by Maggie- » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:33 pm
Hi Sidney,
If you are nervous, it is for a reason. So, please DO get him clipped...but NOT too short. Glad I mentioned it and remind the vet tech of his foot issues so that he/she is even more acutely sensitive to this issue. Okay?
An example of being nervous... My Merlin has a lot of night frights (every few months or so). When it happens, she flails in the sleeping cage and when she slept in my room, I was there to instantly grab her out of the cage and calm her. When she has a fright, she usually loses all tail feathers, just from the fright and not flailing. Now, my room is away from theirs for my breathing issues. Two nights ago, I started feeling nervous about Merle getting a fright so I put an extra night light in the room. The next AM, I saw Merlin with NO tail feathers. She DID have a fright that night but I think the night light helped her see around her, so she did not panic and start flailing all over the cage. I am so thankful that something told me to put that extra light in there!
I want to talk about the issue of losing feathers. Researchers in Africa found that when Greys were caught, they got so terrified that they dropped all of their tail feathers. This is very similar to how doves eject their feathers when they are attacked. Some birds' nervous systems are set up (maybe especially ground feeders, which Greys are in Africa...partial ground feeders) so that the feathers are ejected and maybe this could help them get away. Anyway, Jane Hallander (a great avian behavior consultant who has passed on) theorized that maybe that is why so many Greys feather pick. If the feather shafts get loose in the skin when under stress, then maybe the shafts bother them under the skin and they pull the feathers out. So, this is one of the theories about what is causing so much feather picking. Just thought I would add this in since I mentioned Merlin "dropping tail feathers." Jane was going to work with someone to study the nervous system but it never happened.
GREY'T Blessings!
Maggie-