My Third Parrot ! Male Vosmaeri Eclectus :-)

[plumsmum2005]

That's good, Plum would venture onto his stand if nothing else.

 

[Violet_Diva]

The Harrisons High Potency Coarse has arrived!
At the mo I'm giving him 10 individual chunks a day, he seems to enjoy crunching them very much!

The vet recommended 2 tablespoons per day, but I'm still airing on the side of caution for now. I want to see if there's any signs of toe tapping or wing flipping from my current 'dosage'. Only then might I consider increasing the quantity. As I don't want him favouring the Harrisons more than 'real' food (I don't want him filling up on the stuff) I'm giving him them in the evening after he's had all day to graze the fresh 'real' food. Maybe I'm being a fusspot...

He also has some anti picking flakes on the way to add to his diet, which were recommended by a certain parrot plucking expert (Thanks again!)

So far we seem to be heading in the right direction, higher protein and beta keratin levels for regrowth of feathers, more activities in his cage and things to climb / chew / destroy to keep his beak and brain busy (and away from his feathers!) Daily mistings, and bathing every few days to help with the itching and irritation... I know that Bella gets rather grouchy and irritable when she is molting and has feathers growing in. Poor Gerry must feel like that all the time with his wings and tail the way they are.

 

[Violet_Diva]

His poor little chicken wings...

[ame="https://youtu.be/BjbcIqwhdV4"]Male Vosmaeri Eclectus Parrot (Gerry) flapping his little chicken wings - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Violet_Diva]

Little Gerry climbing around - he has the strongest grip!

[ame="https://youtu.be/zMJJRXfpfpU"]Male Vosmaeri Eclectus Parrot (Gerry) playing and climbing - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Violet_Diva]

Asides from his bad night ( http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/72465-gerry-had-bad-night.html ) this is how he's doing...

He's now really content with being caged and is quite happy playing with his toys and chewing blocks and shredding things. When I interact with him caged - he's pleased to see me, gets excited, wants to come out etc. When I get him out he's ok for a while, then starts getting frustrated with me for not understanding what he wants to do, or where he wants to go etc. I'm sure I'll learn his language in time and reduce his frustration with me as a result.

When it's time to put him back in his cage he becomes agitated and takes a while to start enjoying himself in the cage again. He gets rather focused on staying out once out of his cage and can start crunching his wings in protest when I put him back in. So i've been trying to mix the target training sessions around a bit - sometimes completely out of the cage, sometimes in the cage only, and sometimes both, so that when I put him back in the cage, I can go straight into target training and hopefully distract him from wanting to stay out...

It's still tricky to cease interactions with him. If he's doing his own thing in the cage he's fine and doesn't seek interaction. If I'm working with him he's fine. It's just that transition from interacting to not interacting that he seems to have a problem with. Any ideas or suggestions relating to this would be helpful and appreciated.

He's had a couple more episodes of plucking. It was when I went from interacting with him and then to the kitchen that he started doing it, I thought he was either angry at my 'choosing the kitchen over him', or he was trying to make me come back or was scared that I wouldn't come back.

 

[Uglow]

...It's still tricky to cease interactions with him. If he's doing his own thing in the cage he's fine and doesn't seek interaction. If I'm working with him he's fine. It's just that transition from interacting to not interacting that he seems to have a problem with. Any ideas or suggestions relating to this would be helpful and appreciated. ...

Our guy spends most of his time out of the cage so things might be different for Gerry. But I think it might help to think about it this way. Try to make it Gerry's decision to go in his cage.
Uglow has one of these in his cage...
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Bird-C...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V30TK93DWT8AT7WSARPA
Not always, but sometimes I put a few healthy treats in there and he can't wait to go into his cage. It becomes his choice.
We also have a skewer for him in there. a few carrots, a piece of red bell pepper, a piece of kiwi, a couple giant grapes. Attach it inside the cage and watch him crawl down your arm to go inside.
I'm sure Gerry is very sensitive and probably incredibly frustrated that he can't fly to get where he wants to be. You're doing great and with a little time you'll pick up on what he wants and he'll start to trust that you're sticking around. Once he get's his confidence up I feel like he might be a little less needy.
Good luck to you guys.

 

[Violet_Diva]

So Gerry hasn't plucked or barbed any feathers for quite some time. I got home from work today and spotted a green feather in the bottom of his cage, I fished it out and saw where ends were missing from breakage at a black bar, but other than that, seemingly no self inflicted damage, then I spotted another matching feather on the bottom of his cage In the corner... yep... seemingly naturally molted! I was sooooooo relieved!

