Plucking issues between birds?

[MissRuthless]

Hey everyone! I wrote an intro post on here awhile ago but it's been so long I didn't want to drag it back up from the dead. Anyhow, I now have three conures, two green cheeks, and a half moon whom I just adopted a few weeks ago. My normal gc, Rudy, came from a very bad, neglectful situation and came to me with most of his body feathers barbered, but not plucked. He moved in with my other gc Irie and became besties and his feathers were starting to grow back through the chewed ones... and then I brought Geri, the half moon, home. He instantly started plucking and now his entire belly, chest and back are just down feathers. He and Geri have gotten close, as they both grew up with clipped wings and don't like to fly much so they both hang out together near their cages. They love to preen each other and cuddle, and it looked like he might have stopped plucking, and then yesterday I noticed that it appears he's started to pluck Geri's head. Is this common? Geri is in full feather and healthy according to the vet, and Rudy has a clean bill of health as well so I'm fairly sure it's a behavioral issue, but now he's plucking her too and not just himself. I'd prefer not to separate them as they seem really happy to have each other - Rudy used to squawk and scream when Irie ditched him to fly around the house, but now he just hangs out quietly with Geri most of the day. But I don't want her to have a bald head. Does anyone have any advice or ideas? Anything would be appreciated, thanks!!

 

[Monica]

Short of redirecting the behavior through the use of training and foraging activities, your best bet is to separate them.

Birds who pluck themselves are quite likely to pluck other birds, too. There's a cherry headed conure pair where I'm at. One has a completely bald/nekkid stomach, the other has patchy head feathers. Although, there are some birds who don't pluck themselves but they will pluck their mate or offspring. I would guess this could be due to not knowing how to properly allopreen. I have Pistachio, a cockatiel, who's missing half of his head feathers but he's not a plucker. The females he's paired up with, he has over-preened them behind their crests.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

my nanday best buddies with my quaker would over preen my quaker i let them share a double flight cage i allowed them to stay together because they were bonded and worth the risk involved