mh434
New member
- Oct 28, 2014
- 473
- 9
- Parrots
- Yellow-naped Amazon "Sammy"
Love birds (4)
Green-cheeked Conure "Skittles" - now, sadly gone from my life
Blue-Crowned Conure "Tequila"
African Grey "Reno" - sadly, now gone from my life
Well, we've adopted (rescued...) a new flock member. Meet Reno!
He (probably male - we're not sure) is 18 years old, and was owned by an elderly lady since he was a wee youngster. Unfortunately (as you can see), he's a feather chewer. According to the lady who owned him, he's been doing this for 10 years or so. He doesn't seem to pull them out, but once they grow long enough to resemble actual feathers, he chews them off. He has pretty much no tail, and only the longest, outer wing feathers (so flight is out of the question).
The lady has severe health problems, and bird dander is now life-threatening to her, so she simply couldn't live in the same house with him any more.
Interestingly, she said she's never stroked or cuddled him, and that he's not that kind of bird. As soon as we got him home, he climbed onto my wife, and immediately put his beak down to get his neck rubbed. Naturally, my wife obliged, and he loved it!
He's also only been to the vet once in 18 years, so he'll be going there very shortly. Aside from everything else, his nails have never been trimmed, and they are VERY sharp. I suppose it wasn't a problem for the lady, as she never allowed Reno to sit on her shoulder but, at least for us, he LOVES to ride shoulders, and is extremely relaxed & gentle when doing so.
He is, thankfully, happy with quality food, particularly fresh fruits & vegetables, along with his pellet food, so we won't have to wean him onto the good stuff.
Anyway, my wife is over the moon! Reno is an inveterate talker, with quite the repertoire. Unfortunately, he's apparently been exposed to a smoke detector with a weak battery, and he mimics that sound precisely...and LOUD, LOL.
So, we'll be getting him to the vet for a general checkup & nail trim, and looking into whether we can help him let his feathers grow back, but I suppose a 10-year habit may be difficult to break. None of our other birds have ever been pickers/chewers...
Here's his first picture, with sitting on my wife's shoulder (aha! He IS a shoulder bird!)
He (probably male - we're not sure) is 18 years old, and was owned by an elderly lady since he was a wee youngster. Unfortunately (as you can see), he's a feather chewer. According to the lady who owned him, he's been doing this for 10 years or so. He doesn't seem to pull them out, but once they grow long enough to resemble actual feathers, he chews them off. He has pretty much no tail, and only the longest, outer wing feathers (so flight is out of the question).
The lady has severe health problems, and bird dander is now life-threatening to her, so she simply couldn't live in the same house with him any more.
Interestingly, she said she's never stroked or cuddled him, and that he's not that kind of bird. As soon as we got him home, he climbed onto my wife, and immediately put his beak down to get his neck rubbed. Naturally, my wife obliged, and he loved it!
He's also only been to the vet once in 18 years, so he'll be going there very shortly. Aside from everything else, his nails have never been trimmed, and they are VERY sharp. I suppose it wasn't a problem for the lady, as she never allowed Reno to sit on her shoulder but, at least for us, he LOVES to ride shoulders, and is extremely relaxed & gentle when doing so.
He is, thankfully, happy with quality food, particularly fresh fruits & vegetables, along with his pellet food, so we won't have to wean him onto the good stuff.
Anyway, my wife is over the moon! Reno is an inveterate talker, with quite the repertoire. Unfortunately, he's apparently been exposed to a smoke detector with a weak battery, and he mimics that sound precisely...and LOUD, LOL.
So, we'll be getting him to the vet for a general checkup & nail trim, and looking into whether we can help him let his feathers grow back, but I suppose a 10-year habit may be difficult to break. None of our other birds have ever been pickers/chewers...
Here's his first picture, with sitting on my wife's shoulder (aha! He IS a shoulder bird!)
