it's cold now so he hasn't been getting any. Maybe I need to get a new bulb...do bulbs lose their potency over time?

-Calcium. earlier last week he toe tapped. 3 taps while sitting on my knee watching tv. I added a pinch Osteoform powder with his next meal. He didn't tap again that night or since. Osteoform was prescribed to him when his calcium level was a touch low earlier this year. he's been normal since.

-Humidity. I placed it next to his cage after the incident. The heat is on now so maybe it was probably getting too dry at night. During the day he usually gets two steam baths. I cut his showers down from everyday to once every 2 days because of the cold. but I'm going back to daily after this.

Nail biting. a few weeks ago my wife realized he was spending more time on his nails than usual during preening. there's no damage that I can see or any wounds or anything. he's feet look healthy. but I'll check with the vet tomorrow just be sure.

I don't know what else to consider and what else to change. Anything I'm missing?

To add to the stress of all this. We're gonna be boarding him at the vet this Christmas cause we're flying out of town and my in laws have cats. We got him a macaw cage so he'll have a bit more room but still we keep going back and forth on cancelling.

Anyway, Thanks for reading if you got this far. sorry, just had to get this out and organize my thoughts.

As noted above: At this point, I'm short on time, so I will make this the end of Post #2 and will complete with Post #3.
 
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Uglow

Uglow

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thanks guys. I've gotta chatty poof ball on my shoulder right now and can't type for too long or he'll want to get in on the action. So far so good today. I'll check in tomorrow after the vet visit. thanks so much for the well wishes and suggestions.
 

SailBoat

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Post #3: See further down for my additional comments.

Little homie started barbering. 2 days ago we woke up with a bunch of these at the bottom of his cage. It looked bad. and my wife and I were devastated.
wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x507.
IMG_2354_zpsws0unnpm.jpg

I took his cage and tree stand apart and gave everything a deep clean and rearranged everthing. Made him a brand new batch of food leaving out most of the possible allergy culprits. Cut his treats. Contacted both his vets-going in tomorrow. Kept him with us for two days barely letting him out of sight. Cut his sleep time by two hours (I believe he's doing it during the waking hours)

He picked about 5 barbs off during the two days since the initial incident. He got a couple the night before and two more last night.

I couldn't figure out where they were coming from but after some inspection we found the impacted feathers.
wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x596.
IMG_2358_zpseggwjljy.jpg

wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x569.
IMG_2359_zps5bymypmq.jpg


Trying to figure out possible reasons.

-Stove. yesterday I noticed the burners on stove were burning with an orange tip on flames. I guess this produces more CO2 than just the blue flames. Put a call into the landlord. just waiting on the repair person to swing by today.

-sleep. Uglow sleeps for about 12 to 12.5 hours. the last hour of his sleep he's quietly chatty. Think he might just be awake and maybe bored. Maybe too dark to start playing so he turned on his wings.

-Hormones. for the last few weeks he's been wanted to seduce my hands almost every night. I would put him or send him to his flight stand and he would fly back to me to get to my hands. Nothing aggressive, just persistent. after about 5-10 attempts he would stay at his perch and start preening.

-Treats. Since he's been actively flying and regularly working his wings out I've been allowing more treats in his meals and foraging cups. I think this was a bad idea. He pretty much demands them now and we end up upsetting him when he doesn't get them.

-Toy fatigue. He's been pretty bored with toys lately. He's more interested in going to places and inspecting objects that are not toys. I think I gave him too many and now I can't seem to find something that's unique to him. Think I'm going to have to figure out more foraging options. gotta get creative.

-Training fatigue. Uglow's got about 5 or 6 tricks that he does fairly well. color rings he's a bit stubborn with. I haven't been able to train him on anything new in a while. He's so excited that he half asses something just to get his treat and move on to something. It's adorable but its frustrating too. if I pause for a second he hops on to me or he'll do spins until we acknowledge he's doing a trick.

Within the Amazon Forum, there is a Thread by Wrench13 that includes the Training Tools used and the life and times of living with an Amazon! It's a great joy to just read and be part of Salty's Life. Take a look in the Amazon Forum at Salt's other Threads. There you will find much regarding Training. In following Salty's Life, I have learn the importance of setting a specific time, each day and that time has a specific length.