He has a few big feathers coming in, every day I check them for nibbles! I try not to get too excited by feather growth as I have seen first hand just how quickly he can snip them off!

I'm trying to keep a balance between being pleased but trying to remain realistic. It is my understanding that the plucking habit can be a lifelong behaviour, and I am prepared for that to be an outcome. But for the moment, I'm just pleased that Gerry is settling in, enjoying toys, and seems to be leaving his feathers alone at present! But in all honesty, I do dream of a future where he can fly once again...

 

[Anansi]

I think you are doing an amazing job with Gerry, my friend. You're doing everything right, and have given him a collection of toys that any bird would envy.

I agree with Uglow, the trick is to get him to want to go back into his cage. One of the things I've done in this regard (back before Maya was trained to the point where she would return to her cage immediately and without protest) was to establish from the beginning that inside of the cage is where they get all major meals. (This is especially effective if they are not free eaters, but rather have 2 or 3 meals per day.) Then you could time the end of training or cuddle sessions for around when they'd start feeling hungry. At that point, they want to go back to their cages because that's where food happens.

Timed this way consistently enough, and they come to see the cage as a good and beneficial place. Of course, you also want to have times where they get to come back out shortly after you put them in. Mixing it up that way serves to encourage the belief that the cage is a refuge, and not a place where they get "stuck" by their person.

As for the pellets, I used to give a small share of Harrison's Adult Coarse pellets to Bixby and Maya a few years back (before Jolly joined the family) as a supplement to the fresh chop I gave them everyday. I kept it limited to between 5 and 10 pellets per day, and at such small amounts I never personally observed any ill-effects. But in my opinion it's rather well-established what effect Harrison's pellets can have on eclectus parrots once the amount given passes a certain threshold. So I would be very careful if I were you. Especially since your pellets are the High Potency variety.

Here's a link where I discussed Harrison's less than... conscientious approach to the ekkie issue: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/53854-disgusted.html

And as for Gerry's progress with plucking, I'm celebrating this victory with you! Even if there is a setback down the road, it would in no way diminish what you and Gerry have accomplished right now. It's good that you have mentally prepared yourself for the possibility that his plucking could be a lifelong issue, but I love that you have not allowed such preparation to translate into resignation. Gerry is in the best of hands.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I think you are doing an amazing job with Gerry, my friend. You're doing everything right, and have given him a collection of toys that any bird would envy.

I agree with Uglow, the trick is to get him to want to go back into his cage. One of the things I've done in this regard (back before Maya was trained to the point where she would return to her cage immediately and without protest) was to establish from the beginning that inside of the cage is where they get all major meals. (This is especially effective if they are not free eaters, but rather have 2 or 3 meals per day.) Then you could time the end of training or cuddle sessions for around when they'd start feeling hungry. At that point, they want to go back to their cages because that's where food happens.

Timed this way consistently enough, and they come to see the cage as a good and beneficial place. Of course, you also want to have times where they get to come back out shortly after you put them in. Mixing it up that way serves to encourage the belief that the cage is a refuge, and not a place where they get "stuck" by their person.

As for the pellets, I used to give a small share of Harrison's Adult Coarse pellets to Bixby and Maya a few years back (before Jolly joined the family) as a supplement to the fresh chop I gave them everyday. I kept it limited to between 5 and 10 pellets per day, and at such small amounts I never personally observed any ill-effects. But in my opinion it's rather well-established what effect Harrison's pellets can have on eclectus parrots once the amount given passes a certain threshold. So I would be very careful if I were you. Especially since your pellets are the High Potency variety.

Here's a link where I discussed Harrison's less than... conscientious approach to the ekkie issue: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/53854-disgusted.html

And as for Gerry's progress with plucking, I'm celebrating this victory with you! Even if there is a setback down the road, it would in no way diminish what you and Gerry have accomplished right now. It's good that you have mentally prepared yourself for the possibility that his plucking could be a lifelong issue, but I love that you have not allowed such preparation to translate into resignation. Gerry is in the best of hands.

Thankyou my friend! Gerry has been working his way through those toys like a beast!
He always gets fed in his cage which helps with getting him back in, I never put him in his cage myself, I just lure him in with yummy things
I checked out the thread about Harrisons - WOW
Hopefully I can post some photos soon of his 'new wings' (however small or funny looking they may be - they will be beautiful!)

 

[Violet_Diva]

On the whole, Gerry has left his wings alone fairly well, with only one snipped end as a casualty so far during the early stages of regrowth.



Still hopeful of him flying again

 

[Mindy]

He is a looker! How old is he and how long has the plucking behavior occurred? It doesn't look to bad, and the fully feathered chest is promising!

