Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Overall, infectious papillomatous disease is comparatively quite rare in the grey parrot. My first recommendations would be to ask your attending veterinarian about the specific manner in which this diagnosis has been confirmed. Proper diagnosis requires biopsy with correlating histopathology. There is a facial papillomavirus infection reported in grey parrots, and there has been one grey parrot reported to be infected with Psittacid herpesvirus, but this bird did not have cloacal papillomas as has been seen in South American species of parrots. Acyclovir has been used in active herpesviral infections to help stop viral replication, but this drug has not been shown to have merit in the treatment of papillomatous disease associated with Psittacid herpesviral infections. Other considerations you may have to keep in mind here could include mechanically induced cloacal inflammation, bacterial cloacitis, or cloacal carcinoma. A carefully selected and diagnostic biopsy will get you quite far towards accurate diagnosis, with potentially an aerobic culture sample from the biopsy site. Once diagnosis is clarified, treatment should become much more straightforward.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Crystal, My name is Miranda DeVries and I am an avian trainer with Steve Martin's Natural Encounters, Inc. First, I would like to commend you for seeking help so quickly for Joey and your husband, Evan. It says a lot about your compassion for Joey that you want him to have a positive and reinforcing relationship with everyone in your household.

My first thoughts when reading your question was that any man who enters Joey's life after the abuse and mistreatment he may have suffered by his previous male owner may have to start his relationship with Joey basically from scratch. The past does not equal the present, however, and despite what may have occurred in the past you and your husband have the power to shape and modify the behavior you're seeing now. This may sound a little daunting at first but with lots of positive reinforcements and interactions I believe Joey and Evan can have a relationship that they both are happy with.

You are well on your way to helping Evan and Joey build a positive relationship by not forcing Evan on Joey. Forcing a bird to be around someone or do something that makes the bird fearful can lead to more aggressive behaviors, even biting. Any interactions Evan and Joey have right now should be when Joey is in his cage because from your question you say that is the only place Joey will take treats from Evan. I do not recommend that Evan read to Joey because from your question it would seem that the simple presence of Evan is a negative experience for Joey right now since he may not trust Evan. I love your idea of having Evan feed Joey his favorite treats. The treat Evan gives Joey is something positive that he will begin to associate with your husband. You want to make sure, though, that when Evan does this the body language that Joey is presenting is positive and calm, and that he is not displaying possible signs of fear or aggression such as quick, jerking body movements, feathers slicked tightly against his body, or alarm calling. If Joey does present Evan with negative body language Evan should simply walk away from his cage. Walking away from the cage allows Joey to have power over his environment. Evan can simply return later and give Joey a treat when he is presenting positive body language. By giving Joey the power to make Evan leave if he is feeling uncomfortable, and limiting their time together to those instances when Joey's behavior suggests that he is feeling comfortable about Evan's presence, this will only help both Evan and your bird decrease the amount of negative interactions they have, therefore making their overall history together a more positive one in total. After the positive interactions of Evan giving Joey his treat have occurred for awhile you and your husband might notice that Joey looks at Evan when he enters the room or moves toward his food bowl before he even gets the treat.

After Evan can give Joey a treat in his bowl (that is both positive and reinforcing to both) he can start to give him treats from his hand while Joey sits nicely on his perch. At first Evan can bait Joey away from his bowl by showing him a treat in his hand over by Joey's perch. Evan can eventually fade out the bait and just use a hand motion to send Joey to his perch and feed him through the cage. Just remember if Joey shows Evan any negative body language (behavior) Evan should simply walk away and return when Joey's behavior is more positive – the basic rule that we follow in all our training is to reward behaviors that we like and to ignore the ones that we don't. We always strive to give our birds the power to choose whether or not to participate in our training sessions. If our birds choose not to participate, by displaying body language such as the examples mentioned above, we simply leave with the treats and try again later when they offer body language that is calm and inviting, such as still body posture with loose feathering, or walking towards the side of the cage where we are standing.

