White thing...

[riddick07]

If anyone was wondering if Folger is still alive why yes he is.....

He of course got it all over the floor too and my vacuum was like yeah no that’s not happening

 

[Scott]

Glad to see Folger's busy beak is a happy beak. Looks like he was building a bonfire!

 

[riddick07]

Glad to see Folger's busy beak is a happy beak. Looks like he was building a bonfire!

He is doing well! I need to get him another big collar. His other one worked better since it was harder to reach the legs. The one in the picture is one of his older ones since he destroyed the big collar.

He still is a little nervous but he does more of his talking consistently. He still loves decapitating dinosaurs as therapy too lol

 

[Terry57]

I'm so happy to see Folger!! Your story with him is one of my favourites. He is looking wonderful!
That cage bottom cracked me up.

 

[Mindy]

so cute! How does he take the collar? What type of collar is it that works? My Finnegan is a chewer but I've not tried any collars so I'm curious.

 

[riddick07]

Folger was a little more confident and outgoing before the collar. He became more nervous after the collar. I contribute this to the fact that his standard coping mechanisms had been cutoff. (He has major abuse in his background.) His coping methods were mostly mutilaton with a side of light plucking/overpreening. He has gotten more used to it as the years go by and some of his older behaviors have returned of talking and such. I remove the collar when he is out on a stand and let him preen. Even with the collar on he can eat, drink, play in his baskets, beat up toys and attack random people.

Just went down and got some better pictures of the collar that he is wearing for you. Most of the collars I get are made of fleece and felt. I actually have some old saddle pads from horseback riding I want to cut up and try to use. If you do get a collar go with ones that have the snap button things and not Velcro. A lot of them figure the Velcro out.

 

[riddick07]

This is Folger at the shelter when I was visiting him to adopt him in 2014. He had mutilation along his back and under his wings too. I had some pictures but I had trouble even finding these for some reason. Not sure what happened to the pictures maybe on my old iPad. But you can see the improvement after 4 years with the collar and I’m sure some of it is being with me too lol

 

[GaleriaGila]

Seriously, aren't Bare-Eyeds just the cutest?????
To me, they just have this eternal expression of "Who, me?" or maybe "Wait, what?"

Good for you, Folger! You're wonderful, Riddick.

 

[Mindy]

Oh wow, I didn't realize the collar was a stay on forever thing. For some reason I was thinking for a length of time until feathers grow out a bit. I assumed that this wouldn't work and they would be right back at it which is another reason I haven't done it. I would/will do one in a heartbeat if I start seeing broken skin of course!

 

[wrench13]

Good work, Riddick, Folger looks much improved.

 

[riddick07]

Oh wow, I didn't realize the collar was a stay on forever thing. For some reason I was thinking for a length of time until feathers grow out a bit. I assumed that this wouldn't work and they would be right back at it which is another reason I haven't done it. I would/will do one in a heartbeat if I start seeing broken skin of course!

So a collar doesn’t have to stay on forever. It can be used to break the cycle but it’s not a miracle worker and if you haven’t fixed the issues or taught new behaviors it’s useless. Then, you do have ones that mutilation of the skin or learned plucking is just something that can’t be stopped and having a collar on when no supervision is present is best. Folger is not a good comparison to most birds since he is in the end psychotic & neurotic. He IS much improved and I might be able to actually take out the psychotic part now haha. Folger has had a rough life and nothing is going to erase the 14 or so homes that came before me.

I don’t know how you care for your bird, what the routines are, diet, placement in the house, cage, toys, health screening, humidty, baths, etc. So I can’t really recommend anything to try. If you want to give me a rundown/pictures of the cage area/cage I can see if I have any ideas to try and help. Also, greys tend to aim for under the wings along the seam of their body/wing where infection easily sets in and the wound has trouble closing when it comes to mutilation. If you are worried about mutilation that’s where I would check regularly.

 

[riddick07]

Seriously, aren't Bare-Eyeds just the cutest?????
To me, they just have this eternal expression of "Who, me?" or maybe "Wait, what?"

Good for you, Folger! You're wonderful, Riddick.

Thanks

It’s nice that the easiest way to tell they are happy and healthy is the puffy bag under the eyes lol

 

[Kentuckienne]

If you search for Silliens posts, she has a picture of a neck collar she made for a macaw. It was a stiff ribbon-looking thing that kept him from bending his neck enough to reach the chew spots, and I think the plan was that when the Elizabethan collar comes off, the ribbon stays on, to make it harder to reestablish the habit. It looked brilliant.

 

[Mindy]

Mutilation is something I worry about but no evidence as of yet. I will for sure keep checking under the wings.
He's in the middle of the house where he can see what's going on everywhere. We've moved a few times since we've had him so this has not always been the case. The humidity is lower than I like but I do have a cold humidifier to help that. He did get worse after the last vet visit (to be expected) so I've been misting with aloe daily. He accepts it without a fight but he doesn't like it. I don't have any thought that he'll ever be fully feathered and I'm ok with that, just trying to make him more comfortable and as happy as I can. Diet is a mixture of pellets and fresh foods daily, plus a bite of what I'm eating depending on what it is. Safflower seeds and bits of walnut and pecan hand fed for a treat and bonding daily.
I posted yesterday I tried a vest, he hated it and kept pulling threads so I took it off after a couple of hours. To me the risk of him hanging himself up on something at night is too scary. We had a hahns macaw hang herself on a toy years ago so I'm extra sensitive to that issue.