He hatched early June last year, his wings and tail are pretty non existent at present, but the rest of his body seems fine. I believe the previous human got him at around 3 months old, I've seen photos of him online, back in September last year some feathers look like they have some black stress bands, and as time goes on the edges get more chewed and jagged until eventually virtually no primary feathers and no tail

Here's what his wings looked like in February this year


And here's today


In a weird way it would have been better if he had plucked his chest instead of his wings and tail, at least then he would still be able to fly

My Timneh has his tail and most of his wings, still can't fly : (
He's been a plucker for almost his whole life. After ruling out medical issues and trying a lot of 'remedies' I read about I've let him be about it. Sometimes it's worse than others. Went to the vet for a beak trim a couple weeks ago so his chest is pretty bare now. It is disturbing to watch and I just turn away. The only advice I have is be careful about loading him up with new things all at once, that may stress him out and cause more chewing. I've thought about the collar but haven't tried it. My concern is that it will stress him out so much to have it on and I'm pretty sure once it's off he'd be right back at it. But that's just me : )

 

[Violet_Diva]

The little git snipped off some feather ends My fault. He didn't have enough attention today because I was preoccupied with Dexters vet visit.

 

[Anansi]

Aw, no. So sorry to hear that. But remember, it's just a setback, not a failure. You've made progress with him. Keep building on it, Violet_Diva.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Gerry has had a few instances where some feathers have tried to grow in. His blue primaries started sprouting first. One he broke and bled from, then the matching one he broke while at the vets having his broken one inspected. The next pair of blues - one broke yesterday while he was having a shower. I've been increasing his bathing over time. But now I'm wondering if it's making the feathers too soft or fragile?!
He was initially scared of the water spray bottle and was aggressive towards it, so mistings have been a little problematic. I'm now soaking him thoroughly every other day, and giving small mistings a few times everyday.
Over the past few days, Gerry has had some of his green secondary feathers start to come through (any previous sprouting green pins were nipped out by the little git almost immediately). Fingers crossed for these little green sprouts - they're longer than Gerry has allowed them to get before...

 

[Anansi]

The frequent showers shouldn't be doing anything to make the feathers more fragile. So if something is happening that is affecting the structural integrity of his feathers, I'd be looking to a medical reason. Though in all likelihood, it's just his beak wreaking all that havoc.

Has the vet tested his blood values and such?

Hoping with you that Gerry does allow the newest feathers to grow in fully.

 

[Violet_Diva]

The green sprouts are still sprouting...

Right at the bottom you can see a nice blue tipped one too!

I'm just hoping he's admiring them and not scheming to gnaw them off!

At the moment, if I see him starting to over-preen, I take him straight into the shower and then he has a bit of a blow dry. Then any preening he does is actually necessary and productive because I've messed up his feathers while showering him. Seems to be going well so far...

I'm trying to wait for this batch of feathers to grow in / be gnawed off before I take him travelling in the pet carrier for bloods. Breaking bloodfeathers is scary and I don't want any more of those anytime soon!

 

[Anansi]

Go, Gerry!!!

Those are some beautiful feathers coming in! And that sounds like a great strategy, distracting him with a shower whenever he looks to over-preen. Inspired, even.

 

[Violet_Diva]

A week has passed from the initial 'sprout' pics...
He looks like he has tiny green wings!
(I know I'm exaggerating - but it's the best he's done since moving in!)

Here's the comparison...

His wing on the 8th March


His wing on 15th March


I'm so proud of him! He's a total grouch (reminds me a bit of Oscar from Sesame Street!) But I'd be grouchy too if I had all these pointy things busting out my skin all the time! I was slightly late home from work yesterday, I was on the verge of an anxiety attack worrying about him plucking in my absence. When I finally arrived, he hadn't destroyed his beautiful new feathers, but he did refuse to step up for me all evening - he just kept lunging and growling... He was in a slightly better mood with me today (not as good as he had been before), but I at least manged to get him to step up so I could take him to the shower!

As well as the increased bathing, as of late, I've found him to be terrific at shredding seagrass mats... I'm not entirely sure how many he's gone through, but I'm thinking it's probably helped to fill the void of gnawing on his feathers somewhat.

I'm really hoping for some more 'sprouting success' from the little grouch. I just know he'd be happier and more independent if he could fly... BUT... for the meantime I will be his substitute travel, never on time, taking him to wrong destinations, I just don't know how he puts up with me!

 

[Anansi]

Yes!!! Please keep these updates coming! I'm hoping to see Gerry taking his newly feathered wings for a spin sometime over the next few months.

 

[Violet_Diva]

His wing on 6th April


They're still there!