BriarCrow
New member
Rio - rescued eclectus need help and tips (VIDEO UPDATES on page two!)
UPDATE: See VIDEO updates of Rio on page two! thanks for all the advice!i'm a very novice bird owner, so i'm happy for veterans to show me what to do. I want to do right by my little dude!
hello, everybody first post here so greetings!
SOO where to begin... Rio is about 12 years old, and was purchased by my parents from a breeder when he was a youngin'. me and Rio in my teenage years were buddies. fed him, played with him, (taught him lots of bad words lol) so me and Rio were very close. but i moved out of my parents house three years ago, and things have gone downhill for him. when i would come visit he was increasingly hostile towards me, so i'd leave him alone. but when i did, he would squawk and screech at me and aggresively bite at the bars and literally make a growling noise.
my parents bought two new dogs during this time, and i suspected that Rio was not getting the attention he needed to stay occupied and thus began the feather picking. my mom said he was just molting, but when it continued, i blamed their lack of affection and interest for his behavior issues.
fast forward to today. my parents went on vacation and asked me to take care of their animals. when I saw Rio, his terrible state was shocking. as you can see by the photo, he has bald patches beginning on his breast and wings. I got enough trust out of him to get him out of his (incredibly filthy and moth laden) cage and into a small travel cage to take him to my house. I brought his birdy stand with me, and immediately went out to buy him some fresh fruit, vegetables, sprouts, and some new "picking" toys.
it's day number 4, and he's incredibly quiet and shy. the only aggression I get out of him is trying to get him out of the travel cage and onto his stand. he hasnt bitten me, but he simply stares at my hand and makes no motion to get onto it. i kind of have to push him a little to get him on my hand, but i wish i didn't have to do that and for him to get on willingly.
sometimes when i close the cage door, he aggressively bites at the bars and does that growling thing. he seems to pick most when he's IN the cage so that's why i try to keep him out for most of the day and feed him fruits on the stand that i know he likes (sucker for strawberries and oranges). i've been keeping a close watch on him so that when i catch him picking at himself, i call out to him and wiggle a toy a little bit so he'll notice it and hopefully start picking at that instead.
he doesnt want to be held very much at all. he used to love being on people's hands and crawl up their arms and now, if it isnt a perch or his cage, he just wants to fly away from me when i hold him.
my questions are:
1) what should i do to help his transition to his new home here with me, and how do i re-establish trust?
2) how long will it be before i see any change in him as far as his feather plucking?
3) will his feathers grow back on the parts where he has plucked himself to the skin?
4) should i give him a bath at this time? would that make him feel better or worse?
thanks for any help and input you have on this. I'm currently making sure he's given a complete diet overhaul. his main food was a bean/rice and pellet mixture, but i'm not sure what else he was given. trying my best to get him back to good health and happy again.
UPDATE: See VIDEO updates of Rio on page two! thanks for all the advice!i'm a very novice bird owner, so i'm happy for veterans to show me what to do. I want to do right by my little dude!
hello, everybody first post here so greetings!
SOO where to begin... Rio is about 12 years old, and was purchased by my parents from a breeder when he was a youngin'. me and Rio in my teenage years were buddies. fed him, played with him, (taught him lots of bad words lol) so me and Rio were very close. but i moved out of my parents house three years ago, and things have gone downhill for him. when i would come visit he was increasingly hostile towards me, so i'd leave him alone. but when i did, he would squawk and screech at me and aggresively bite at the bars and literally make a growling noise.
my parents bought two new dogs during this time, and i suspected that Rio was not getting the attention he needed to stay occupied and thus began the feather picking. my mom said he was just molting, but when it continued, i blamed their lack of affection and interest for his behavior issues.
fast forward to today. my parents went on vacation and asked me to take care of their animals. when I saw Rio, his terrible state was shocking. as you can see by the photo, he has bald patches beginning on his breast and wings. I got enough trust out of him to get him out of his (incredibly filthy and moth laden) cage and into a small travel cage to take him to my house. I brought his birdy stand with me, and immediately went out to buy him some fresh fruit, vegetables, sprouts, and some new "picking" toys.
it's day number 4, and he's incredibly quiet and shy. the only aggression I get out of him is trying to get him out of the travel cage and onto his stand. he hasnt bitten me, but he simply stares at my hand and makes no motion to get onto it. i kind of have to push him a little to get him on my hand, but i wish i didn't have to do that and for him to get on willingly.
sometimes when i close the cage door, he aggressively bites at the bars and does that growling thing. he seems to pick most when he's IN the cage so that's why i try to keep him out for most of the day and feed him fruits on the stand that i know he likes (sucker for strawberries and oranges). i've been keeping a close watch on him so that when i catch him picking at himself, i call out to him and wiggle a toy a little bit so he'll notice it and hopefully start picking at that instead.
he doesnt want to be held very much at all. he used to love being on people's hands and crawl up their arms and now, if it isnt a perch or his cage, he just wants to fly away from me when i hold him.
my questions are:
1) what should i do to help his transition to his new home here with me, and how do i re-establish trust?
2) how long will it be before i see any change in him as far as his feather plucking?
3) will his feathers grow back on the parts where he has plucked himself to the skin?
4) should i give him a bath at this time? would that make him feel better or worse?
thanks for any help and input you have on this. I'm currently making sure he's given a complete diet overhaul. his main food was a bean/rice and pellet mixture, but i'm not sure what else he was given. trying my best to get him back to good health and happy again.
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