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Is this normal?

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Re: Is this normal?

Postby Pajarita » Fri Nov 09, 2018 11:18 am

Well, for one thing, her days are way too long and, if I were you, I would shorten them [you need to do this gradually, only 15 minutes at a time every 2 weeks]. I would also try to imitate sunrise and sunset instead of just turning on a lamp. The specs on the full spectrum are perfect but I would put the light farther than you have it.

And, I might be wrong but that bird looks VERY uncomfortable upside down like that. I mean, she is like frozen in fear... legs up in the air and not moving at all. A VERY well adjusted gray might be OK laying on its back every now and then and for a very short time [seconds only] but doing it to a plucker that is having serious issues is not helping the bird at all - if anything, it would make the bird feel worse. Is it possible that she is not being treated the way a gray should be treated? I am not talking abuse or neglect, mind you! I can tell that you are trying your best but not everybody is a bird person... Parrots are not easy for us because they are not like dogs or cats and grays are particularly susceptible to reacting badly when they feel insecure, vulnerable or simply not getting the right kind of care. One thing I can tell you and it's that no gray would ever lay on its back out of its own initiative...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Is this normal?

Postby blackscell » Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:37 pm

I have to disagree with the last part. We play on bed alot and she enjoys rolling in the sheets.

Here is another video: https://streamable.com/yzzft

I don't think this represents being terrified or whatsoever. Some might enjoy it, others dont. But I dont force her.
blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
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Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Is this normal?

Postby Pajarita » Sat Nov 10, 2018 11:11 am

She does look relaxed on the last video where she is covered by quilts [a nest] but you, yourself, can see the difference from one video to the next. In the first one, she was super tense [completely frozen] in the second she was relaxed [moving the head, closing her eyes]. The point I was trying to make is that, with a gray, you need to be extra careful in how you handle it because whereas you can do pretty much anything with a cockatoo, for example, you can't with a gray. You can grab a too by the body, turn it upside down, swing it in the air, hug it close, open its wings, etc and the bird will like it but you can't do any of these things with a gray. Grays are not touchy feely birds, they don't like to be handled much and most of them do not like their bodies touched at all with their humans actually needing their explicit permission before they can even give head scritches to them. It's not that they are not affectionate because they are - very much so! They actually bond extremely deeply with their chosen humans but that doesn't mean their beloved is free to do whatever he/she wants.
They have a very highly developed sense of self and need to be treated with the same respect one would give a person. I've had my Sophie for 12 years, she doesn't pluck, doesn't bite, doesn't scream, eats very well, comes to me on command, and loves me to pieces [she has this endearing habit of touching my hand with her beak and making a kissy noise when I am putting out her food on her plate that melts my heart every single morning!] but I ALWAYS ask her permission to scratch her head and, if she doesn't give it to me, I don't do it. Some people don't realize this about them...

Grays are not easy birds to keep happy. And, when they are not happy, they pluck. So you need to find out what makes her happy and do it and what makes her unhappy and stop doing it. It's as easy and as difficult as all that!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Is this normal?

Postby aswanip » Thu Apr 04, 2019 12:37 am

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Adding some pictures
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Hi,

I have a lutino iRN, Pixie who turned an year old today.She has been losing a lot of feathers lately. Initially it started with the tail feathers that fell off when I was hand feeding her itself.
Later after August last year, she started developing bald patches and eventually, most of the feathers on the head and chest have fallen off now.

I could not find any avian vets here in Bangalore, India, so ended up taking her to a normal vet and he suggested to apply anti-fungal powder on the bald spots. What I noticed is that the some of the feather follicles have black spots on the tips, and they don't really grow further, while some of the feathers had started growing, but stopped after a while.

I am really worried and don't really know what I should do.
Does anyone know what it could be?
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Lost feathers in the chest area and head
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aswanip
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Indian Ring neck parakeet, Lutino mutation
Flight: Yes

Re: Is this normal?

Postby Pajarita » Thu Apr 04, 2019 9:50 am

Welcome to the forum and OUCH! No, that is NOT normal! The very first thing I would do is have the bird tested for PBFD (Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease) because although the chest and any other bald area on the body could be from self-plucking, a bird cannot pluck the back of it's own head so there is something going on here UNLESS you have it with another bird(s) and the head plucking is done by it/them.

If you have it with other birds, please isolate it ASAP for two reasons: 1) to eliminate the possibility of the other birds plucking it and 2) because, if it's contagious, you need to quarantine the bird.

Now, please do NOT put any antifungal powder on a bird! For one thing, the bird does not have a fungal infection in its skin (there is no such thing) and, for another, regular vets do not know enough to treat birds (they are completely different from mammals). Besides, there are avian vets in India. I don't know where they are but I have read about them in Indian newspapers so, please look for one and, if you don't find any, ask the zoos because I am sure they have one. The big problem you are going to have is that it's illegal to keep IRNs in captivity in India so you might get into trouble but then, I am sure you were already aware of this when you acquire the bird.

The only thing you can do until you find out what is wrong with the bird is to give it the best care possible and that means the right diet (mostly fruit and very little protein - no beans, especially chick peas), a strict solar schedule, at least a couple of hours of flight (although I doubt that poor thing can fly because it looks as if its wings have been clipped). My two IRNs eat lots of raw produce and gloop for breakfast and just a tablespoon of finch seed for dinner (finch seed is all grass seeds and the lowest mix in protein and fat - they had been fed the wrong diet for years so now they are on a special diet to see if I can get their livers back to a normal function).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

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