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Blue Headed feather breaking?

JeanBlack

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Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone else is having problems with Blue Headed Pionus's being extra neurotic hormonal right now causing excessive feather breaking? (not plucking them out, but breaking them bit by bit until just downy left).

My girl is 7 years old, we adopted her last year & with the life change, she had no hormonal behaviour at all.
She is so obsessed with nesting that she mostly ignores her toys & is crazy demanding ( bring me here, put me there, no bring me here, i want this.. no, i want that). She's just a nut case.

Please tell me someone is having issues this year - i don't want this to actually be a serious issue!
(weather region specific to Ontario, Canada).
 

WendyN

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Unfortunately, i do not have any advice to offer.
Just wanted to welcome you to the forum.
 

Begone

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I have no advice with feathers. But I have some questions.
How does she sleeps, in a dark and silent place? For how many hrs/night?
What is she eating?
Are you sure she never had any hormonal problems before?
 

DQTimnehs

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I don't think this would be a problem specific to BHP's. Some birds are more hormonal, more stressed and more likely to shred and/or pluck. Shreddable toys may help and 12 hrs dark uninterrupted sleep per night. Cut back on warm wet food as it tends to bring on nesty mode. A vet visit might be a good idea if this is something new for her.
 

metalstitcher

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She sounds like your typical cranky sleep lacking woman who needs a lot of sleep. I mean that is how I get when I need a lot of sleep. She probably needs 12 hrs like @DQTimnehs and @Eloy said in a quiet dark place and a change in her food and she should be okay.
 

JeanBlack

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I have her in bed at 8pm covered by a dark sheet, but there is no room in my house that is dark before sunrise or before sunset.
I don't understand the whole 12 hours of dark in summer time - they wouldn't get that in the wild, so why would it be necessary as a pet?
 

DQTimnehs

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In the wild it is natural to breed by the seasons. We try to prevent breeding/hormonal behaviour by tricking them into year round "winter".
 

tka

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Pionus are also found near the equator where there's less variation in day length. They simply wouldn't encounter day lengths of ~16 hours (as it is here at the moment) in the wild.
 
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