Molting and afraid of water. Also problems with pin feathers.

[Sunnybirb]

Sunny is molting. It's been going on for a few weeks now. At first I was concerned she was plucking, but I've been collecting all of her feathers and they each have an opposite partner. She has pin feathers everywhere and a few blood feathers on her face. She loves hanging out on my arm and being as close as possible to me, but the most I can do is give her short 2-3 second head scratches before she grabs my fingers with her beak to tell me no more.

She is MISERABLE. She scratches constantly, has some birdy dandruff, and frequently she is very moody and bitey. We have gotten even closer than the last times I posted, and all of her "bites" are just her grabbing me/pinching me with her beak very lightly. She even has taken to rubbing her head all over my hand, right where the feathers are coming in on the top of her head. I've been doing my best to accommodate her given how uncomfortable she seems to be, but we're limited due to her past.

I don't really know much of her history, but from what I've seen, Sunny HATES water. If she even sees a spray bottle, she will squawk and scream, backing as far away as possible and opening her beak in warning. She gets so afraid she starts shaking. I can't even pick it up---if I just get NEAR the bottle, she starts this behavior. So spraying at the moment is completely out of the question. I've also tried leaving her bowls of water different places, but she completely avoids them and won't go near it. I've tried setting them on the bed and sitting next to it with her, but she immediately walks up to me and begs to be picked up.

I've managed to get her to sit on a perch in the bathroom with the water running so she can be steamed, but she hates the sound of the water and can't be close to it. She shakes the whole time and barely tolerates it. I stand with her and close to her the whole time, which seems to help, but I feel like it's traumatic and I don't want to stress her out. I'm thinking about just sitting with her in the bathroom every day and running the sink until she adjusts, but I don't know if that would be too much. Our bathroom is so small it's hard for me to be in there with her and her perch. I can't have her on my arm because she immediately does whatever she can to get on my shoulder and given her proclivity for biting, I don't yet trust her near my face.

The main issue is her tail. She has a sheath on one of her tail feathers that is ridiculously long. The last time I got a good look, it was almost halfway down the feather (a feather that is over a foot long). It seems to be hurting her and bothering her. If she shifts on her perch wrong and her tail touches something, she screams like she's hurt and immediately picks at that feather. and makes unhappy noises. She has two tail feathers now that are very disheveled looking because the sheath on the feather is so far down and seems to be pulling all the edges of the feather every which way. She preens it constantly, but to no avail.

I'm taking her to the vet next week for a checkup and a nail trim (finally got that all sorted out), and I was going to see if they could remove the sheath that's bothering her? Is this something they normally do? I also am going to do a DNA test and all of that, so maybe they can figure out what's up with that feather.

From what I've read, most birds can remove the covering on a pin feather themselves, but I'm not sure if she just doesn't know how or if it just hurts too much.

Any posts or recommendations on how to help her overcome her fear of water?

 

[LordTriggs]

what I would do is turn the shower on in the bathroom without her there and let the room steam up, then go in for a play with her whilst the shower is off.

As for accustoming her to water maybe take her in the kitchen and play with the tap on a very light dribble, look like you're having fun, and just let her decide if she wants to get involved. Hopefully given some time seeing you play with water she may start opening up to the idea that it's not a monster out for her. When playing I'd avoid splashing her way just to avoid her spooking herself

 

[wrench13]

Good suggestion , re: faucet. others:
Try a spray bottle with different color tip or body.
Will Sunny stay on a shower perch to shower with you?
Baking pan full of water on kitchen floor and you play with it while she watches how much fun it is.
Soaking wet towel on bathroom floor, really sopping wet, Sunny may like to roll around on it. Or you may be able to lightly wrap her in it thus getting water to her skin and feathers - it helps if she is towel friendly/trained.

Pin feathers on head - when Salty is head molting, he still wants scratchies, but if I do it the usual back to front way, I inevitably hit a pin feather wrong way and he pulls away. But he will tolerate a side to side scratch, often pushing his head into my fingers so hard I think I must be hurting him, but he is the one pushing and applying force. Molting is stressful to birds, even when it goes smoothly, so make sure Sunny is getting enough sleep and extra proteins in her diet. Scrambled egg (no butter or grease - tiny bit of coconut oil works well) or chicken bone ( for macaw only the big thigh bone ) or turkey leg bone marrow both have lots of good protein.

Will Sunny let you help remove feather sheaths? When they are ripe, a judicious pinch between fingernails will crack them and soon the pieces will just fall off. Hint - ripe means not soft but hard - too early and it can hurt Sunny and damage the feather.

Good Luck!

