Hello from Indianapolis, IN

[snakeybird]

Hi All,

I have been the custodian of an Grace, a petite Congo African Grey since bringing her home as weaned young bird on Christmas Eve, 2008. She is a lot of fun, and adds a great deal of joy to my life. Plus, she has introduced a heck of a lot of friends and family members to the awesome world of parrots! Contrary to what all the books I diligently read indicated I should expect, she is an extroverted, outgoing and relatively confident Grey, seems to enjoy commotion and noise, and loves to meet new people. And she adores going to visit her second cage at my mom's house, where she gets to scold the dogs.

I never thought to join a bird forum until recently, so Grace and I are just now saying hello to the Parrot Forum community after 8+ years of cohabitation.

So Hello from Indiana!

 

[Anansi]

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family!

Grace sounds amazing, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about her... and seeing LOTS of pics! We love pics, here!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Hello to a fellow Hoosier, your grey sounds like a real gem!

 

[SilverSage]

Welcome! We are happy to have you both!


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[snakeybird]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I certainly think Grace is pretty awesome, but know I am seriously biased. Our Avian vet always comments on what a nice bird she is though, so I guess it isn't just me.

I am always a laggard in posting photos, but I'll see if I can get my sister to give me back my nice digital SLR after her horse clinic in a couple of weeks. Sadly, Gracie overpreens/plucks, an issue which we are always working on, so I am shy about posting photos of Her Fluffiness. Plus she just knocked a tail feather out trying to get at a favored clothing item she loves to chew that I had foolishly left on the floor...

 

[SilverSage]

We don't discriminate here, naked or fully feathered, we love all pictures


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[snakeybird]

Thanks, SilverSage. I am happy to say she has never been naked, but she is fluffy at the moment. But even fluffy, she is a cool, outgoing bird! I've always said that I'll take her over grooming and awesome personality over full feathers and serious biting, screaming, phobias, etc.

Sadly, severe weather (especially hail) is a major plucking trigger for Grace, and vigorous thunderstorms are unavoidable in Indiana. I give her regular baths (which she tolerates really well for the most part), have a full spectrum light for her (which has helped a great deal), provide fruits (overall successful) and vegetables (she's not so into green stuff, but sweet potato and acorn squash are favorites) and the vet has never found a physical cause for the behavior.

I am thinking about trying one of the plucking/feather moisturizing sprays.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome!
Happy to include you in our flock!
Big Patagonian hugzszszszsz!

 

[snakeybird]

Thanks!

I have never had the privilege of meeting a Patagonian conure, but certainly adored the dusky conure I had back in high school. Sidney was great, albeit a bit loud.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed. While Salty gets a dinner usualy of chop that varies by batch, the most recent of which is heavy on the peppers, I sneak other veggies into it by adding a spoon or two of baby food of different types. I might add a spoon of green beans or carrots, just to make sure he is getting the vitamins they offer. Gracie sounds like a cool Grey, which can be a stand offish species on the whole.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome, great to have you!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Funny now that you mention stormy weather...my sister out-law in Tennessee has a little doggie that is just a mess when there spins thunder or gunfire, both happening often in that huntin', tornadoin' place. They have to give her a tiny dose of xanax or she'd just crouch on the floor and shake uncontrollably. We can't figure out if it's the sound or the vibration that sets her off. Parrots are pretty sensitive to both, right? Does moving Grace into an interior room where the sound isn't so loud, maybe playing some white noise, help? If it's vibration I wonder if putting some kind of dampening foam mat under the cage would help. I remember Oliver used to thrash madly if there was the tiniest earthquake, something we didn't even feel. It would make sense that parrots would react to any vibration of their perches, because it could be a predator sneaking up.

 

[Allee]

A warm welcome to you and the lovely Grace! I'm so glad you joined us. No need to be shy about photos, as SilverSage mentioned, we love shared photos of our birds and welcome feather pullers with open arms. Our flock loves new community members.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, thanks for sharing Grace's story! An extroverted Grey must be such a pleasure, most of us accept their complex personalities and salute their uniqueness.

So many reasons birds pluck! Veterinary science and behaviorists can often help, but there are oft times no answers.

 

[snakeybird]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

Grace is an extrovert (I am not) and an absolute pleasure; she didn't read the book on what grey parrots are "supposed" to be like, and I had to learn that I absolutely did not have a shy, reserved bird. She waves her foot around and emphatically states "Come here!!!" and/or "Want to step up!" at all her favorite people. She will generally (except when she has a lot of new feathers coming in) step up for anyone who is confident and actually wants her to do so; she does only want head scritches from me though. I did take her out and about quite a lot as a young bird, and sort of socialized her like one would a puppy; that may have something to do with it.

In terms of the plucking and severe weather, it has only been a significant issue a few times when she has been home alone when a really severe storm, usually with hail, hit and she could see out the western windows; if people are around, she could care less about thunderstorms, or gunfire.

Have any of you tried the feather moisturizing/anti plucking sprays?