Once Joey is comfortable with Evan coming up to his cage and feeding him, Evan may even try getting some of Joey's behaviors on cue while still in his cage. The behavior could be simply a pleasing sound that Joey makes or targeting a toy with his beak. When training these behaviors, if Evan finds he cannot give Joey his treat quickly after the correct behavior is performed, he can use a bridge. A bridge is a signal to the animal that what it has just done at that exact moment was good, and that reinforcement is on its way – it gets its name because it "bridges" the gap in time between when the animal has performed the desired behavior and when the rewards is presented to the animal for performing the behavior. We at Natural Encounters, Inc., normally use a quick verbal ‘good' as a bridge. As was suggested in your question, you can also give a click with a clicker. Evan should keep a handful of treats on him and whenever he hears Joey make the noise or do whatever behavior he decides, he can bridge Joey and give him the treat. When Joey is making the noise (or performing the behavior) consistently Evan can start to cue him for it. A cue can be anything at all (verbal or hand signal) that lets the bird know that you want him to make that noise or perform that behavior. Birds are extremely visual and tend to pick up on hand cues easier than verbal cues. Evan may notice that every time Joey performs the desired noise/behavior, he first flaps his wings or does some sort of behavior just before the noise/behavior is about to occur. When Evan sees that, he can cue Joey for the desired behavior, bridge after it is presented, and then walk over and provide the reinforcement. The behavior itself can be something very simple at first, such as training Joey to touch or hold a toy that is in his cage, and if both Joey and Evan enjoy the interactions it entails then you can move on to more complicated behaviors from there.

Once Evan and Joey have a comfortable relationship within the cage they can start working on their relationship outside of the cage. Depending on their comfort level with one another and Evan's criteria of what he wants his relationship with Joey to be, he may even choose to work on stepping Joey up out of his cage using either his hand or a more stable tool like a stick or T-perch. While this may seem like a simple behavior at first glance, the process of teaching a bird to do this using positive training methods can actually be quite a detailed and lengthy process that should never be rushed. If you are interested in learning more about the steps involved in training a bird to step up using positive reinforcement, please let us know and we'd be happy to provide you with further details. The key to all this is that Evan should continue to reinforce the behavior that he likes, allow Joey's body language to shape his own, and in doing so diligently I think you will be amazed at the progress both your bird and your husband will be able to make. In your email you say that Joey is currently fleeing from Evan when he approaches. If Evan can learn to read Joey's subtle signs of discomfort, Evan can take steps now to make sure it doesn't get to that point with the two of them again. If Evan slowly approaches Joey with a treat and Joey's feathers become tight or his posture changes suggesting that he wants to move away, Evan should freeze and take a small step back. If Joey's feathers soften and his weight shifts to a comfortable low position, Evan can then slowly proceed forward, repeating this process and truly allowing Joey to tell Evan how quickly or slowly (or even whether or not) he can approach. This process gives Joey power by allowing him to make Evan retreat with just the slightest change in body language, and will make Joey much more comfortable with Evan's presence overall.

Crystal, I hope the above helps Evan and Joey and even yourself build a more positive relationship. If you have any further questions I recommend our website http://www.naturalencounters.com, which features our responses to companion parrot questions such as yours that we have received over the years, articles on bird behavior, training, and enrichment, and information on the companion parrot owner workshops that we offer several times a year at our training facility in Winter Haven, FL. Best of luck to you all!


Sincerely,


Miranda DeVries
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Phoebe Green Linden:

Hi Kathleen, I’m so sorry for your little guy. He’s been through a lot for being young. Please tell us exactly how old he is and his name, OK?

Even though you have both been through a certain amount of trauma, the good point is that you probably have a solid relationship with an avian vet who can continue to help your parrot maintain good health. Perhaps a person at the vet hospital took a particular interest in him and can now become his babysitter and part of your local support network. All in all, robust health is the key to good relationship and increased activity and will contribute to his desire to explore more territory. Recovery from aspiration depends upon how much air sac tissue was affected so be sure to have him re-checked by your avian vet. The moment he seems down and inactive is the time to have him checked, not later.

