{"id":27235,"date":"2019-10-23T00:26:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T05:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=27235"},"modified":"2025-08-28T14:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T19:48:10","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-african-grey-athenas-unexpected-health-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-african-grey-athenas-unexpected-health-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg\u2019s Lab: African Grey Athena\u2019s Unexpected Health Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes Things Just Happen…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"African
Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve already written about the move to our temporary summer quarters<\/a> in 2019, high up in a building with amazing views of the Boston skyline. But it also offers views of less positive items \u2014 that is, hawk fly-bys and thunderstorms that initially caused Griffin and Athena some stress. Happily, they adjusted quite well over time. By the end of the summer, they actively wanted to be by the windows. We didn\u2019t expect any other consequences of the move, but, well, sometimes things just happen.<\/p>\n

The Normal Environment For Good Health<\/h3>\n

To explain what transpired, I first have to describe a bit more about our permanent basement quarters. In addition to the full-spectrum lights that provide an appropriate visual environment, we\u2019ve invested in some other fancy equipment to keep the birds healthy. Having dealt with aspergillosis<\/a> in the past, we have an extremely high-grade air filtration system. It removes most of the impurities and allergens that could be harmful to our birds\u2019 respiratory system. We also monitor the humidity. African grey parrots live in equatorial Africa, and thus are used to moderately moist conditions. We, therefore, have a very elaborate cold-mist humidifier that uses water that we purify ourselves so that there are no particulates that could be sent into the air. (NB: We don\u2019t use that water for drinking, as it lacks things such as calcium and fluoride that are important for the birds\u2019 health.)<\/p>\n

The humidifier is disinfected on a regular basis. We also shower the birds each day, and occasionally they decide to soak themselves in their water dishes (these are big dog bowls, so there\u2019s lots of room), which also helps with humidity. We remove our outdoor shoes and use liberal amounts of hand sanitizer when we enter the premises. Cages are constantly being scrubbed and cage liners are changed twice per day, and our vacuum cleaner has a HEPA filter. The lab isn\u2019t a germ-free environment by any means, but we do try to keep it as clean and healthful as possible.<\/p>\n

A Reaction To Humidity Change?<\/h3>\n

We maintained our protocols during the move, but the temporary summer quarters lacked much of our fancy equipment. It was at least twice the size of our permanent space. Neither our air filter nor our humidifier would have done an adequate job, as they simply were not designed for that amount of square footage. Plus, we were supposed to be in place only for about two-and-a-half months. Nothing untoward had happened the last time we spent that much amount of time upstairs, so we weren\u2019t overly concerned.<\/p>\n

This time, however, the two-and-a-half months stretched to four. September was an unusually dry month. We weren\u2019t back in place before classes started. In the schedule upheaval that always occurs during turnover between summer and fall research assistants and the confusion about exactly when we were to move, somehow the daily showers decreased to just a few per week with no one quite realizing what had happened. Then, one morning, my lab manager began the day to find that Athena had some blood on one side of her body. Close inspection showed that she had removed all her small underwing feathers, breaking a blood feather in the process. We were really concerned.<\/p>\n

An emergency trip to the veterinarian resulted in a diagnosis of dermatitis and an infection. Argh! We were assured that what had happened was actually not that uncommon in African greys when humidity levels change, and that a course of antibiotics and the application of some special cream would do the trick. Unfortunately, Athena reacted poorly to the cream and plucked out all the feathers on the side of her body just under that wing. This led to another emergency trip to the veterinarian.<\/p>\n

The Challenges Of Athena’s Treatment<\/h3>\n

We were told to extend the course of antibiotics, a different cream was suggested, and Athena came back with a soft white collar that was supposed to keep her from plucking. The collar barely stayed intact through the hour-long ride back to the lab. For a while, we were able to keep her distracted during the day, but she seemed to be spending nights messing with her wing instead of sleeping. Thus, our young bird, who never seemed to have an “off-switch,” was napping a lot during sessions. The area under her wing wasn\u2019t improving.<\/p>\n

So, we purchased a sturdier collar \u2014 a rather attractive, small felt one. Athena did look rather cute (see image), and seemed to tolerate it. But the wing area, although not looking worse, was still not looking better. And she figured out how to remove the collar. Another trip to the veterinarian, and Athena came back with a bandaged wing and some serious neckware. She will have bi-weekly trips to the veterinarian until she is healed. Interestingly, she still seems interested in sessions\u2026maybe they are a pleasant distraction? We have our fingers crossed that all will be well before too long.<\/p>\n

Stay Alert For Health Issues When Any Changes Occur<\/h3>\n

Thankfully, this problem isn\u2019t among the most serious, but it has increased our awareness of just how sensitive these birds can be. The moral of the story, therefore, is to be aware of how any<\/em> changes in a parrot\u2019s environment can affect its health. In our case, it was a confluence of several small things that added up, none of which by themselves would have been of note or likely have caused the problem. And whatever happened affected only one bird. Griffin took all these changes in stride, so possibly Athena was just super-sensitive. Be that as it may, whenever you make ANY change \u2014 or are forced to make one \u2014 keep an eye out for all<\/em> possible effects and check every<\/em> bird in your aviary \u2014 and keep checking! Sometimes things just happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Pepperberg dishes on a recent health scare she experienced with African grey Athena. 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