I hope that you are not adjusting /limiting his base diet to better support his interest in training! Also, consider verbal joy as part of the reward!


-Night terrors. I don't know what causes them but every night or two Uglow screams and we wake up and tell him he's ok. It starts out softly and he gets louder and louder until we intervene. then he goes back to sleep.

Little bit too dark? If you use a cover over the cage: Try a lighter weight cover. Next step, try opening the one side, then two sides, then three, and yes, if needed fully removed the cover. If that does not work, try a night light in the room! Remember to Transition! Check the clock to determine if a timeline is involved or if the furnace is coming on, etc... Night Terrors ripe into the amount of restful sleep your Parrot is in fact getting, which can tip him in to a Hormonal Response.

-Allergy. the only new thing I can think of is milk thistle. After reading Katie's thread about poor Jasper I got some as a precautionary treat to give him once in a while. I made a new batch of fresh food leaving out some of the stuff I thought might be affecting him and adding some stuff he hasn't had in a while. He didn't care for it initially but then spent most of last night chowing down. Ordered allergy free sprout mix.

Print out and take your Thread with you to your Vet! Have your Vet run a Full Blood Spectrum. Your Vet may request to take a skin sample from a couple of places to check for possible medical source. Take care switching diet without working with your Vet.

-Illness. Uglow was literally just tested for Psitticosis, Polyoma, Psiticine Beak and Feather Disease and had a complete blood count, fecal and mouth smear. He had his physical and everything came out normal.

Great test base! That will provide a solid base for any new tests!

-Daylight. it's cold now so he hasn't been getting any. Maybe I need to get a new bulb...do bulbs lose their potency over time?

Yes, they do and much quicker than stated. What are you using and what wattage?

NOTE: Any day there is Sunshine get him in front of a Window that is facing South. If no one is home during the day, set the cage in front of the window, set the cage 18" minimum from the glass surface.


-Calcium. earlier last week he toe tapped. 3 taps while sitting on my knee watching tv. I added a pinch Osteoform powder with his next meal. He didn't tap again that night or since. Osteoform was prescribed to him when his calcium level was a touch low earlier this year. he's been normal since.

Follow-up with your Vet on this subject!

-Humidity. I placed it next to his cage after the incident. The heat is on now so maybe it was probably getting too dry at night. During the day he usually gets two steam baths. I cut his showers down from everyday to once every 2 days because of the cold. but I'm going back to daily after this.

Take care with the number of baths in the Winter!!! In this case, it can work against your goal! A slight build-up of natural oils can help limit the skin becoming overly dry. One should never guess about Humidity levels!!! Get a good combination instrument, because Humidity level is very specific to temperature. Set you home at one temperature and leave it at the temperature 24 /7! Target a Humidity level above 35, but not greater than 45 at 70 degrees F. Remember that the Humidity level will change with temperature, so if you are higher or lower, you will need to adjust.

Nail biting. a few weeks ago my wife realized he was spending more time on his nails than usual during preening. there's no damage that I can see or any wounds or anything. he's feet look healthy. but I'll check with the vet tomorrow just be sure.

I don't know what else to consider and what else to change. Anything I'm missing?

At this point, its all about the Vet's input and your transitioning with the above! Have your Vet define the condition of the skin at the base on the effective feathers!

To add to the stress of all this. We're gonna be boarding him at the vet this Christmas cause we're flying out of town and my in laws have cats. We got him a macaw cage so he'll have a bit more room but still we keep going back and forth on cancelling.

Please follow my Good Friends comments regarding this subject!

FYI: Our Parrot connect very closely with our emotions and can feed (both good and bad) from us! Lower your emotions /stress, will help greatly!

Anyway, Thanks for reading if you got this far. sorry, just had to get this out and organize my thoughts.



Hope that this helps!
 

chris-md

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Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
Wow poor Uglow :( I know your heartbreak all too well!