Whether or not you confront the breeder with the past events depends on the relationship you have with that person. If you are confident that the result will yield desired results then sure, give a call. However, if you think there will be acrimony and that nothing will come of it, my advice is to concentrate on the here and now with your eclectus and stay in the moment.

Also, aspiration can happen at any time. It could have happened when he was a teeny baby, or in the carrier during transport to your home, or while he was at your house.

Parrots form bonds throughout their lives so its not like you’ve missed one critical bonding period that will never happen again. You did the right thing by getting him healthy when he was sick. When he’s confirmed healthy and active once again, put food bowls at the front of the cage, put some half perches on the cage door and keep the door open as much as possible. Fix it so that he can eat both at the front of the cage or while perching on the open cage door. My eclectus love mega millet and will go for it wherever it hangs—try it to see if it entices him, too.

It’s most important for you to discover what he finds reinforcing, what he does that comforts him, what behaviors he conducts to soothe himself and then acknowledge these. Try to set up the physical and emotional environments to encourage more of these behaviors. Watch him and catch him doing something cute like puffing his feathers, scratching his head with his foot, turning around on his perch, or cocking his head and give those behaviors verbal reinforcement. Key in to what he’s doing by giving him your undivided attention and praise when you see him moving to soothe himself and/or moving towards you. Also, establish a contact whistle or call that you use when you enter the house, his room, his area and use this consistently.

Please check out the following articles which will really help you:
http://www.parrots.org/pdfs/all_about_parrots/reference_library/behaviour_and_environmental_enrichment/Shaping%20New%20Behaviors.pdf

http://www.parrots.org/pdfs/all_about_parrots/reference_library/behaviour_and_environmental_enrichment/Success%20Files.pdf

Remember, we are trying to increase his physical skills and we do this by creating environments where it’s easy for him to do physical behaviors. We want him to gain physical acuity and increase the numbers of observable behaviors he conducts. When he walks or climbs from perch to perch, touches toys, destroys a stalk of mega millet, scratches his head with one foot, then with the other, turns around and fans his tail, rings a bell or whistles when you enter the room, you and he will have fully bonded.

Also, seriously consider purchasing Barbara Heidenreich’s books because they will help you establish an excellent and active relationship with your parrot. Therein, you’ll learn about desensitizing him to towels through the creation of non-threatening learning situations.

Keep us posted, Kathleen.

All best,
Phoebe

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Oana, Except in the cases of medical necessity or behavior safety (ie. mate killing, etc.) it is always more proper to leave parrots with flight feathers.

It increases their aerobic and athletic health, makes them safer from falls and attacks by animals, increases self confidence and alertness, decreases problems like egg binding, and basically makes birds like your Grey "happier" in a natural way.

There are some dangers with flight--glass windows, parrots that have not been taught to come to an arm or fly down can escape the house, aggressive and jealous species may take to "buzzing" humans they do not like, and so forth.

Also in limited indoor spaces, it is sometimes appropriate to trim two or three of the outermost primary feathers at the front of the wing (one feather at a time over a two week period!) to increase flapping exercise in parrots that seem to be lazy flyers or only have room to glide and land....

Cheers,
EB

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Your inquiry was long and there are so many aspects of it that merit comment.

Yes, keeping parrots in captivity is a challenge and many owners fall short in providing stimulating environments, foods, activity, etc. for their birds. On the other hand huge progress in education of psittacine owners has been accomplished in the last 10 years or so and many keepers ARE using imagination and foresight in providing for their pets.

But, it is kind of a glass-half -mpty/half-full discussion since there were so many hundreds of thousands of parrots going into homes the past 20 plus years that it is only logical that many hundreds are going to end up neglected or less than adequately cared for.

