Another parrot lover from California

[CHarris]

Hi all!

My name is Cheri. I live in Los Angeles County in So. CA with my husband of 18 years, three children ages 17, 15 and 4, 3 dogs and lastly but not least by any means 5 feathered friends. Maggie (B&G) 4 yrs, Yogi (U2) 14 yrs, Sunny (Goffin) 8 yrs, Paco (cockatiel) 6 yrs and our newest addition (just this past weekend) Borus (CAG) 16 yrs. All the humans in our household are very involved with our flock, including the 4yr old whom we call the bird whisperer.

Boris our CAG came to us from a wonderful couple whom just no longer has the time to care for him. Over the last several years he has become a habitual plucker. He has had serveral complete vet work ups and is perfectly healthy. Many hours a day alone for a number of years seems to be the problem. He is nothing but a grey puff of down but we have high hopes our active bird loving family can give him what he needs. I found this board searching for info regarding plucking, glad I found it! Great forums with a wealth of information. I look forward to gleaning tons of information, as well as contribution some of my knowledge from over 20 yrs experience.

 

[Shade]

Hi and welcome!

 

[Marc]

Welcome to the forum..

 

[cosmolove]

Welcome to AA

 

[Naiera]

Welcome Would love to see pictures of your flock!

 

[Yoyo'sMom]

Hi and Welcome. I'm in Socal too. You'll love this forum.

 

[Mizzely]

Welcome to the Avenue! It definitely is a great place to get opinions of people who share a passion for feathered friends Can't wait to see pictures of your flock, they all sound so nice!

 

[Anne & Gang]

welcome..and we love pics!!!

 

[LuvMyRB2]

Welcome from another So Cal resident! I'm new here as well, but love it so far!

 

[CHarris]

welcome..and we love pics!!!

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. I have to say I have been a member of a couple other forums over the years and some how didn't run across this one...you guys are by FAR the most knowledgable and friendly.

My laptop with the majority of my pics died last week, so I need to upload to the new laptop from SD cards and of course take new pics.

This is a pic of Boris before he came to us. The cage in the pic is smaller than what he is in, in the pic.


I would love to have feed back on our little Borus...I don't think he has cuticle damage. He has only been with us since Saturday and now upon closer inspection because he now likes me LOL I don't beleive he is plucking, but rather breaking his feathers off.





In any case, I will get pics uploaded in the next day or so.

 

[CHarris]

welcome..and we love pics!!!

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. I have to say I have been a member of a couple other forums over the years and some how didn't run across this one...you guys are by FAR the most knowledgable and friendly.

My laptop with the majority of my pics died last week, so I need to upload to the new laptop from SD cards and of course take new pics.

This is a pic of Boris before he came to us. The cage in the pic is smaller than what he is now.


I would love to have feed back on our little Borus...I don't think he has cuticle damage. He has only been with us since Saturday and now upon closer inspection because he now likes me LOL I don't beleive he is plucking, but rather breaking his feathers off. However, I have never dealt with a plucker before so I'm going on just my instinct.


View attachment 100205


In any case, I will get pics uploaded in the next day or so.

 

[Mythreeiggys]

Welcome!! First thing is first with Boris...new cage! Im not a fan of round cages at all. Second would be lots and lots of toys - preferably shreddables if that's what he likes! My Greys go crazy over anything they can tear apart easily. They are not so much into wood as much as shreddable. Some Greys can be "phobic" of new things in their cage so you may have to introduce them to him slowly. How is his diet?

 

[Mizzely]

oh my gosh he is a little fluff ball I have no doubt that with some time he can definitely be in full feather. I agree with shredding toys, it will divert his attention from himself onto something that has immediate rewards.

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome and enjoy the site!

Matt

 

[CHarris]

Welcome!! First thing is first with Boris...new cage! Im not a fan of round cages at all. Second would be lots and lots of toys - preferably shreddables if that's what he likes! My Greys go crazy over anything they can tear apart easily. They are not so much into wood as much as shreddable. Some Greys can be "phobic" of new things in their cage so you may have to introduce them to him slowly. How is his diet?

Cage...that was a picture from his previous home in his outdoor cage. I don't like round cages either. He came to us with his indoor cage which is much more efficient. I took a pic of each this morning and attaching them. Boris is VERY fearful of new toys. I took advantage of his move and put a new toy in his cage the first day, as he only was comfortable with a dish rag at his previous home. He "used" to like toys but had become somewhat cage bound at his previous home and fearful. He has made some promising progress with the new toy...nudging it, etc. I have a couple toys sitting on a table near him and will introduce them after I see that he gives a little more interest into the one he has now. At his previous home he got to the point he wouldn't leave his cage even with the door left open. Here, I am having trouble getting him back in LOL. He has only been here since Saturday but we are making definate progress. As far as diet goes, he is a BIG eater, more than Maggie our B&G. He will eat just about anything. He did get a seed mix (ecotrition) with sunflower seeds and peanuts however I switched him over to our seed mix which doesn't include them. I'm giving him an increased precentage of Harrisons pellets each day and he seems to be at least trying them. Thus far, he is making amazing progress complared to our U2, who after two years still will not touch a pellet or any fruit or veggie other than an occasional apple slice. I feed fruits, veggies, pasta, etc daily and he is eating much more fresh food than seed. I got Avicalm and Featherific on Tuesday and have been sprinkling it on his food and adding the Avicalm to his water as well.

I'm a stay at home mom and we are an active household. It seems to be good for him. I haven't noticed any picking or plucking other than normal preaning thus far. He is a sweet little guy. Were he is located he can see me all day long and he follows me to see were I am on the top of his cage. He is in the same room as the other birds and is taking quite a bit of interest in their antics.

 

[SallyQZ]

Welcome to the Avenue!

It doesn't sound like Boris is overly fearful of new toys - just not used to getting them. If he's nudging them already, that's a quick adjustment. My CAG will ignore/avoid a toy for at least two weeks before he even ventures over to nudge it.

I've started putting the toys near his cage first, so he has a chance to check them out for a week or two before they violate the sanctity of his cage.

 

[Katster]

 

[Marlene]

and Glad you joined us!

 

[Macawnutz]

to AA!

 

[KatherinesBirds]

Welcome to AA from a transplanted California native!!