 

[WakaWaka]

We tried misting Arika with a spray bottle about a month after she came home and she absolutely hated it.
We managed to get her in the shower but she was not having fun at all.

We were able to take a small plastic bowl with warm water in it and a paper towel. Kelly would have her on her lap with an open towel and we just drizzled the wet paper towel over her and gently wiped her with the towel. She tolerated that but was growling a lot.

One day I came into her room and she seemed excited near her water dishes. I noticed that she was actually trying to get herself wet.
Ding !!!, I guess the bell finally went off inside her head. We just let her have fun and after a few minutes she was happy with getting herself slightly wet.

A few days later we took a new clean metal pan and placed about a half inch of water in it.
In the center of the pan we placed a paper towel and started splashing while she was out with us on the floor.
It took her a few minutes but she stepped into the warm water, started to go after the paper towel and then started to go nuts.
She was having a blast. We took the paper towel and drizzled her again and she seemed to like it more despite a few growls.

Arika now has a clean new larger plastic tray that is about 2 inches deep. We fill it with about an inch of water and a paper towel in the center.
She has no problem climbing in, tossing the paper towel, letting us drizzle it over her, and getting nice an clean.
Of course lots of treats and praise for being such a good girl !

Finally, a clean, happy, Macaw !

Good luck and let us know what works for you.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and clean Arika

 

[Sunnybirb]

what I would do is turn the shower on in the bathroom without her there and let the room steam up, then go in for a play with her whilst the shower is off.

As for accustoming her to water maybe take her in the kitchen and play with the tap on a very light dribble, look like you're having fun, and just let her decide if she wants to get involved. Hopefully given some time seeing you play with water she may start opening up to the idea that it's not a monster out for her. When playing I'd avoid splashing her way just to avoid her spooking herself

I totally didn't think of this! I'll definitely let her sit in the steam today and see how that goes. She doesn't like being in the bathroom either, but I think the water is the main culprit.

I'll try the kitchen advice as well. She isn't completely against me dripping water onto her---she growls, but she doesn't run away. I've been doing it with a water bottle with an adjustable opening so it's just barely leaking a few drops at a time, so maybe I can adjust her to the sink in the same way.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Sunnybirb]

Good suggestion , re: faucet. others:
Try a spray bottle with different color tip or body.
Will Sunny stay on a shower perch to shower with you?
Baking pan full of water on kitchen floor and you play with it while she watches how much fun it is.
Soaking wet towel on bathroom floor, really sopping wet, Sunny may like to roll around on it. Or you may be able to lightly wrap her in it thus getting water to her skin and feathers - it helps if she is towel friendly/trained.

Pin feathers on head - when Salty is head molting, he still wants scratchies, but if I do it the usual back to front way, I inevitably hit a pin feather wrong way and he pulls away. But he will tolerate a side to side scratch, often pushing his head into my fingers so hard I think I must be hurting him, but he is the one pushing and applying force. Molting is stressful to birds, even when it goes smoothly, so make sure Sunny is getting enough sleep and extra proteins in her diet. Scrambled egg (no butter or grease - tiny bit of coconut oil works well) or chicken bone ( for macaw only the big thigh bone ) or turkey leg bone marrow both have lots of good protein.

Will Sunny let you help remove feather sheaths? When they are ripe, a judicious pinch between fingernails will crack them and soon the pieces will just fall off. Hint - ripe means not soft but hard - too early and it can hurt Sunny and damage the feather.

Good Luck!

I have some tiny squirt bottles I could definitely try! They're also different colors, so I will see if she will tolerate any of them. Wetting a towel and putting it on the floor sounds good too. She is afraid of towels/blankets/jackets, although I have managed to get her to the point where she doesn't scream when she sees one. She even lets me adjust the blankets now, but I don't think she's ready for me to touch her with one yet, though she might roll on one if it was available.

I will definitely keep up on letting her get more sleep! She's been so grumpy! I was feeding her hardboiled with the shell on. Is that an okay alternative to scrambled? I heard it was good for them to eat the shell. I could put a little coconut oil on it as well. I also gave her a perch that's made from shells and is supposed to have lots of calcium. She chews on it sometimes, but definitely not as much as she loves to shred wood. I didn't even know about the bone marrow stuff, so I will definitely give her some bones to chew!

I wish she would let me help her with her pin feathers we're just not to that point yet, though I am working toward it very slowly. She just isn't a huge fan of physical contact besides sitting on my arm.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Sunnybirb]

We tried misting Arika with a spray bottle about a month after she came home and she absolutely hated it.
We managed to get her in the shower but she was not having fun at all.

