Plucking support

[Hotpockets]

Roy has started barbering or plucking his feathers. I was so sure he was molting until I found a little bald patch on his chest, and another tiny one at he base of his tail. I have a vet appointment scheduled for Wednesday with a specialist but I'm very upset by all this.

I'm not sure it's behavioral and I'm really hoping it's a health issue we can solve like mites. He does seem to preen a lot, especially when he's getting a lot of attention/petting from us but I've never seen him pluck or snip off feathers. I have noticed feathers shed lack a root, though. No blood or other damage, but just snipped near the base.

This all began once I changed his cage food from seed to pellets completely (I'd been gradually doing it over a week) so now I wonder if it's allergies. I'm switching him back to seed for now.

 

[Sarahmoluccan]

It's great you are getting him to a vet. That's always the first step. And very important if it is something physical so that it can be properly addressed. I would caution you not to get too stress out about it thou. Easier said than done I know. But Stressing out about too much can actually make matters worse as parrots can feed off of our emotions. Try to keep things as you normally would.

I feel for you and I can tell from your post how upset you are by this. It is wonderful you care so deeply for Roy and provide him vet care. Because sadly not everyone does this. Now please understand I'm not try to minimize your feelings but if it is a behavioural issue it's going to be ok. Obviously it's not ideal but pluckers and even self mutilators can still live happy lives.

See I had a cockatoo who was a self mutilator. It was heartbreaking to see him to that to himself. He was also a special bird who deserved the best I could give him. And even with his self mutilating he was still a very happy bird. Of course I would have given anything for him to stop. But sometimes there are no easy answers.

So if it is behavioural try not to be too overwhelm with by it. It's hard I know because good owners like you want the very best for their birds. Follow your vets instructions the best you can. Do things like mist him often and provide preening toys. I truly hope you will find ways to help Roy whether physical or behavioural. But always remember pluckers and self mutilators are so much more than that one horrible behavior.

 

[Hotpockets]

Thank you so much, I needed to hear that. I'm a new bird owner so I feel so guilty that I'm not providing for him in some way. He does seem happy most of the time, if still reserved, but he's six and a half years old and as far as I know never plucked with his previous owner or in the bird shop that rehomed him. Even though he was quite stressed in the latter and probably in the home when his owner suffered dementia. Some of the other birds that were rehomed with him were pluckers, too.

I'm really worried it's because he is bird lonely. He loves talking to birds outside, and in Petco when I take him to visit. I'm ready to foster another bird if he needs it, but it's such a huge responsibility. I dont want to screw up two birds and there's the increased time and cost. Plus my boyfriend loves Roy but is not keen on getting another unless it's pretty much just like Roy and, from my understanding, Roy is like a conure unicorn. He almost never bites (he warns you so many times and sometimes even then he won't bite!,) isn't loud, and never demands anything. I wish he would demand something so I would know what he needs!

Right now we're giving him lots of extra attention in the form of more training time, trying to come up with more activities for him (because he's very passive and not play oriented,) and he gets at least one shower with us a day, plus whatever showers he takes by himself (he's been bathing a lot since this started.) He's also getting spoiled with sunflower seeds which I know aren't great but it's what he consistently likes as treats. I ultimately decided I'd rather have a fat bird than an unhappy one, so he gets that until I find something healthy he likes just as much.

 

[enigma731]

I don't have more specific advice until you see the vet and narrow things down more, but I did want to say that it's absolutely possible to do everything right and still have a bird pluck or even mutilate.

 

[cassiesdad]

Milton (in avatar) plucked his cheeks (face) and neck area back at the beginning of July last year. At first, I thought the cause was that he got spooked when the neighbors set off fireworks all night on July 4th. Then I thought it might be in reaction to us adding a new bird to the flock. (that happened in March of that year)
We also took him to our AV- who had just seen Milty for his annual in June...no physical reasons were diagnosed for the plucking.

I'm a new bird owner so I feel so guilty that I'm not providing for him in some way.

Milty was with us for a little over six years when he began plucking the feathers...and I also felt so very bad because I could not find out what was wrong. Milt was the FIRST bird I ever had that plucked like that...and I've had birds of many species in my life for over thirty years.

Sometimes things like plucking happen...and there's nothing us humans can do about it...

 

[Hotpockets]

@cassiesdad Your posts are some of my favorite on this forum, I love Milton. I had no idea he was a plucker, does he still do it?

