Post by minamartinez on Sept 16, 2021 1:50:57 GMT -7
Hello!
Of all the sites I looked at, this one seemed to be the best so I thought I'd join up and see what I could learn.
I run an animal sanctuary in Japan, one of the only ones there are here. The pet industry is disgusting but I won't get into that. But because if it, I have over 100 animals I'm looking after by myself in the countryside.
My most recent rescue is my African grey. This isn't my first parrot, I have a few badly socialized lorikeets from a pet shop that couldn't sell them, a quaker parrot from a lady who just had a stroke, I also have owls, pigs, meerkats, large reptiles, ex fighting dogs (dog fighting is still legal in this country), a colony of terminally ill cats and many many more.
The grey I was contacted about was on Saturday morning. She had been shipped in from Singapore so I'm guessing from a breeder there but was at a wholesaler's for a few months. She started self mutilating and they couldn't sell her so we're about to give her to animal control where she'd be euthanized but one of the workers reached out to me and I picked her up the following day. She was in a huge warehouse full of small cages with super loud exotic birds and because of the metal walls, the sound was ear piercing.
I've never known such a young bird to stress pluck (she's 9 months). I noticed her wings were clipped quite extremely. I've heard of someone else's bird over preening from frustration from extreme wing clipping. I took her to the vet and ran full blood work and feces tests before bringing her home because I couldn't have her infect my other birds but she's clean.
My questions are:
1. How long does it take for wing feathers to grow back?
2. I have her on lots of fruit and veg but is there anything I could give her to promote feather growth?
3. She's out of her cage at dawn and only back in to sleep. She's a climber so I've covered the floors with duvets, pillows, fleece blankets so she doesn't crash land, but is there anything else I should be careful of?
4. I need lots of toy ideas. She likes shiny things (especially big bells). What toys do you recommend? If you have any links to diy projects, it would be even better because I'm struggling financially with over 100 animals.
5. She's bitten me twice. I don't usually see it as a problem because I get bit everyday by some animal. I think it's just a way of communicating and their way of saying "that scares me" or "I don't like that." I don't react and push back a little until she lets go and turn my back on her. Is that the right thing to do?
6. She goes to bed at 6pm but on the 22nd, I have a job and I'll have to leave at 4pm. Is it ok to cage her and cover it up as if it's 6pm for a day? I could have a volunteer come over and put her to bed at 6pm but I don't want to leave her out and unsupervised for 2 hours.
I'm sorry if I sound dumb or over protective. An African grey has been my dream bird for years and she's so axing, I really just want to do the best I can by her.
(By the way, her name is Melody. IDD add a photo but I don't understand technology enough to do that.)
Of all the sites I looked at, this one seemed to be the best so I thought I'd join up and see what I could learn.
I run an animal sanctuary in Japan, one of the only ones there are here. The pet industry is disgusting but I won't get into that. But because if it, I have over 100 animals I'm looking after by myself in the countryside.
My most recent rescue is my African grey. This isn't my first parrot, I have a few badly socialized lorikeets from a pet shop that couldn't sell them, a quaker parrot from a lady who just had a stroke, I also have owls, pigs, meerkats, large reptiles, ex fighting dogs (dog fighting is still legal in this country), a colony of terminally ill cats and many many more.
The grey I was contacted about was on Saturday morning. She had been shipped in from Singapore so I'm guessing from a breeder there but was at a wholesaler's for a few months. She started self mutilating and they couldn't sell her so we're about to give her to animal control where she'd be euthanized but one of the workers reached out to me and I picked her up the following day. She was in a huge warehouse full of small cages with super loud exotic birds and because of the metal walls, the sound was ear piercing.
I've never known such a young bird to stress pluck (she's 9 months). I noticed her wings were clipped quite extremely. I've heard of someone else's bird over preening from frustration from extreme wing clipping. I took her to the vet and ran full blood work and feces tests before bringing her home because I couldn't have her infect my other birds but she's clean.
My questions are:
1. How long does it take for wing feathers to grow back?
2. I have her on lots of fruit and veg but is there anything I could give her to promote feather growth?
3. She's out of her cage at dawn and only back in to sleep. She's a climber so I've covered the floors with duvets, pillows, fleece blankets so she doesn't crash land, but is there anything else I should be careful of?
4. I need lots of toy ideas. She likes shiny things (especially big bells). What toys do you recommend? If you have any links to diy projects, it would be even better because I'm struggling financially with over 100 animals.
5. She's bitten me twice. I don't usually see it as a problem because I get bit everyday by some animal. I think it's just a way of communicating and their way of saying "that scares me" or "I don't like that." I don't react and push back a little until she lets go and turn my back on her. Is that the right thing to do?
6. She goes to bed at 6pm but on the 22nd, I have a job and I'll have to leave at 4pm. Is it ok to cage her and cover it up as if it's 6pm for a day? I could have a volunteer come over and put her to bed at 6pm but I don't want to leave her out and unsupervised for 2 hours.
I'm sorry if I sound dumb or over protective. An African grey has been my dream bird for years and she's so axing, I really just want to do the best I can by her.
(By the way, her name is Melody. IDD add a photo but I don't understand technology enough to do that.)
