Need advice / help on my CAG bald patch

[donlimck]

Hi fellow parrot lovers,

I'm new to this site and has sign up for a account to ask all experts out there with my new parrot, Oscar.

I have 3 years of parrot experience, mainly dealing with lovebirds, sun concure, black-capped conure, monk parrot , and white bellied caique.
None of the mentioned are really considered to be bigger parrots.

After 3 full years with them, (all still with me, happy and healthy), I decided to get a Congo African Grey. It has always been my wish to own one, but I only decided to get him only after I feel I am more confident and experience enough to own one.

Been having Oscar for a week now. Not DNA for sex yet. Bought him from a local bird store. He is locally breed. I am the 2nd owner. Am told by the bird store that Oscar is now 18 months old.

Oscar is talkative, is playful and friendly. However I notice 2 things about him/her. First, he have what looks like a bald patch near the throat, somewhat an adult thumb nail size bald patch, which I can see directly to his skin. Secondly, he is scratching his back of his neck very frequently. I can see that it looks very itchy.

My question is , what is my Oscar suffering from?
Is this problem a common/serious problem?
Any DIY remedy to use and monitor, or must I bring to the vet straight away?

Please kind souls out there, will appreciate your assistance in any form.
Thnak you

 

[Allee]

Hello and welcome! Glad you joined us.

It sounds like Oscar may be plucking. From what you have said, the most likely reason is stress from his new environment. Greys are very intelligent, he will need some time to adjust.

It's always wise to have a new bird examined by an avian vet before introducing them to the rest of your flock and it would be a good idea to have the vet look at the bald spot.

Frequent baths with plain water will help Oscar's itchy skin and feather condition. I would check the humidity level. Where is Oscar's cage located?

 

[donlimck]

Hi Allee, Thanks for the fast response.
When Oscar was at the bird store, I did already notice that bald patch.
But his playfulness and intelligent won me over. The shop keeper said that the patch will grow back. I am only more concern that that it might be mite that I have read off. I clean their bases on a daily basics and washes the whole cage weekly.
Oscar is located in our hall with a wall facing her back. She seems settled.
Despite over having him for a week, she is showing a good level of connection.
He has no issue with my hands into his cage to clean his food and water. I can also hands in to give him a good neck rub. I will also tend to mist him in the morning daily just when the sun is up. I did not actually see him plucking nor any dropped feathers show any indications. Ialso went a step more to check his dropped feather for any signs of 'stress bar', but it looks good with no strange lines across the shaft.
The hall is fairly cool, and has some indirect sunshine.
The only thing that I can really think off now is its food. The bird shop has only fed Oscar with Sunflower seeds and various type of fruits daily. Knowing that Sunflower seed is not healthy as a primary source of food, I decided to change it into a multi vitamin fortified seeds

 

[Allee]

It sounds like you have Oscar set up nicely and you're doing everything right for him. His sunflower seed only diet may have a lot to do with his skin condition. A pellet based diet with a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits would probably improve his overall health. I think his bald spot is just temporary, I would give him a few weeks and see how he does. Oscar sounds like a real sweetheart. I'm glad you adopted him.

 

[donlimck]

Oscar is impressing me everyday. I knew that African Greys are intelligent. But yet when they 'do their thing', I am still overwhelmed by how smart they really are. From their ability to talk, mimic, getting a piece of foraging toy to scratch its back, 'move' my finger to the place it wants to be scratch. I am really glad that I adopted him. I love him, and miss him even at work. Have added a second toy to his cage (one foraging toy and another puzzle toy). I am feeding him fresh fruits everyday now, but he does not seems to have a liking for pellet. Guess its the first time he is exposed to it, but I will not give up. Hope in time to come, he will grow back the bald patch and start to nibble on the pellets. Thanks for the kind advice. Will report back with new updates later

 

[Allee]

Oscar is obviously very clever, he must be very comfortable with you, moving your finger with his beak and using a toy to scratch himself.

It's very common for parrots to refuse pellets at first. A good trick to get a reluctant parrot to taste pellets is to soak the pellets in a little 100% fruit juice.

 

[donlimck]

Thanks. I will try your method of pellet soaked in little 100% fruit juice. Hope this will kick-start his liking to pellet

 

[donlimck]

I read about spoutings as a form of food. Any advise or suggestions?
Some article labelled them as miracle food. A bit over isn't it?

 

[Allee]

Sprouts have a lot of nutrients very beneficial to parrots. Another plus is that most parrots will eat them.