Please pray for Scarlet.

[emmett518]

I know this is kind of hokey, but would all of you mind keeping Scarlet in your thoughts?

Drove 7 hours round trip to the big city, and rescued a Scarlet that had plucked her front, legs and part of her back bare. She was in a crappy, horrible cage, and had been with a person who left her alone for days in a cage. The second family that adopted her treated her nicely, but they had to move to a no-pets apartment, so they needed to find a home. I paid way too much for her, but she was so sweet that I couldn't leave her.

I'm getting her settled, will be getting her a much nicer cage, and will be transitioning her to good food as time goes on. If you all could keep her in your prayers that the feathers grow back, I'd be very appreciative.

On another note, if the feathers don't grow back, how do you manage? Can you get the bird to wear a sweater, or will they rip it apart?

Thanks everyone.

 

[JerseyWendy]

THANK YOU for giving her a good, loving home. She is SO lucky to have found you!!!

You won't know for a while whether her feathers will regrow or not. It all depends on the damage she did while plucking.

Some birds CAN wear sweaters, I think we have a member whose bird is in a sweater, but I don't remember the name right now.

Will you take Scarlet to an avian vet and have her checked out thoroughly? I would strongly recommend you do that, so that possible underlaying health issues can be ruled out.

 

[brianlinkles]

That was so wonderful of you to rescue this poor baby! Do you have other birds in your home? If so please remember to keep this new scarlet away from your other birds until you have him/her to the vet. I just did the same as you did but with a galah, I had the bird to the vet and found out that he had avian borna virus. This is a virus that affects 10% of all birds. It can be transferred from bird to bird. I had to find another home for him where they had other birds with this virus and were prepared to care for him. This is a virus that causes birds to have many different issues one of them is plucking and mutilation.

 

[Zazoothehahns]

Nothing hokey about it. Sending prayers and thoughts your way that your new feathered friend heals and flourishes under your care.

 

[MissTaz]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your new addition. Good luck!

 

[aliray]

Prayers and good thoughts and hugs to you for rescuing her

 

[antoinette]

Bless you for taking the bird in
Hoping there is a speedy recovery
In my thoughts and prayers

 

[MonicaMc]

Many birds can be quite happy even with plucked feathers! In fact, some birds look like 'oven ready chickens' and in the right home, they are fantastic pets! Their feathers will never regrow, and they may have problems keeping warm sometimes, but that doesn't effect their personality or health!

Glad you were able to help this scarlet! I would also suggest a vet check just in case the plucking/overpreening could be medical!

 

[kanundra]

So happy you rescued her. Keep us posted and she's in my thoughts

 

[Karigan]

Tab's Macaw wears one and he seems to love it.

 

[emmett518]

More updates. I have to keep reminding myself that it's going to take time to get her comfortable in her new home. She gently takes food from my hand, and when she's going her bat bird imitation (hanging by her beak), I can gently rub her chest. Any other time, she shows that she's not yet comfortable with having my hands anywhere near her. Whoever owned her never stick trained her, and she's petrified of the dowel. This makes moving her impossible since I'm not going to shove my hand or arm near her at this point. This morning, I put a glob of peanut butter on the stick. After backing away in fear, and then biting at the stick, she got a load of peanut butter due to the bite. She then calmed down, and proceeded to eat all of the peanut butter off the end. I'm going to keep putting food on the end of the stick to get her comfortable with it, and to see if I can train her to step up. The rush here is that her present cage (the one she came with) is filthy, disgusting, old, broken, and ratty. I'd like to get her into her new temporary quarters which is twice the size of the old cage. Again, I have to remind myself that building trust is a slow process, and it's going to be on her timetable, and not mine.

The good news is that feathers are growing back in many places. Here's hope that she'll be back to "good as new" by the end of the summer.

Girlfriend and I are pleased that we rescued her.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thank you so much for the update.

Yes, earning trust can slow, but it will be SO worth it.

May I suggest that instead of using a dowel, try using a piece of a natural tree branch. Perhaps that will seem less threatening to her? Just an idea.

I bet you can't wait to have her in the bigger cage. I am SO happy to hear that some of her feathers have already begun coming back.

 

[emmett518]

You bet. The old cage is truly disgusting. Can't wait to junk it.

 

[MikeyTN]

Junky cage came with my Willie when I picked him up but I let him settle in completely then I went out and bought him a large cage that he manage to destroy parts of it. They destroy cages easily!!!! I'll be getting him a new one next year. Good luck on stick training, it is essential for all my birds to learn from the very beginning! The stick training saved me from losing a bird outside many many years ago. He flew up way high in the tree and I got him off by using a pole that was long enough to reach him and he step right up and I lowered the pole slowly and got him back down. Plus it's good to use especially when they're being super hormonal.

 

[emmett518]

Success, thanks to all of your advice.

I've been following your suggestions about sitting with Scarlet, hand feeding her things (nuts in the shell (not peanuts), veges and fruit. So far, she's been very gentle. I've also tried to avoid doing anything that agitates her.

Today, I sat down next to her cage, opened the door, and watched her climb out onto the cage top. Since she was pretty calm, I started hand feeding her nuts. After one or two, she started climbing down from the top, and asking for nuts. She'd then climb back to the top.

While I glanced at the dogs out in the breezeway, I felt a weight on my lap. Scarlet had climbed down from the cage into my lap, and was giving me the "I really need that nut in your hand" look. So I gave it to her. She sat in my lap, and ate the entire thing. When she was done, she climbed back onto the cage. Yes. This made me very excited that she was starting to trust.

Since she seemed to be pretty motivated by food, I decided to see if I could coax her into the dog crate to get her moved to the new cage. I grabbed a handful of nuts, showed them to her, and put them deep into the dog crate. Almost immediately, she climbed to the floor, and walked into the crate. I gently closed the door, carried her over to the new cage, opened the door, and held the crate opening to the cage opening. She walked right in.

Right now, she's climbing all over the place, and is exploring the area that is now double the size of the old cage. It's not a macaw mansion (coming as soon as I save the money), but it's cleaner, newer, and larger than the old piece of junk. Best of all, she looks happier - more calm, content, and she has a sparkle in her eye.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me through this story. Most of all though, thanks for the assistance, advice and patience. You are all part of this project to offer a safe home to a needy bird.

:red:

 

[Klaery]

Very glad to here she is in her new larger cage You are doing great with her.

 

[emmett518]

She's doing well out of her cage, but we can't yet get her to step up onto our hand or a stick. We have to bribe her into the dog crate, lock her in, carry her to her cage, open the crate, and she climbs into the cage.

It could be worse.

 

[jbail1026]

What a wonderful rescue story already! I'm so very happy for her (and you). She sounds like a sweetie who really needed a family. LOVE THIS!