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ladydi

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Diane Colette
Greetings,

I am new to being bird owned as well as forum...
I have a cute Lil fiesty male IRN Gilmour.
I have never had a bird and needless to say it's been interesting these past months since Oct 2013, and guessing he is roughly now past 1yr or so.
Not having any experience with birds nor these rambunctious IRNS, I am sure I have done more than a few things wrong, but we've come a long way in that safely now he doesn't bite or lash out, he has in fact taken a more agreeable demeanor and has utterly stolen my ♥. He is so smart and each day seems to pick up new things.
Just 1 major issue, he overpreens & plucked his beautiful tail feathers and some other flight feathers which still I haven't figured even with Vet visits, $$ lab test for beak&feather disease neg and he is wearing a collar but doesn't seem to be working. He has toys, perches, activity & my dotting attention.I speak to him, rub his head play give treats etc...
It's breaking my ♥ to see him not growing into the beautiful IRN plumage & wish to help by any means to fix or alter to shift this behavior.
I'll look through forum for thread maybe others started on this topic, or start my own....
This is a great resource for me and others with so much knowledge.
I never thought myself a bird person but since Gilmour I wish I can have vast aviary...one day
Any helpful tips much appreciated....and I need to figure out how to flip uploaded images :) DSC_0182.JPG
 

expressmailtome

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Welcome! Does he like foraging toys? They are a great way to keep him mentally and physically stimulated. This can help with birds that pluck because they are bored. Have you tried preening toys? Here is a link to some: PLUCKERS/OVERPREENERS . These can help by giving him something else to preen. They use the toy as a bird would preen another bird. May I ask what kind of diet he has? Some birds pluck because of food allergies. I am sorry if you have tried these things.

Matt
 

ladydi

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Hi thanks for prompt reply,
I will look on the link...
He was on Harrisons High potency Fine
Now due to lack of availability he is Harrisons Adult Maintenance Fine
Along with apple pieces, and orange pieces which he loves...I tried veggies and egg white but he wasn't too keen yet.
Seeds are just for treat or something special.
He eats well, as evidenced by his droppings.
I have a green toy twist open thing which I put treats in sometimes and he figured out how to open in less than a minute.
I'll do more research and update.
Diane
 

zoo mom

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Birdiemarie

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Welcome to the neighborhood. :greet7: IRN's have always been one of my dream birds. :heart: My Ruby is an habitual plucker stemming from food allergies. It's sometimes difficult to find the cause because there are a lot of variables that may also contribute such as hormones, diet, stress, health, etc. Foraging toys are really great and as are lots of shredding toys and woods.
 

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MandaExotics

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:welave:

I've got a female IRN that plucks (not her tail feathers though). Between the expensively ridiculous blood work, fecal samples and x-rays, she's just hormonal :faint:

Her favorite wood is balsa so I find things she likes to chew and plenty of foraging opportunities. Usually the bulk is things wrapped in newspaper, paper cups, and Chinese finger traps. It doesn't have to be fancy if it works. Pill separators make fun foraging toys as well. You could try the sock buddy method instead of the collar if you haven't yet and if you think he would cooperate (not sure it would help with the tail feathers though). It's always best to discuss options with your vet.

It took years, and my IRN is mostly bare on her chest, but she doesn't pluck near as often anymore. And when she does it's usually periodically in the spring and summer. My vet has suggested implants such as lupron or suprelorin, but I really don't want to go to that extreme if I can help it not knowing if it will make the situation better or worse.

Beautiful boy btw :heart:
 

lupe

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:) Welcome aboard.enjoy the site
 

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Welcome to you and Gilmour! We've had our IRN Titan in our lives for 23 years now- and you are totally right- IRNs can-and do- steal your heart away.
About Gilmour's plucking/preening situation- it sounds like you're doing everything you can to help him. About the only other thing I could suggest is does he get misted/bathed? If not, it might help him feel better... can't hurt to try... :)
 

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:hello1: Welcome to AA and your baby is precious!
 

Monica

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Hi and welcome to the forum! :D


I must ask first though... are you sure that Gilmour is plucking, and not just a clumsy young parrot???


