Another update! (And a question about blood feathers)

[Caitcultclassic]

First question, is it also possible for a bird to get seasonal depression? Because it’s become summer and Percy is just so much more happier and talkative.

Also, everyone in my family’s tells Percy “you’re a good boy” but he *distinctly* says “I’m a good boy” which is just interesting and I’m wondering where he picked it up lol

Hands and petting him are still big no-nos (unless it’s specifically night time kisses). We can carry him to and from his bed cage—which he is extremely adamant about that routine. If he doesn’t sleep in his sleep cage in my room at night he gets a major attitude for a week.

Any tips on interacting with him in a different way would be great. We’ve been working on just letting hands be near him for a few minutes at a time throughout the day. It seems to be working?

He won’t take food from my hand so I can’t get him into training, but he plays and talks and walks. I’m just worried about having to get him into the vet and how that will go for his next check up.

A new problem is that he just gets *so* many broken blood feathers (it’s slowed down some but probably 1-2 a month). The feathers are all healthy, he clots quickly and it’s become such a common occurrence we don’t stress about it anymore. We monitor him to see if bleeding clots on its own for about 5 minutes, if not off to the vet (haven’t had to go back yet) and then closely monitoring him for the next few days. Usually the day after he’ll pluck it himself and be fine.

The strange part is that it’s from the same area *in the middle of his wings* he has fully formed feathers on each side protecting them, he is watched 24/7 so we don’t get where he is breaking them from, in his last visit all blood work was normal and he is fully vaccinated. I have no idea what it could be causing it or if it will just be his weird (extremely concerning) thing.

He has a specific call for when it happens, everyone in the house recognizes it so we just do the routine for it. He is extremely healthy otherwise. It’s also always when the feather is more than half way grown, and they look like healthy feathers. He also doesn’t pick at them unless it’s to rip off an already broken one.

We think if he is able to at least fully grow them out at least once he’d be better off in the future but they just won’t.

He had one last night, and is fine. Eating and drinking well. He eats a mix of pellets with fresh food (his favorite thing right now is kale). He’s ripping into the $150 worth of toys I bought him yesterday so I know he is active (even if he is a little sore).

Any ideas or things to ask my vet about specifically? I couldn’t find much about any of this when I did my own googling.

 

[Scott]

Good question about seasonal depression - known as SAD with humans.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...fective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651 My deeper question would be if anyone in your family is afflicted with SAD and Percy mimics symptoms. Or maybe that's overthinking the issue?

Quite amazing for Percy to adjust phrase with correct pronoun! If he consistently hears "you're" and translates accordingly that'd be mighty interesting.

So he won't take a beloved treat such as bit of almond, walnut, or similar by hand? Have you tried placing a treat atop your outstretched but clenched hand if finger phobic.

Unsure about blood feather issues. Some birds are naturally "rough" on their feathers, others have biological reasons why brittle and delicate. Hopefully your vet is avian certified and has good explanation.

 

[noodles123]

You may need a bigger cage..


You may also need to have him spend more time out of his cage. How long is he out daily?


How much sleep is he getting nightly? 10 hours is bare minimum for immune health and mood-- less than that and you will see anxiety, irritability, hormonal issues etc.