KatieKess
Sitting on the front steps
- Joined
- 5/6/20
- Messages
- 18
- Real Name
- Katie
Hey everyone! I have a cockatiel named Marvin, and he’s been struggling with self mutilation for the past year. I have actually taken him to the vet 7 times, and we still have no luck in getting the issue resolved. He’s been in collars (which absolutely depressed him), on various medications, and i’ve evaluated ALMOST all areas of his life/care. He has a large cage, plenty of high quality foraging and shredding toys, at least 2-3 hours of outside of the cage time everyday, and everything else that I can think of. He’s a very loved and spoiled birb! The only issue I have had, is getting him to eat his vegetables. He is offered fresh greens everyday (and I have tried almost every veggie I can think of) but he rarely takes more than 1-2 tiny nibbles. Because of his extreme pickiness, his diet is mostly made up of Zupreem natural pellets, nutriberries, and of course a small amount of seeds/millet for treats. He is also very attached to me, and he shows very little interest in anything that doesn’t involve me. He very rarely plays with his toys, and he just seems to be very anxious when I am not home. Even when I am home, if I leave the room for a second he will scream until I return. The only things he enjoys playing with are things he sees me using, like hair ties for example. Sorry for the extreme details, I just really need help figuring out how to solve this problem for my baby. I am going to be buying Harrison’s high potency pellets, and I was thinking of getting him one of those bird UV lights. I had never even thought of it before, but he really isn’t able to get much sunlight through our windows, and it’s hard to take him outside as I live in an apartment complex with dogs constantly running around and don’t want him getting spooked. So perhaps the light may help him absorb more nutrition, if that is why he’s mutilating? I really just need some advice, any advise at all!! Thank you so much in advance! (Also I really am not able to buy another bird right now, as I live in an apartment and the noise could really become an issue… he is noisy alone! LOL. And also I honestly don’t think he would like another bird, I fear that would stress him out even further)
Thank you!
Thank you!