I have an ARN that looks similar, although I have no way of knowing her age! I know she's(?) over a year old, but for all I know, she could be 5+ years old, too! I haven't seen any indication of her being a feather plucker/destroyer, and have, thus far, summed up her feather quality due to being within captivity. (she's wild caught)


 

Roo bird

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My bird began plucking....it got so bad that his wings were like little nubs bc he pulled out all of his flight feathers. Turns out he was on the wrong diet and was low in calcium, magnesium, thiamine. After complete change to organic food as well as some supplements and lots of fruit and veggies he stopped and grew back his feathers. just a few months ago I thought it was happening again...but turns out he was just molting! Good luck!!I know it can be very frustrating :jawdrop1:
 

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:hello1: welcome to the avenue!
 

ladydi

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Thank you for warm welcomes and info/suggestions/advisements.
Since I'm new to this forum, should I start or look for open thread in different section for this issue or is Ok to continue here?

Since we've had Gilmour he's been on Harrisons High potency Fine Now after 9months adult lifetime fine with apples oranges trying peppers etc...
Well I have feathers and proof he is plucking I'll upload, plus the overpreening I guess is seen on the feathers still intact as looks like nibbled on, I'll upload him doing this as well as nibbles on his nails too.
Avian Vet has said it's likely behavior as beak&feather disease neg he says this is only seen in companion birds....?
He is however a hoot to me anyway, just breaks my heart in that I wish for him to be as nature intended but I guess having him or rather him tolerating us is best and will continue to seek improving his quality of life :)
Tomorrow I'll try figuring out how to upload pics properly as well as Videos.
I'm learning everyday and in time hoping for his stress or whatever has made him do this lessens and pray may cease altogether...
He was with long tail feathers and plumage when we got him around 5 months and I had even less knowledge then on how to handle him so I'm probably cause of his stress yet as Vet says getting him a mate may not help bc from his behavior at Vets, he has imprinted and sees me as caregiver, which is better as he has stopped chewing on me but Bad bc he chews on himself...
So I will find/make/set up a feather toy or something to distract his attention, which he has lots of toys already for his chewing & destruction pleasure, even toilet paper roles, tissues some beads my mom lopped on strings etc...plus perpetual attention from me....lol we have even started to sit on couch for few minutes until he bores of that then he walks down onto floor over to rope line I made and up his cage onto perch, chats in lil language to us And when I leave the room he gets vocal but no human words as yet despite my hours of repetition....but frankly I care little if he speaks ever I could watch him hours in his language and sounds...I have even been able to rub his head & beak and at times back and if happy mood his toes or claws lol....he makes the cutest sounds and then I'm happy as a clam...

I will do foraging etc and perhaps a bigger cage?
I'm overwhelmed and he is my Lil fiesty baby honestly I have never been s determined to win love especially a Lil wild lol....we have 2 Boston Terriers 9&4 and of course I love them to pieces, but there is something else that I cannot explain with having this little guy....
Anyway ok I'll get on to upload Videos so IRN experts might discern more.
:hug8:Not sure why emoticon added but if you can see URLs for some pics I have on Instagram but if so you can see the change in feather loss and quality since months :(

Thanks All sorry too long very tired I've read up to like page 8 on IRN keets.
Diane
 

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Monica

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Images didn't come through in the post as you used the page URL instead of the image URL. I was still able to view them, though!


If he's still living in that round cage (I see two?), then first off, I would recommend tossing the cage and getting a larger, square-ish cage! (so, yes!) Get rid of the dowel perches and replace with natural wood perches and maybe one or two cotton perches. I don't think he needs the round yellow thing in the cage? (if he still has it)


Here are some threads to give you ideas on a cage and setup for Gilmour.
Pictures - All About Cage Setups | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
My birds' setups | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
New birdroom setup & new cage setups too *tons of pics* | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum



I was going to ask about other pets next! It is possible that your dogs are stressing out your IRN, causing the FDB behavior (feather destructive behavior) If the dogs are constantly running by the cage or eating next to the cage, this can cause stress. So can cage placement! Is the cage too close to a window or a door? These are some other things to consider.


Toys. He needs more toys. He needs foraging toys, destructible toys, shredding toys, noisy toys, shiny toys, etc. (no mirrors!) Make sure he has a variety of things to do in his cage and encourage him to play with his toys!


Frequent baths as well as getting safe tree branches for him to chew on are some other ways to keep him busy!