In that, parrots are much like dogs and cats and fish and horses and other captive animals living their lives "by human leave." Many are ill treated. Your feeling that meeting needs of these animals is easier is a bit rosy colored. Dogs are abandoned and kept inside or penned or tied up without room to run; cats are let out to fight or fed overly rich foods, or allowed to produce unwanted kittens by the half dozen by some owners; horses overworked or under tended orsimply turned out on lean pastures and expected to stay healthy during poor grass growth; shucks, people even keep bee hives without any consideration to giving the bees water to drink....

Anyway, I disagree that most owners do not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots. I find most bird people, even the well meaning ones, tend to spend thousands of dollars a year on themselves, but neglect to get a new cage or an extra special expensive food diet for their bird.

In addition my parrots always get time out in the back yard even for short stretches in winter.....those former wing trimmed ones were placed in trees to climb and chew or hung in carry cages while I was out supervising; the flighted ones were trained to stay put with me watching over them nearby. Harnesses, screen gazebos--all sorts of ways can get parrots outside.

As to your basic question: I think it as a wonderful idea and should someone in an agreeable setting choose to do the day care thing, it would certainly be financially viable. After all, people pay significant daily sums to have their pets boarded at vets, bird stores or other facilities. The same protocols for health checks and safe intermixing of only healthy birds would apply in your case, with the added benefit of having outdoor air and sunlight conditions lessening the chances of many microbes being as highly contagious.

So, I concur, it is a good idea, and one which has infinite possibilities for some enterprising parrot lover. Unfortunately, you will have to move it forward; I have neither enterprising time nor enough parrots in need in my neighborhood to get such a project off the ground....

With aloha, EB

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

I hope your little bird has continued to recover from its injuries with the supportive care advice that Phoebe G. had provided. Looking back through your description of clinical signs, treatments administered and how this bird was doing, there are concerns that come to my mind but these would be most realistically tempered by the response of this bird to nursing and supportive care. 1/2 of a tablet of Ciprofloxacin would be about 125 mg, which would be the dose typically administered to a 6 kilogram bird, and no parrots are in this large of a weight range. Presuming that this youngster is a typical youngster, that dose should have been considerably higher than optimally desired. When administered in a tablet form, sometimes these products lodge in the esophagus, and cause mechanical irritation, which theoretically could have a role with the continued discomfort in swallowing that you describe with this young chick. I am not familiar with the specific brand names or drug concentrations mentioned (Vetcort and Melonex), and cannot comment on their potential merit or problems. Many products ending with "cort" are cortisone or corticosteriod drugs, which generally are not recommended for use in birds, particularly in youngsters. Sometimes, in an urgent "life saving" situation, however, these types of drugs may be used. Your greatest probability of this chick recovering from a mechanical injury will be through simple supportive care, and not through the use of drugs, overall. Fluid support (administered by gavage or parenterally) is huge in this regard, as is the delivery of good nutrition and warmth. I hope this bird has recovered, and wish you the best. Thanks so much for trying so hard to help this feathered soul.

Answered by Jim McKendry:

G’day,
My personal philosophy is that it is extremely important for parrots to share their environment with other parrots, if the social enrichment and companionship of humans is inconsistent and highly variable. Apart from that classic exception to just about every psittacine rule, the Kakapo, the two most unnatural situations that many captive parrots seem to struggle to adapt to are lack of flight, and lack of opportunities for stimulation and socialisation with other parrots. Along with a lack of foraging opportunity, those deficiencies are often the key contributors to the development of many behavioural problems we deal with in companion parrots.

I have travelled throughout Australia, Asia and Central America observing parrots in the wild. It is an extreme rarity to ever observe a parrot without either a bonded partner, small family group, or a seasonal flock close by. In the rare circumstances when parrots are observed on their own in the wild there is a reason for this. It is always a temporary situation and one that, among other things, potentially leaves them vulnerable to predation. So much of the behavioural ecology of a wild parrot is intimately linked to having evolved and been naturally selected as a social, flocking creature that it really does confound me that humans consider it acceptable to keep them on their own and wonder why problems arise as a direct or indirect result.