Steven really did a great job breaking it all down. To limit your list down, I’d focus your efforts on the likely and most common causes:

Boredom/enrichment
Hormones
Diet - salicylate sensitivities specifically is known to result in plucking and barbering
Disease
Fear - pull back from any windows. If not possible, cover the windows

And TIME. it is quite likely there is nothing wrong and this was simply a one time event.

How old is Uglow?
 

Jottlebot

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Goodness me. Poor Uglow and family.

This serves as a real reminder of how delicate eckies are. I know any bird can barber and most of your considerations are applicable to all, but there are some eckie specific issues too I think? I think they are beautiful beautiful birds, but far too high need for my capabilities. You clearly have what it takes! I have no doubt you will get on top of this even if the absolute cause is never pinpointed. Good luck with it.
 
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Uglow

Uglow

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Woke up today to find a single barb at the bottom of his cage and he molted one of the feathers that had several barbs chewed off. So that's three days now with 3 or less barbs. I'll take it. Here's the molted feather with some older feathers of similar size and location.
IMG_2373_zpsr4t4jpiq.jpg

IMG_2375_zpsadlfm2iy.jpg

IMG_2376_zpstg3i5hhb.jpg


As usual Uglow was a champ at his vet visit. They love him over there. On the way to the vet I got a call in the car and when I answered Hello Uglow interrupted the caller with a Hello of his own. Ha.
Anyway, the vet basically did a physical. went back through his test results and blood work, checked his skin and feathers. She didn't want to start randomly testing. She had a bunch of questions and listened to my list of possibilities. She doesn't think it's a medical issue and leaning to environmental and/or dietary and/or hormones. She wants me to keep the humidity at a comfortable level, continue to log his food (keep treats to a minimum) discourage hormonal behavior, and basically just keep an eye on him. I go back in 3 weeks if nothing changes, sooner if he gets worse. This is his secondary avian vet. His primary one was not available. I'll contact him to get a second opinion.

Again thank you guys for taking the time to comment and for your best wishes. It's very sweet.

plumsmum2005, Thank you. I'm super lucky, windycityparrots is literally down the street. I'll head in tomorrow morning and grab a new bulb and see what else they have. Uglow's not big on plastic toys attached to the side of the cage, he's more of a hanging cups kinda guy. I'm sure I just haven't found the right one. As for doing an introductory thing, I wish I had thought of this sooner. It took me a while to figure out where we were going to board him. We were gonna fly him out with us but my in laws rescued a cat in the meantime. I don't want to fly him out to Arizona and lock him up in a room. One thing he's got going for him is he loves strangers. It's weird but any new person that comes in Uglow flies to their shoulder and just stares at them. I removed him right away of course. So my hope is that he'll fair better than a bird that only likes one person. They did put him on their plucker list so they'll be spending more time with him and will be checking with me daily. The good thing is there'll be vet on hand the entire time. I'll go in a day early and set up his cage for macaw cage for him and I'll bring him with.

Katie, yes he's got one ball and and one stainless steel kabob for fruits and veggies. He loves them. I think I'm gonna get couple more balls and fill them with other things for some variety

GaleriaGila, thank you for sharing. Hope his visit goes well and it was just a passing thing. I'm hopeful we caught Uglow in time and that it's just a slight set back. I'm gonna go ahead and take a hard pass on J-Lo though. :D apologies. But you're right he does like some of the music I play, so I'll play it more often.

Chris, thanks homie. yeah seeing those barbs was a gut punch. Uglow is so active and self motivated that I didn't realize that maybe he was getting bored with his toys. So I think it's time to reevaluate his set up. I'm gonna sit down and deconstruct his diet again too. I'll be mindful of salicylate. Didn't know that was a thing. Oh and Uglow was 2 in September.

Jottlebot, thank you. Honestly I think with ekkies you just have to find the balance and be a little more prepared for new things that arise. It's an experience thing that my wife and I were prepared for but just didn't have. I think we let our guard down a bit. Hopefully we can make it right.