We were able to take a small plastic bowl with warm water in it and a paper towel. Kelly would have her on her lap with an open towel and we just drizzled the wet paper towel over her and gently wiped her with the towel. She tolerated that but was growling a lot.

One day I came into her room and she seemed excited near her water dishes. I noticed that she was actually trying to get herself wet.
Ding !!!, I guess the bell finally went off inside her head. We just let her have fun and after a few minutes she was happy with getting herself slightly wet.

A few days later we took a new clean metal pan and placed about a half inch of water in it.
In the center of the pan we placed a paper towel and started splashing while she was out with us on the floor.
It took her a few minutes but she stepped into the warm water, started to go after the paper towel and then started to go nuts.
She was having a blast. We took the paper towel and drizzled her again and she seemed to like it more despite a few growls.

Arika now has a clean new larger plastic tray that is about 2 inches deep. We fill it with about an inch of water and a paper towel in the center.
She has no problem climbing in, tossing the paper towel, letting us drizzle it over her, and getting nice an clean.
Of course lots of treats and praise for being such a good girl !

Finally, a clean, happy, Macaw !

Good luck and let us know what works for you.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and clean Arika

That's awesome! It's really encouraging to hear that they can overcome this with patience! She does let me drizzle a few drips of water on her from a water bottle (and like Arika, there's little doggy growls), so I will give the paper towels a shot too. I'm hoping Sunny will realize how fun water is, but I think it's going to take some time... She's not super sure about pans with water, but maybe I'm just not putting them out often enough. I can also try wiping her with a paper towel, but I'm mainly concerned she'll try to amputate my finger! I'll have to go about it cautiously

Thanks for all the help!

 

[WakaWaka]

Just wanted to check in and see if you made any progress. We hope it is going well and please update us when you can.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

 

[Sunnybirb]

Just wanted to check in and see if you made any progress. We hope it is going well and please update us when you can.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

It's been working somewhat! I've got her to the point where she's curious about the water in a big dish. Mostly she likes to throw her puzzle toy in the water and splash me with it, but it's a good start! If she gets touched by the water, she screams or growls. She thinks the wet paper towels are evil, but she likes shredding them! I was able to drip it on her a little bit, but she got mad if there were too many drips, so that might take awhile. I'm trying to find a better spot to use the water pan (if I put it on the ground she would much rather go chew furniture). I tried putting one in her cage, but she completely ignores it. It's only fun if I'm getting splashed, apparently.

I also did a steam in the bathroom again. She's still not happy about it, but it did go a little better than when I turn the water on. I tried turning on the sink and there were murderous screams and lots of scampering to get up my arm, so definitely not ready for that part, even if the sink was just dripping.

I'm thinking the water pan is the best bet. She hated it the least, and if I can get some more fun toys for her to throw in it, then we might have a winner! She did get a little wet with all the splashing, so eventually I'm hoping she'll just walk right in. Her pin feathers are even worse. She has like 5-6 on each side of her face and several on the back of her neck that bother her the most. I've been letting her use my hands as a scratching post for her face. Usually she tries to bite if I touch her, but I've noticed that she wants some head rubs if I just let her do her thing and take it at her pace.

 

[Carl_Power]

My Quaker is malting too and will only bath in a food bowl. I just put my hand in the water and stroke it over him to bath him properly. He is comfy with that and i can really soak his pin feathers and then roll the shells when he is dry and they open up beautifully. Give it a try, reward him if he lets you ect. It really helps x

 

[Sunnybirb]

My Quaker is malting too and will only bath in a food bowl. I just put my hand in the water and stroke it over him to bath him properly. He is comfy with that and i can really soak his pin feathers and then roll the shells when he is dry and they open up beautifully. Give it a try, reward him if he lets you ect. It really helps x

Unfortunately she won't even let me touch her, except occasional head scratches. I'm working on it though! Even dripping water from my hand on her makes her scream and try to bite.

 

[WakaWaka]

Positive reinforcement, making it fun for her, and patience are all key.
Take it slow and hopefully she will realize how much she was missing

If we think of any other suggestions we will pass them on.

Forgot to add......"Talk to your Blue"
Read the posts from Birdman, other educational posts here on this forum, anything to her in a soft voice.
Your presence, calm voice and attention to her will make all the difference in the world.

Thanks for the update
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

 

[Mindy]

Finnegan does not like to take a bath on my schedule at all. If the vacuum is running he dips himself in his water bowl. Since he's dry and the air is dry and he's a feather chewer I unceremoniously spray him with aloe (from the health food store, it's for drinking). He's mad about it but I tell him he can't just be a dirty bird. ; )