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Post by dinucci on Jul 28, 2018 6:55:49 GMT -5
It seems as tho quakers go thru a few hormonal changes throughout the year from spring to fall. Buddy has started an upswing of cage aggression,screaming out the window,circular head movements and such. He also is guard dog like of my girlfriend...should I approach her and hug ect. He jumps on her shouulder,walks over to my side and whips his head up and down with his wings out all while making grunts in a poltergeist fashion..ahh the boys got talent ! I thought a couple weeks ago that it was time to get his wings clipped a little as this curbs aggressive behavior as well,but didn't end up doing so..
That is till yesterday.
The past couple days he's been preening and at the end,rips out a feather or two.
I think he's also going thru a molt. However,I've noticed that he's developing small bald spots on the facing part of his left wing...the size of a pin head. Not too much has changed here as far as environment, play time,food and basic socialization,but I get the feeling that he's getting frustrated by not being able to mate. So...I took him to the vet,had him checked out for any skin conditions..negative...and had him slightly clipped. The Dr.,an avian vet,said to spray him every other day with a dilution 20/1 of water aloe juice. I was lucky to find it at a store on the way back. She mentioned if this doesn't work,he should get a lupron shot. I didn't want to let this condition get any worse,so I opted to get him the shot yesterday.
Sun up and sundown times here in chicago are still way apart..14 1/2 hours. Given this,I also want to find a spot dark and quiet enough to move a cage to in order to put him to sleep earlier than his usual 830 9 pm.
I am a little scared for him right now as he's always been in good shape. Self destructive behavior is hard to reverse once manifested as such I hear. I don't want to isolate him either,but I think I have to turn back the hours of light somehow for the next month or so untill sunset comes earlier. Also considering what it will mean to him because a lot of fun time is after dinner, 7 pm till 830.
Just for kicks,i.looked at the sun up sun down times for Buenos Aires..8am till 6 pm. March is normally their harvest time,so I think they are just going to be coming into spring..
I hope something I've done so far works or will work. Today is his bath day,so I'm gonna cut in a little aloe juice into his bath.
Open to all ideas here !
Thanks guys and girls..
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Post by dinucci on Jul 28, 2018 8:46:15 GMT -5
I might add here...buddy has never really gone thru a full fledged molt as far as I know..there's always a few fluffies..and once in a while a feather. But what he's doing now is normal preening and at the last moment,yanks out a little feather or fluffie..
He's been doing it for 2 hrs this morning and has quite a few plucked out,but no big feathers and no chest feathers..all are coming from the fronts of the wings,or below the wings on his body.
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 28, 2018 20:40:18 GMT -5
Sorry that you and Buddy are going through that. You were right on top of things with the vet examination. I imagine you've also ruled out any environmental changes that might have bothered Buddy. I know how upsetting feather mutilation is-- I'm still going through it with Scooter the CAG. In her case, it's a nervous habit that she's had for years, something that isn't unusual in Greys, and is very difficult to stop. I don't really have any constructive suggestions for you and Buddy since you're already doing what usually should be done in this kind of situation.
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Post by biteybird on Jul 30, 2018 5:18:12 GMT -5
I think you're doing the right thing by limiting the daylight hours. We've found that putting Bonnie to bed between 6-6:30pm works well and she normally wakes around 7am. So, 12 hours or so sleep per night is good for her (remembering that their hearing is excellent...so even though Bonnie is in another room in her sleeping cage, she is no doubt hearing the TV in the loungeroom until we go to bed). Sorry to hear your little Buddy is doing this. It's good you've addressed it straight away. All the best.  |
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Post by dinucci on Jul 31, 2018 1:37:32 GMT -5
Thanks you guys for your kind thoughts. I've heard that our quakers are prone to this behavior,but greys and toos..especially. I'm taking him back to the vet when they open..he's opened up a big patch below both wings and his wing fronts..shoulders now have nail head bald spots..they do this stuff real quick..so.ive been reading as much as I can. Going to ask for a complete vlood panel and chemistry for safety ' s sake,but pretty sure he's a hormonal plucker. The article I've read has some keen insights on how to stop this behavior, but it's happened so very fast that it seems like every hour it goes on,I'm losing ground ya know? He bathed again today with the aloe mix and was waiting perched on the side of his tub for me to get the water..so clearly,he wants some relief which hopefully 8s a good thing. Here's the article. www.parrots.org/lp/feather-destructive-behavior-p1-us/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7vraBRBbEiwA4WBOn9v2O-SNx3N2e0dMGa4vbAgCjEYBc_cw8jR7PFnrlrV1lARgEJS-OxoCALMQAvD_BwEMaking more toys tomorrow. One thing he's picked up the last few days is shredding his sisal rope. What a mess! But I should have taken that as a sign that he needed more toys or different ones really. It's a fine line between too much or not enough attention and at the right times to boot,but if I can stop him before he gets to his contour feathers I'll be making progress I suppose..what makes.it difficult is that he's molting too..so I don't know if any of those taste bad sprays will work either..?? Anyone ever try them? Other than that he's the same ol sweet guy we've always had..just looks like he's been out on a binge,with a bit of crabbyness..mixed in. |
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 31, 2018 20:25:28 GMT -5
Preening toys are probably a good choice now; Buddy may at least get distracted by them for a while. From all I've read and heard, the "bad taste" sprays that are supposed to discourage feather pulling really don't work well. Since they're not too highly recommended, I've never tried them with Scooter. Maybe you could ask your vet for an opinion on them.
