More Goffin's Questions

[AShep]

First off, I want to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful information and advice I have been given so far.
We are now onto our 5th week with Petrie!
She has been a challenge for sure but we are starting to work things out. As we are getting the behavior portion slowly sorted I looking to her health now.
I believe her nail are way to long, please confirm or not.
Her feather condition is terrible. Being 20 years with a mostly unknown history I am guessing it is nutrition related? Her last home had her for a year and tried to improve her diet but I do not think she had a molt. Her last home said she does a lot of "anting" which I can confirm, maybe this is the cause?
They couldn't bath her, there were oven mitts involved. I have gotten her use to misting and she loves it. I give her the option a few times a week. She has really only gone fully happy bath bird once but that is still progress
Also actually measured her cage and it is way too small for her. I am having a super hard time finding one big enough with 3/4 inch spacing. Any suggestions would be appreciated (we are in BC, Canada)
Thanks!

 

[Somebirdie]

Petrie looks beautiful and I am sure she is happy to be part of your household

some of her nails look okay, although bordering on too long. Others do just look too long but thankfully not crazily so.

I have found the cement perches with smooth tops and rough sides really great for cockatoo nails- but they are super heavy so need a sturdy cage to mount.

hopefully she just lets you file them down quickly. It wouldn’t take much

 

[AShep]

@Somebirdie
That is good to know. I would like to give her a bit more time to settle in before the ever exciting nail trim. I will definitely get one of those perchs now though!

 

[macawpower58]

From what I see, she really does not look that bad.
Some good bathing should right her feathers fairly quickly.
Lots of shredding toys will help with any over-preening.
She is still fully feathered, and many 20 year old Goffins are not.
Her nails also are not bad. A slight trim would be nice, but I don't see anything I'd panic over.
Do check out her blue/yellow rope. It looks like it's fraying and loose. These can be deadly traps if you're not careful.
Trim any loose and/or frayed threads. Toss if it's become loose enough to trap her in anyway.

 

[sunnysmom]

I agree with what everyone said. Nails could use a trim but nothing urgent. It's great she likes misting. I have found that goffins seem to be water babies and love bath time. Finding cages good for a goffin is tough. I have been looking for a new one for my goffin too. Everything that I like size-wise has too big of bar spacing. I know some people who do put their goffins in one inch but I am just not comfortable doing that. There is a company in the US called Natural Inspirations that does 1/2 inch bar spacing but I don't know if they would ship to Canada and if they did, I would imagine that it would be really expensive.

 

[AShep]

@macawpower58
Re rope- I did leave about 2 inches a fray as she likes to preen it. Is that too much? It's just the ends of the rops after the knot.
Re feathers - is there a particular reason they end not fully feathered? It looks to me like a few have basically disintegrated. Do they continue to molt regularly at this age? I will be thankful for what she has

 

[AShep]

@sunnysmom
I noticed she was super drawn to the water when she first arrived but she is very very wary of everything new. I look forward to her getting more comfortable here and exploring more.
I completely hear you about the cages. And I have seen that site. This is what Petrie and I want. But seems out of stock everywhere in Canada

It has the 1/2 bar spacing which is what she has now, she gets around perfectly fine from what I have seen. As another bonus she can't reach through enough to unlock it. Anyways, I have contacted the seller to see if it will ever be available again.
After lengthy discussions about the cage situation we have decided to find a used one with the 1 inch spacing, at least it be spacious inside. If it doesn't work out I won't have spent a fortune on it and we can try something else... I will let you know how it goes!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Knowing my Goffin's I wouldn't go with 1" spacing. If you are choosing to do that then keep a close eye on that bird but if you can find something with smaller spacing that is spacious then that might be a better choice. I was looking for some new cages and noticed that many continue to be out of stock.

I don't use cotton rope with my Goffin's. My preference is sisal rope. Bird molt throughout their lifetime. It's great if she likes misting. That would help with the feather condition. Both of my 'toos bathe on their own. They do not like the misting bottle especially my BE2 who will scream at it and run away. Both of my 'toos are also wary of new objects and unfamiliar people. My Goffin's is in an Avian Adventures Mediana dome top and that has worked out well for her. Would be nice to get her something larger but I don't have the space. Seems that Midwest Homes for Pets has discontinued the Avian Adventures bird cages which is very unfortunate.

 

[AShep]

@iamwhoiam
With the 1 inch is it a concern of them getting their head stuck?
I am sure, like everything so far with her, it would take a long time for her to adjust to a different cage. We would definitely keep a super close eye on her. It is rare that there isn't an adult in our house. And I may even set up a Petrie cam
All rope items are outside her cage so she is always supervised around them! We have so many right now because it is the only perch item she has been accepting of.
I am in the wait list for the double with the 1/2 spacing and they said hopefully this year.
If anyone has any other good cage suggestions available in Canada I am all ears!

 

[iamwhoiam]

My Goffin's likes to push her head right up to the bars and stick her beak between them and if the spacing was a little bigger I think she would be able to squeeze her head through. Knowing her she would definitely try that. It took Keno a long time to accept her new manzanita perch. If you get a wooden perch just keep it near the cage so she can see it and maybe sooner or later she will check it out.

 

[AShep]

Gah. Well my cage hunt continues...
@iamwhoiam we did get a wood perch first. She flew into a window trying to get away from it. It has been beside her cage for almost 2 weeks. With her beloved cashew in the bowl and millet. She avoids that entire side of her cage. I am sure she will come around eventually.
What she agreed to after only one day it actually a retail clothing rack hanging thing wrapped in rope. It has wheels, is super sturdy and adjustable height. It is working out to be the perfect perch!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Today I took a closer look at Keno and she can push her entire beak between the bars and also the front part of her head just a little bit.
As for the perch, I don't remember how long it took Keno to get over being afraid of it but I know it was a LONG time. At least I was able
to put it in her cage but she wouldn't use it. The dark wood was similar to her previous perch but that didn't matter. I tried to put Keno on
a tabletop Java stand but she wouldn't go near it. It's good that the wrapped clothing rack is working for you.

If she is doing OK with the 1" bar spacing then maybe that is workable for her. As I previously stated, when it comes to Keno I would be uncomfortable.

 

[AShep]

I will just keep in mind how long she has been alive and how much more life she has. If it takes 5 day or 5 months for her to get used to things that's okay by me.
She has 1/2 inch spacing right now in a cage that is half of what she needs. I was going to try the 1 inch (all the nice big cages seem to have this spacing) but after your input it seems like a bad idea. I will just keep looking for a now. I am sure I will eventually find one that meets our needs!

 

[melissasparrots]

My Goffin's is in a 3/4ths inch spacing cage. Its not a huge cage, but acceptable. It's hard to find really good sized cages with less than 1 inch spacing.