I haven't seen anything yet in photos to say that he does in fact have FDB problems, so if you could get some clear photos of that, it would be great!
 

Clueless

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I'm new to birds too. We rescued Amazons (2) nearly 3 years ago.

I saw in your cage a circle where a bowl goes....but there wasn't a bowl in it.

Just for your info, I was told by someone to always keep a bowl in those rings because a parrot can slip and fall in there and break a wing. I'm so paranoid when I change out food or water I leave the door open.
 

ladydi

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Monica, yes I'll load up the other pics..
this is Gil doing his best and he nolonger has these tail feathers, he literally took them in his claw and snapped ripped off N he chews on it a little....so it's odd bc he has all these toys, attention, etc :(

I have started to look into a different cage for wider spacing...as for placement I'll upload pics just it's small apartment so the area now I thought was ok?
Can u see in this URL?

He has a natural wood perch, a cotton one, a smaller wood one outside and another loop cotton outside cage..toys he has wooden sticks, beads, paper roll, a cardboard thing with rope strings etc....no mirrors, unless we're in bathroom.

For bathing, I was taking him in bathroom when I shower to get him used to maybe idea in sink by splashing, but he wasn't keen,

so I take his outside on this play area I set up & use filtered water in spray 2x week and he seems to like it...

Foraging toys I have to see about getting others, I have a green twisted thing he gets open for seeds but Vet said I was too liberal with treats and seeds so I'll have to get foraging types...

I live in Dubai and really there are few places for pets and although found Avian Vet they seem to kinda just push IRN as they are wild here in fact there's many in the area where I walk the dogs...
So the dogs, I have been very good about keeping each critters space to each...so they see and know eachother but as coordinated feeding no, pups are in another area away from his cage.

The bark to chew on you mention, which kind? Also another member sent link with toys some had feathers that maybe he can preen...

Ok so since you can see the URLS I'll do that until I master forum uploading.

Should I be moving this to the IRN board lane...I don't want to crowd or do anything wrong, bc seriously this is first place I feel actually has knowledge and seems caring...
I mean Avian Vet is clinical and seems like annoyed with me & Gil but only option here...I don't mean they are not good, just with IRNS here to most are dime a dozen as people snatch them and are sold really cheap...that's another thread.. Back to Gil.

Please see the URLS and just trying to narrow down possible causes and ways to shift...

Thanks All :)
 

Monica

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I have to right click on the "broken image" and open in new tab to view. The URL of the photo starts with "photos" and ends in "jpg".

I can't tell from pictures if cage placement is good or not... it's good that the dogs eat elsewhere, though!


Here's some different bathing techniques you can try....
  • Try luke-warm water
  • Try cold water
  • Try ice-cold water
  • Try a spray bottle
  • Try a plant mister
  • Try in the sink with the water running or just some water in the bottom
  • Try in the sink with the sprayer
  • Try in the tub with some water in the bottom
  • Try a casserole dish or similar with some water
  • Try the dish with ice
  • Try the dish with foot toys
  • Try the dish with some small rocks or pebbles
  • Try the dish with some leafy greens like endive or other types of lettuces that may create a "natural" bowl
  • Try the dish with a vacuum cleaner running
  • Try in the shower with you - watching you having a blast getting wet!
  • Try dancing the bird into the shower with the water already going
  • Try spritzing yourself, and have fun doing it! Then spritz the bird
  • Try outside in an empty cage large enough to spread wings during a nice rain shower
  • Try outside in an empty cage using the hose with a mist/shower attachment
  • Try playing videos of other birds bathing

In regards to foraging, you can put his food/treats in cake cup liners and twist close. You can mix food with clean pistachio shells. You can even mix food in with small rocks or pebbles, large enough that he wont eat. Couple simple ideas. Try these links for more ideas!

Ideas « Foraging for Parrots
Parrot Enrichment
DO-IT-YOURSELF TOY IDEAS


I don't know what trees are in Dubai, but this *might* help. This list was made by an American person, so I suspect there may be trees over there that aren't on this list?

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.




You can definitely try making a new thread in the Ringneck section! And perhaps put a link to your into thread? You may get more replies there. You might also want to check out the following forum. Be sure to look at some of the threads at the top of the page! (in green)

Pluckers Parlor | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
 
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