The Continuing Capers of Companion-ing Cotton

Vampiric_Conure · Jul 6, 2022

Cotton, you handsome devil

I'm glad he's slowly opening up to you! And those feathers! Yaaay for green chicken feathers!

Cottonoid · Jul 6, 2022

@kme3388 I'm sorry Nico is struggling right now

He's one of my favorites here! I also have days where reading the forum is harder than others

Thank you both for the warm feathery wishes!

Cottonoid · Jul 7, 2022

The internet says feathered hairstyles are back.

Cotton is on trend, that's for sure.

saxguy64 · Jul 7, 2022

OMG, look at him!!!!!! Absolutely amazing!

I'm praying the trend continues.

Cottonoid · Jul 7, 2022

I love the one he'd frayed so that it looks like a big comb

I put on preening and bathing videos yesterday. He wasn't too keen yet on following along

but I'm going to keep doing it.

Laurasea · Jul 7, 2022

Such progress! Loving!

He definitely needs some preening and feather care education. They can learn so much from watching other birds. I hope videos help.

HeatherG · Jul 7, 2022

Cottonoid said:
I love the one he'd frayed so that it looks like a big comb

I put on preening and bathing videos yesterday. He wasn't too keen yet on following along but I'm going to keep doing it.

That’s a great idea! I hope it helps.

LaManuka · Jul 7, 2022

Cottonoid said:
The internet says feathered hairstyles are back.

Cotton is on trend, that's for sure.

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View attachment 41848

Oh my goodness, so much green gorgeousness!! Cotton's a handsome young man regardless but this new look he's sporting is just stunning - I love it!!

HeatherG · Jul 7, 2022

LaManuka said:
Oh my goodness, so much green gorgeousness!! Cotton's a handsome young man regardless but this new look he's sporting is just stunning - I love it!!

He is doing so well! And keeping many of those beautiful green feathers.

Way to go, Cotton!

(maybe I will be able to stomach chicken again after Cotton has been clothed for a while)

Cottonoid · Jul 12, 2022

I feel the same way about chicken now

Cotton's face is molting now and he looks like he's wearing a costume - this isn't a great picture since I'm at work and spying and he always catches me spying lol

kme3388 · Jul 12, 2022

Cottonoid said:
I feel the same way about chicken now

Cotton's face is molting now and he looks like he's wearing a costume - this isn't a great picture since I'm at work and spying and he always catches me spying lol

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Oh my goodness gracious! I barely recognized Cotton in the photo. He’s looking great!

Cottonoid · Jul 12, 2022

kme3388 said:
Oh my goodness gracious! I barely recognized Cotton in the photo. He’s looking great!

When he's out and I check on him from the camera across the room, I keep not seeing him because I'm not used to him being green!

He still snips a ton of little feathers (there's one on his boing in that pic haha) and chews up his flight feathers but I'm so glad he's at least not pulling them from the bone

The more I get to know him, the more convinced I am that he had no proper bird parenting, with his lack of bathing/preening skills and not wanting to eat soft warm foods.

But I know he's doing better than when I met him, at least medically! Now if we'd just make progress with each other

Cottonoid · Jul 12, 2022

Like all good teenagers, Cotton has apparently spent today fixing his nails and perfecting his dark eyeliner and refusing to bathe

LaManuka · Jul 12, 2022

Oh I think that dark eyeliner and a bit rough-around-the-edges look suits Cotton just fine! Hopefully with time he'll quit snipping those feathers off too. He's looking quite magnificent!

HeatherG · Jul 12, 2022

Cotton is Dirty Harry.

HeatherG · Jul 14, 2022

Willow had a wet, skinny, chicken-y look today after his bath. He looked so small. Reminded me of Cotton before the New Fancy lime green feathers. And then he looked too funny wrapped up in his green bathrobe.

How is the debonair Cotton doing today? Any new pics?

Willow has finished his sauna day and both he and Jasper have much cleaner cages. The tub and shower are disinfecting and soon I scrub it and bleach the bath mat. Yuck, so much bird doo.

And more to come!

Cottonoid · Jul 14, 2022

There really is always more bird doo to follow

...holding his wing feather in his foot while he preens aka nibbles

He pulls out chest feathers grooming them like a cat, looong slow tugs on them.

Clearly he wasn't raised by his parents but maybe not by a person either. Maybe the shop cat. This would explain his water aversion and his dubious self care methods.

I left messages with a couple vets today since his face is looking more ragged than just molting.

HeatherG · Jul 14, 2022

Wow! He looks great! And so much more comfortable, I hope.

Willow could give some lessons in preening and grooming. He had a regular spa day today. He’s so into the preen, it’s ridiculous.

Laurasea · Jul 14, 2022

Yes , if you look at your avatar picture and your pictures just now...you can see more stains above his nostril than before. Plus he has rubbed off the feathers around nares , exposing much more skin there than is normal.

Definitely signs of upper respiratory issue.

I kinda worry yeast...fungal, or rebounding bacterial infection
Could still be the chlamydia, and this article mentions mycoplasma ( which my vet has thought possible with mine)

Sinus Infections in Birds | Arizona Exotics | -Chickens, -Cockatiels, -Cockatoos Resources

Birds have a very complicated sinus system (a part of the respiratory tract) with lots of interconnecting air pockets that can readily get infected. Infections can start in one site and move through the sinus system to attack most areas of the skull. A severe infection means that many affected...

azeah.com

His eyes do seem to have slight swelling. They appear smaller in picture like they might have puffiness around them. Hard to tell if darkened again.

Hopefully you will have a veterinarian wriegh in and share their perspective with us.

Poor guy. He has come a long way tho! Hopefully just a small bump in the road on his way to full recovery

That wing stretch picture us awesome. As are all tge feathers he is allowed to stay!

Laurasea · Jul 14, 2022

This poster, also with a parrot who had chlamydia, also had feathers loss around nares
Thread 'Amazon parrot feather loss between beak and nostrils' https://www.parrotforums.com/threads/amazon-parrot-feather-loss-between-beak-and-nostrils.80983/

Including this article. Mostly because if you scroll down you can see an IRN head shot. Showing normal feathers extend down to top of nostril with minimal skin Showing and nostrils partially cover by festgers

Parrot Nostril Problems Explained!

A parrot’s nostrils (nares) are located on the cere (the fleshy, bulbous top of the upper beak). The nares allow the parrot to inhale and exhale without opening its beak, […]

www.allaboutparrots.com