We also need to have realistic expectations when it comes to species, and even individual, compatibility. The common misconception is that we look at `parrots’ as a single organism that comes in many different shapes, sizes and colours. The reality is that we’re looking at 350+ different species, each offering a suite of different behavioural characteristics that may not immediately cater for compatibility with other species of significantly different taxa. There are however, plenty of indications that much of the social behaviour we observe is learned, rather than innate. This sets up opportunities for mixed species groupings to work when individuals of different species groups are raised around each other in captivity. Parrots are also socially adaptable, so in the absence of their own species, it is not uncommon for an individual to develop relationships with other parrots of different species. This gravitation towards developing a pair bond, even outside of a conspecific, is indeed the basic characteristic that results in parrots bonding to humans and endearing themselves to us.

Of course, there are many parrots out there who are kept on their own and perhaps, all observations indicate they are doing fine. I am inclined to suggest that in those cases, the interaction schedule with their human owners is high and they live in a great and stimulating environment that caters for their needs well. I would also suggest that these are the exceptions, rather than the rule, when it comes to parrots on their own. Indeed, in such cases, the parrot isn't really on its `own' - the humans are with them most of the time. Over the years, I have developed an extensive amount of first hand experience observing the behavioural results of parrots making a transition from an isolated life to one that offers exposure to other psittacines. Everything from flocking of mixed species in large zoo exhibits as a keeper to simply housing pet parrots in seperate enclsures near each other in a home enrvironment. Given an appropriate set of conditions, this transition almost always results in an enhanced degree of behavioural activity, on many levels. Of course, there are many considerations that need to be made to successfully achieve such a transition. Some parrots kept in isolation from other parrots for many years may lack the socialisation skills necessary to avoid conflict. I have one such bird, and although we are yet to find a parrot that he will tolerate co-habitation with in the same enclosure, you only need to observe the degree to which he interacts vocally with the other parrots in our environment, and how he responds to the subtleties of their behaviours, to know that there is a really intense interaction dynamic at play, and one that I am certain he is benefiting from. Species compatibility, housing and enclosure design, access to food and perching resources in mixed flock enclosures and monitoring incompatibility stress are all essential considerations for the welfare of parrots kept with or near other parrots.

Just finally – rather than thinking your parrots consider themselves `human’, perhaps is it more likely that they indeed know they’re birds and look at us as funny looking birds without feathers? Hmm. I guess we’ll never know ☺

Kind Regards from `Down Under’
Jim McKendry
Parrot Behaviour & Enrichment Consultations
http://www.pbec.com.au

Answered by Jim McKendry:

G’day Onette,
Thankyou for sharing. There are certainly some challenging issues that can be discussed from your questions. Your situation really does expose and highlight a lack of preparedness that is unfortunately all too common when people take on the significant role of caring for a companion African Grey Parrot, or any parrot species. You’ve taken an important step in seeking help and assistance, and for that you should be commended. It is important to realise that there now needs to be a major evaluation on your part concerning how you will need to create a safe and suitable captive environment for an African Grey from here on. Hopefully the resources available here at WPT will be of great assistance to you and your African Grey.

