Dear Round Table,
We have recently been offered a 9 year old Grey. She was at a pet store
for her first year and then with one family. This family no longer spends time
with her. We visited last week, and found the bird "Cleo" pretty plucked ~ not
down to skin but her long feathers were gone. I couldn't tell if the feathers
were broken or gone.
Her owner already had her out of the cage, admitting Cleo was cage aggressive.
They used a large wooden rod (which Cleo was not happy with and didn't cooperate
with) to move her from place to place.
Mutual friends have told us that Cleo was hand tamed, taken for rides in the car,
and was very bonded to her family until lengthened hours at work took them away.
She was pitiful to look at and I felt so bad for her.
Is there any hope we can solve her feather picking? Also I'm not sure if we can
get her to trust us ~ what can we do to encourage her to trust us? We will have to
put her in a smaller cage, get her home and unloaded to her big cage... then the
next week load her up again for an hour long ride to the bird vet! I wouldn't be
so thrilled with folks who did that to me. How can we make this transition easier for her?
Any suggestions would be appreciated greatly. She seems like an angry, lonely bird
that was once happy and trusting. We'd sure love to have her be a part of our family
but wonder if we can meet her needs.
thanks for your time
Laurie and family