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Feather plucking

Sfnegron

Meeting neighbors
Joined
11/2/15
Messages
31
hello everyone. It's been a wile I didn't write here. As some of you remember I'm a parent of one beautiful quaker named Pickles. He is 1.6 y/o now. He is a happy bird but two months ago he started to pluck his feathers. I had tried everything, avicalm, no more plucking sprays, vitamins, new toys.... you name it. And he is getting worst. I went to the avian vet yesterday and he found him very healthy. He just told me Pickles is a compulsive plucker He gave me a spray he uses with birds at the zoo who are very anxious and with severe feather plucking. It's a spray also used for cats and dogs for treating hotspots and cuts. He don't know why but he had seen good results in stopping plucking behaviors in birds. I will try it, if you know other good remedy please let me know
 

cosmolove

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
7/19/11
Messages
7,700
Location
Dayton, OH
Real Name
Erica (:
Poor baby! I'm sorry you're going through this! Pluckers can be so frustrating! Does he have any friends or how much out of cage time is he getting? Does he act stressed at all or do you think it may be a boredum issue? Have you tried like foraging stuff to keep him busy?
 

Sfnegron

Meeting neighbors
Joined
11/2/15
Messages
31
He is my only Birdy child but I spent with him a lot of time. He is with me in my shoulder or in my head preening me all the time. His cage has plenty of foraging toys. He is very loved in my house. He is my baby. I'm very frustrated because I don't know what else to do. I'm thinking about creating a collar for him but I don't want him to get more stress. But he continues picking his feathers. Every day the area is growing. He sometimes looks very nervous picking his nails or preening my face, ears, arm.... he is very intelligent and sweet. I'm thinking maybe the problem are his hormones?... I really don't know. The vet told me he is healthy
 

cosmolove

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
7/19/11
Messages
7,700
Location
Dayton, OH
Real Name
Erica (:
Can you think of anything that changed about when this started? It honestly could be anything from what I've heard. It could be big things like a schedule change, new people being around, moving, new pets, or even smaller things like food changes, small environment changes, etc
 

hellen

Strolling the yard
Joined
8/28/17
Messages
122
Location
England
Real Name
hellen
i dont know anything about quaker parrots, do you think he may need a pal? i havn't as yet experienced feather plucking so not quite sure how to tackle it:(
 

Elliott

Meeting neighbors
Joined
9/19/17
Messages
39
Location
MA
Real Name
Elliott
@Snegron Hi. I am new here. I have a Grey. He started to pluck his throat/neck area about 10 years ago. I tried sprays but he did not stop. He is not a bad plucker but I can always tell when he gives himself a “Haircut”. His vet had no answer. I try not to stare at him and sometimes I distract him but he still does it. I hope he stops. I know it can be unsettling.
 
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