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Post by dinucci on Aug 1, 2018 23:14:12 GMT -5
Thanks again! I found some soft cotton rope I got at a bird show and made a few toys with it while reconstructing others he liked but we're in pieces. He's taken to playing more now.. as I spend a few minutes here and there with him,he seems.more willing to entertain himself and not be a dependent pest,altho that's so funny when he is. I got him up at 7 this am and had to leave til 11am and in that time saw only 4 fluffy and one secondary feather on the floor and cages..
Between the lupron shot,wings clipped,new toys he seems to be making a rebound. Also,I've cut back a little on the protien, bought him whole pea pods and made him his own mini corn on the Cobb and gave him a sprinkle of flax seeds about so he can hunt them down.
After talking with the vet,I opted not to do the blood panel as he was seemingly well with his other signs..eyes,reflexes,droppings normal ect.
She said it takes a week or so to kick in.
As far as the bad taste sprays,she didn't know of any that worked,but said if.i was to find one,it should be avian specific. She also mentioned that a lot of avian vets are getting away from collars as they cause more problems than they solve.
So I can't say what's really worked here or if it's a combination of everything and more sleep..which would do me good as well! Got only 1 hr the other night and not much the past few..reading as much as I can till my eyes fall out !! Kids...when don't ya worry bout them?
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Post by dinucci on Aug 2, 2018 8:48:51 GMT -5
Here's a trick that I taught him a long time ago when he was a baby. It has proved valuable for inspecting the underside of his wings,simply called the wings trick. He does it on voice command and even says it clearly,or just by motioning my arms in the "chicken" shape!
He picked this up real quickly and even does it on his own when mooching for treats.
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Post by birdiegirl on Aug 5, 2018 3:56:58 GMT -5
Really sorry to hear you are having this stress with buddy. You seem to be on top of it though and buddy couldn't ask for a more caring dad. Birdie hasn't gone through this as yet, but I am thinking it could happen as he is getting to 1 yr old soon ... quakerparrotforum.net/post/new/2064 |
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Post by dinucci on Aug 19, 2018 9:32:39 GMT -5
Well after a few weeks..4 I think since all this started,we're making progress. His outer top wing feathers show just a little grey fluff from molting. The front ,shoulder area of his wings has grown back and he seems to leave those alone for now.
Be it the lupron shot and follow up booster last week,longer sleep times,new toys,preening type,foraging stuff..still a work in progress,playing for short periods. .seems to have moderated this behavior.
He is however, pulling out the new feathers under his wings with the black shaft..located in each of his armpits.
Given that he's in the final stages of molting,is it common for them to pluck out a few new ones? It's just in one area ss he leaves his chest and the rest alone except for normal preening. This has me thinking that he's irritated a bit,so I dug out the warm mist humidifier today and setup his normal winter birdie spa. Hoping this makes a difference even tho he bathed yesterday and I'm thinking of spraying his armpits with the aloe mixture.
Just troubles me to see his new feathers on the floor,but don't know if this is common..this is his first real molt.
Thanks ..
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Post by aaron on Aug 19, 2018 13:53:31 GMT -5
Glad to hear you have made some progress with your little friend... I don’t feel like I’ve ever seen Cupcake pull out a new feather during her molts, but I guess I haven’t payed that much attention to them, so it’s possible. Perhaps the others will have more concrete info... I hope things continue to improve!!
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