Hi,
I've been posting in the cockatoo forum about my experiences with my new galah, but there's an awful amount of panicky essay writing in my posts there and wanted to throw out a specific question.
Having read a lot about plucking, I'm naturally very nervous at the sight of any feathers floating around the cage, and I want to be sure her behaviour with preening is reasonable given the circumstances. It may well be this is exactly what to expent, but my nerves are so frazzled this week it would be a big help to confirm, or to have an idea how to progress if it is anything to be worried about.
I've had her three days and she seems to be preening a huge amount. I've just counted the feathers from the last 18 hours and it's about 20 feathers big enough to have shape (mainly pink chest or under wing), plus maybe a dozen little fluffy bits. She has a noticable number of pin feathers in various places so I wonder if she may be coming up to a moult anyway - I'm trying to get hold of the seller to see if he has an opinion about that. I've not tried a water spray yet, worried it might be another source of stress for her. I can't see her pulling at feathers, just what looks like normal preening. She has four big preening / shredding toys in the cage with her and has had a good play with all of them, so she has distractions in there with her. She's not eating great, most of the fresh stuff I put out ending up on the cage floor so it's nuts, seeds and apple until she gets a little braver.
I know it's early, she's every right to be stressed and out of sorts and I'm happy going at her pace, I just don't want to feel like I'm missing anything that could be a problem. Hopefully I'll look back on this week's posting activity and laugh in a few months...
I've been posting in the cockatoo forum about my experiences with my new galah, but there's an awful amount of panicky essay writing in my posts there and wanted to throw out a specific question.
Having read a lot about plucking, I'm naturally very nervous at the sight of any feathers floating around the cage, and I want to be sure her behaviour with preening is reasonable given the circumstances. It may well be this is exactly what to expent, but my nerves are so frazzled this week it would be a big help to confirm, or to have an idea how to progress if it is anything to be worried about.
I've had her three days and she seems to be preening a huge amount. I've just counted the feathers from the last 18 hours and it's about 20 feathers big enough to have shape (mainly pink chest or under wing), plus maybe a dozen little fluffy bits. She has a noticable number of pin feathers in various places so I wonder if she may be coming up to a moult anyway - I'm trying to get hold of the seller to see if he has an opinion about that. I've not tried a water spray yet, worried it might be another source of stress for her. I can't see her pulling at feathers, just what looks like normal preening. She has four big preening / shredding toys in the cage with her and has had a good play with all of them, so she has distractions in there with her. She's not eating great, most of the fresh stuff I put out ending up on the cage floor so it's nuts, seeds and apple until she gets a little braver.
I know it's early, she's every right to be stressed and out of sorts and I'm happy going at her pace, I just don't want to feel like I'm missing anything that could be a problem. Hopefully I'll look back on this week's posting activity and laugh in a few months...