Managing the reluctance to return to his cage...
It’s difficult to offer specific advice, as I have no idea what the environment in the room looks like, the degree of aversion your parrot has towards the cage, how you have set your cage up and the history that has been established in association with the cage. All of these considerations would feed into the approach one would need to take to achieve the goal of developing a more positive relationship between the parrot and his cage environment. Regardless of this, some generalised training principles should apply and there are a number of strategies that you can try. Any strategy should incorporate an approximation schedule that provides your African Grey with opportunities to gradually increase his exposure to the cage whilst ensuring that such opportunities are combined with highly motivating rewards. Your main indicator of success in this situation is derived from his body language. Observe him and make note of the visual indicators that convey a sense of comfort and confidence and this will help guide you in knowing when you can increase his exposure and/or proximity to the cage. He is already comfortable on the basket you are using so there’s a great, familiar resource that you can start placing in closer proximity to the cage. Working towards the cage, your goal may be having him perch on the basket in front of the cage with the cage door open. Depending on his level of comfort around the cage, you may be able to also incorporate play and handling interactions using the cage as a stand, or utilising the top of the cage as an area where enrichment items and food can be delivered. Set up opportunities for him to explore the cage whilst the door is open and he is freely able to enter and exit. To achieve this, there needs to be a motivator within or on the cage that he is keen to move towards. The creative delivery of his supplementary hand feeding sessions on, or preferably in, the cage may also help to strengthen his association with the cage as a positively reinforcing and non-threatening part of his environment. Free feed opportunities during the day also need to be offered in gradually closer proximity to the cage until eventually you can feed him within the cage. To fully develop a plan for working on desensitisation towards the cage, and establishing approximations for getting him to use the cage willingly, you will definitely need to have a thorough read through the articles that WPT has provided in the Reference Library. Try starting with...

• The ABC’s of Behaviour: Dr. Susan Friedman
• Shaping New Behaviours: Dr. Susan Friedman
• Step Up – Command or Request?: Barbara Heidenreich

Managing rest and exposure to stimuli late at night...
Opinions differ as to the effect on behavioural health of companion parrots that are exposed to various environmental stimuli, such as televisions, late into the night. The obvious answer to most situations where this is a concern is to simply remove the parrot from the room and establish an environment where the bird can achieve some rest without visual or aural distraction. You have noted that you do not consider this possible due to the other rooms in your house being too cold. This is another situation that is very difficult to give you a definite green light on in terms of a specific approach to take. Essentially – how cold is `too cold’? If you purchased your African Grey in Romania, I assume there are other Grey owners there. It’s time to start networking and finding out how other local parrot enthusiasts are catering for their parrots – something that really should have been done prior to bringing such an animal into your home. Provided that we are not talking about temperatures below freezing, your Grey should adapt to low temperatures if it is allowed time to acclimatise. My own African Grey is kept outdoors year round, and has done in his previous homes for more than 25 years. Whilst our environment does not experience the extreme cold you are exposed to in Romania, overnight winter temperatures here still regularly drop to 0 to 3 degrees Celsius. We have never observed any ill effects of this with any of our birds. Provided he is not exposed to constant cold draughts and he is dry, in an indoor environment, even without heating, he should be fine. Monitor the temperature in the most suitable alternative room and make a judgement from there as to whether it is acceptable to house him there overnight. Also, consider the perching substrate you are using and ensure it is not composed of a material that becomes excessively cold, as this can potentially lead to health problems with his toes and feet in severely cold climates.

Some need for reflection...
In reading through your set of questions and the description of your situation, I personally feel there is a need for some considered reflection on your part as to the suitability of the environment you have for a pet African Grey parrot and what you may need to challenge yourself to do to improve it. I noticed that Dr. Brian Speer has responded to another question you submitted concerning an appropriate diet for an unweaned African Grey. It is important that we continue to reinforce to the parrot owning community just how completely inappropriate it is to purchase a parrot as young as this. This is perhaps the most critical stage of development in a parrot’s life. A time where it needs to be socialised with other parrots, provided opportunities to forage, explore its environment, develop its flight skills, muscle tone and coordination, and given time to properly develop its independence. Breeders need to be challenged to ensure that each of these absolutely essential experiences have been catered for prior to being sold. We also need to properly educate ourselves on exactly what our responsibilities are when we make the commitment to keep a parrot in captivity, and what we need to have in place to cater for them in terms of adequate housing, areas for additional enrichment, dietary needs and an understanding of training fundamentals. They deserve no less than that.

Kind Regards from `Down Under’
Jim McKendry
Parrot Behaviour & Enrichment Consultations
http://www.pbec.com.au