TheParrotStore
Sitting on the front steps
- Joined
- 7/13/10
- Messages
- 17
- Real Name
- Art
Hi Vega
Any updates on how your birds are responding?
Any updates on how your birds are responding?
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Avitech response to email, not very helpful
- Thread starter Vega
- Start date
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TheParrotStore
Sitting on the front steps
- Joined
- 7/13/10
- Messages
- 17
- Real Name
- Art
Pardon me if you are aware of or it has been mentioned already. Has there been any environment changes, anything adding stress. New cage, bird, person, change in cage position, someone not around, change in hours etc... Have you gone to a vet to check for medical causes?
I get the feeling that doubling the dose has kept him calm which you are seeing the results of new feathers being allowed to come in. But the underling cause is still there. I would try to locate that as until it is addressed the problem probably will not go away.
In the meantime have you looked into anything to sooth the skin and/or cover or prevent him from plucking until the feathers grow in more? I dont endorse or have any first had experience but there are coverings and collars that appear to have helped others.
I wish you luck.
I get the feeling that doubling the dose has kept him calm which you are seeing the results of new feathers being allowed to come in. But the underling cause is still there. I would try to locate that as until it is addressed the problem probably will not go away.
In the meantime have you looked into anything to sooth the skin and/or cover or prevent him from plucking until the feathers grow in more? I dont endorse or have any first had experience but there are coverings and collars that appear to have helped others.
I wish you luck.
Vega
Rollerblading along the road
- Joined
- 1/29/10
- Messages
- 1,636
- Real Name
- Joni
Welp, I spoke too soon. Woke up this morning to 2 swollen little legs. The water/peroxide mix normally does the trick of cleaning and reducing the swelling. 
Art, I've tried everything with the exception of Red Palm Oil, which is next on my list. I've also read a bit about coconut oil that I'd like to look into a bit more.
The plucking is behavioral, though he is due for a well-bird check up. The "mutilating" comes in when a feather is regrowing, typically on his legs, and it hasn't broken the skin yet. He will pick at it until he's bleeding and manages to pull the feather out.
A not-so-brief history:
He originally started plucking in 2006. We had 3 major changes in 8 days. First we moved. Then he was moved into a larger cage. Then I was hospitalized for 5 days. I had never been away from him for longer than a few days. When I came back home I was still recovering and their 'out of cage time' was extremely limited.
About 4 weeks after surgery I started treatments and they received no out of cage time for the next 12 weeks. Nobody in my family felt comfortable handling them. Because my immune system was shot I was told handling them could lead to being hospitalized. He started plucking during that time.
I took him to the vet and it was determined to be stress-related. We put him on meds and it made him all dopey. After the meds were finished I started putting chamomile tea in his water, a natural calming aid. I also tried Pluck No More, which only helped for the first week. And I honestly couldn't afford it. I also began spraying him with George's Aloe.
Things were iffy until mid 2007, after another 10 day stay at the hospital. By late 2007 our lives started to settle down and he allowed a majority of the feathers to grow back in. I continued with the tea in his water though.
In Nov/Dec 2008 my family life was disrupted. We started this routine of moving back and forth between home and my mom's house. He started plucking again. The cage he's in at my mom's is smaller than the one at home. I believe this contributes to the plucking as he doesn't move around much in it. But this was the cage he lived in for the first 2 years of his life. He has all the same food, toys, and treats at my mom's that he has at home. Same basic routine, just a different house. I do give him extra almonds there though
*sigh* My mom is planning to retire next summer though, which means I'll no longer be needed to help my brother out, and we'll once again be home.
Now he's on the AviCalm and Featheriffic (which he does NOT like, but is starting to accept) and I just started using the product to add to his spray-bath water. It stinks...so I might go back to the aloe.
Art, I've tried everything with the exception of Red Palm Oil, which is next on my list. I've also read a bit about coconut oil that I'd like to look into a bit more.
The plucking is behavioral, though he is due for a well-bird check up. The "mutilating" comes in when a feather is regrowing, typically on his legs, and it hasn't broken the skin yet. He will pick at it until he's bleeding and manages to pull the feather out.
A not-so-brief history:
He originally started plucking in 2006. We had 3 major changes in 8 days. First we moved. Then he was moved into a larger cage. Then I was hospitalized for 5 days. I had never been away from him for longer than a few days. When I came back home I was still recovering and their 'out of cage time' was extremely limited.
About 4 weeks after surgery I started treatments and they received no out of cage time for the next 12 weeks. Nobody in my family felt comfortable handling them. Because my immune system was shot I was told handling them could lead to being hospitalized. He started plucking during that time.
I took him to the vet and it was determined to be stress-related. We put him on meds and it made him all dopey. After the meds were finished I started putting chamomile tea in his water, a natural calming aid. I also tried Pluck No More, which only helped for the first week. And I honestly couldn't afford it. I also began spraying him with George's Aloe.
Things were iffy until mid 2007, after another 10 day stay at the hospital. By late 2007 our lives started to settle down and he allowed a majority of the feathers to grow back in. I continued with the tea in his water though.
In Nov/Dec 2008 my family life was disrupted. We started this routine of moving back and forth between home and my mom's house. He started plucking again. The cage he's in at my mom's is smaller than the one at home. I believe this contributes to the plucking as he doesn't move around much in it. But this was the cage he lived in for the first 2 years of his life. He has all the same food, toys, and treats at my mom's that he has at home. Same basic routine, just a different house. I do give him extra almonds there though
*sigh* My mom is planning to retire next summer though, which means I'll no longer be needed to help my brother out, and we'll once again be home.Now he's on the AviCalm and Featheriffic (which he does NOT like, but is starting to accept) and I just started using the product to add to his spray-bath water. It stinks...so I might go back to the aloe.
TheParrotStore
Sitting on the front steps
- Joined
- 7/13/10
- Messages
- 17
- Real Name
- Art
Joni,
I do agree that a new vet visit is required. There are a number of medical issues that could cause mutilation and plucking. I hear you concerning all the changes and that very well could be the issue but after all this time and I get the impression that you spend lots of quality time with him I would check for other issues. Initial stressors can lead to health issues that could be ongoing. A question, what is his daily diet?
If it is behavioral, then research collars and clothing to prevent him from pulling the feathers. Maybe once you get past a certain stage he will leave them alone. I imagine all these new feathers coming in at once are discomforting and once they are in he will leave them alone.
Art
I do agree that a new vet visit is required. There are a number of medical issues that could cause mutilation and plucking. I hear you concerning all the changes and that very well could be the issue but after all this time and I get the impression that you spend lots of quality time with him I would check for other issues. Initial stressors can lead to health issues that could be ongoing. A question, what is his daily diet?
If it is behavioral, then research collars and clothing to prevent him from pulling the feathers. Maybe once you get past a certain stage he will leave them alone. I imagine all these new feathers coming in at once are discomforting and once they are in he will leave them alone.
Art
pineview01
Rollerblading along the road
Good luck with your bird and let us know how it goes.
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