Sailboat, wow thank you for taking the time to go through this with me. and thanks for the kind words. So i'm gonna go through what you wrote.
-so seeds are on the way out now. unless they're sprouted. I was only giving him a half teaspoon with his food but still. went to a quarter spoon last couple of days and gonna ween him off them quickly.
-rearranged his cage with mostly familiar perches and toys. Just set them up in different places. So it wasn't too dramatic. same with this play stand. We both noticed a bit more pep in his step. Making a trip tomorrow to pick up some new items that will hopefully enhance his experiences.
-sleep. yeah you're right. I was just worried he was doing it in the last hour or two of his sleep time. Last three days since the first incident have only yielded 4 or 5 barbs total. but yeah, I think I'm gonna go with a solid 12 and adjust from there.
-Gas quality is a-ok. getting a new stove tomorrow. yay landlord.
-yeah, I'm a stalker in the Salty thread. I'm only online here at home but I check it out when I'm out and about on my phone in waiting rooms etc. i'll keep better track of it and take note.
-I think I've been pretty careful with balancing his diet to meet his health needs. treats are just for training but I was including some in his food. it started as a means to get him to eat his veggies and it just became a part of it. Anyway, I'm gonna ween those out. I guess he's ok with verbal praise during training but we're still talking about an ekkie here. :D
-as for his night screams. we haven't been able to figure any sort of pattern. but I'm gonna get a night light and see if that helps. then i'll try removing part of the cover side by side like you suggested.
-we're gonna shop for a better humidifier with a better gauge.

So, I'll keep you guys posted and wanted to thank you again for the taking the time. this place is too cool.
 

chris-md

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Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
I think you might actually have your answer there. My avian vet once told me - when we were exploring reasons for parkers barbering - they will sometimes barber during a molt to help things along a bit. That could be what’s happening here.
 
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Uglow

Uglow

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I think you might actually have your answer there. My avian vet once told me - when we were exploring reasons for parkers barbering - they will sometimes barber during a molt to help things along a bit. That could be what’s happening here.

HA, you know what Chris? the vet said the exact same thing today and I thought "no way" to myself. :rolleyes: :34:
So maybe. I'll keep on it. I'll check back in with a progress report. So far so good today.
Thanks Chris
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
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DYH Amazon
First get a good quality Temp /Humid devise! Set it near your Parrot and that will be your guide to adjusting the Humidifier. The read-out on the Humidifier will be high when it is running and low when it is not! It will drive you nuts, if you base your adjustments at the unit!
 
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Uglow

Uglow

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First get a good quality Temp /Humid devise! Set it near your Parrot and that will be your guide to adjusting the Humidifier. The read-out on the Humidifier will be high when it is running and low when it is not! It will drive you nuts, if you base your adjustments at the unit!

on it. thank you

Oscar barbers his tail feathers just before they molt out.

good know. thank you.

Uglow woke up with a single barb today. Everything else seems normal.
 

katie_fleming

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Oct 30, 2012
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Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
Uglow, this is the humidifier I have. I went through 4 others before this one (partially because of the hard water in Montreal leaving mineral deposits). This one is amazing, I HIGHLY recommend it.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00HGDRUZ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And absorption pads are super cheap

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000BV6D5O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a cheap clock/temperature/humidifier that I keep on the opposite side of the living room. Between the humidifier read-out and this one, they're normally within 5% of each other FTR.
 
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Uglow

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Thanks Katie. I'll have look.

Edit/Update 11/30/17: one barb this morning. One thing I've noticed is his hormonal behavior has subsided.
 
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Uglow

Uglow

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quick update.
it's been seven day since my last update.
Uglow has barbed pieces off his feathers for the last 7 days.
exclusively in his cage overnight.
He's been waking up with an average of 3 every morning.
Still nothing like the first time but still we're concerned.
no molted barbed feathers since the first one.
New humidifier coming in this week. Still no idea what the definitive cause is.
He's been his usual self otherwise. Though the second half of the day yesterday he spent a lot of time preening. Not sure if we're just noticing it more because of the barbing or if he has in fact preening more regularly.

In other news. He learned how to say "cool" ha
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6BCRSODKDw&feature=youtu.be"]Uglow Says "Cool" - YouTube[/ame]

Just trying to keep this updated until we nail what's going on.
 

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