 

[cassiesdad]

@cassiesdad Your posts are some of my favorite on this forum, I love Milton. I had no idea he was a plucker, does he still do it?

He likes to feint pulling at feathers around his face at times...usually when he's seeking attention.
The feathers on his cheeks have slowly come back...unfortunately the ones on his neck are not.
It does make me sad when I look at his picture in the avatar...taken a few years ago...

 

[MNR]

Plucking is such a complex issue. There are so many different reasons why they pluck and oftentimes we still can't figure it out why they do. I really wish the people stop associating the plucking with unhappy birds or bad care-takers. Even birds with wonderful loving humans pluck for some reason and it is so hard to figure out why they pluck.

When my caique (Puck) started to pluck, it made me so sad that I literally cried many days. I tried many different things that supposedly help with plucking, but Puck's case seemed to be so different from others. As I watched her, I realize that she was not necessary unhappy at home but something was driving her to pluck. I was ready to love and accept the plucked bird, but I was also willing to try everything, starting with something gentle (since she was not mutilating herself) ......

If you meet Puck today, you would never guess she was a major plucker once, since she is fully feathered.

We are here is give you support.

 

[Mizzely]

One thing too, what type of pellet is he on? There are a couple of things that I can think of with pellets. One is, some birds are allergic to the ingredients (corn and soy, for example) and there are alternative pellets that omit these allergens.

The other is, if he is in poor feather from his previous diet, the body might be going into overdrive a bit trying to replace as many feathers as possible now that it has the right materials it needs to do that (since seed diets are often lacking in things that are crucial to feather production). This overdrive could prompt either a severe molt that he isn't keeping up with the preening OR he is quite uncomfortable because he is a pincushion under the skin.

Those are just my unscientific thoughts Glad you are going to the vet to see what they think!

it's absolutely possible to do everything right and still have a bird pluck or even mutilate.

Agree with this so much

 

[Hotpockets]

He's on Zupreem fruit blend. Before that I had him on Tropimix because it had some seed in it but he'd ignore the pellets and just eat the seeds. He really likes the Zupreem, especially the bananas.

His feathers before this looked okay, just ratty on the tail feathers because I understand that in the pet store he refused to leave his cage and had to be chased down and netted every time. He subsequently rubbed his tail feathers on the bars of his cage trying to escape the net.

Here are some current pictures of his feathers.

When I blow on his chest to see the bare spot better I don't see any pins. It just looks pink and bald.

 

[Mizzely]

Yes that definitely looks like feather picking

How's the humidity in your house?

 

[Hotpockets]

It's high right now with all the rain and we don't have air conditioning so it's never overly dry. I do wrap his cage in a heated blanket at night. It doesn't get very warm because it's cheap and auto shuts off after 3 hours. I started doing that after he began dropping feathers because it's gotten colder here (55-65 degrees at night.) No heating in the house either because it's normally temperate around here.

 

[Mizzely]

Dang. It's so hard, I know. Jingo is plucking right now too. His started, i thought, when he stopped eating pellets, but he's eating them again. I'm wondering if it isn't hormonal related myself.

 

[Hotpockets]

That's true, it is the season for hormones. Does Jingo show any other signs of being hormonal?

 

[Mizzely]

Yes, he's been quite two faced Love me one minute, attack me the next. But that's pretty normal for us anyways, unfortunately!

 

[Hotpockets]

Roy hasn't shown any signs of hormones unfortunately (or fortunately?) I guess they can test his levels at the vet with a blood panel, right? How old is Jingo?

By the way are there any specific tests I should ask for? The vet I'm seeing was recommended to me from another vet and is a bird specialist but I just want to cover all my bases.

 

[Mizzely]

Jingo will be 7 in May. The only other time he plucked was when he was at my mother in laws for a few months around September to November 2016 because he kept seeking out and biting my toddler's fingers to make him drop his food so he could steal it and we needed a break from each other. He had little natural sunlight and all seeds.

I don't know what tests to ask for. I don't know that they do a hormone panel to be honest. Probably anything that could cause itchy skin.

 

[Hotpockets]

So an update on Roy...

I took him to a highly recommended vet who looked at Roy and right away said that he is a feather mutilator. Basically, he overpreens his feathers until they become fluff and then break off. That's better than a plucked because according to the vet he's not addicted to pain as a form of emotional release. He's just bored.

I think the vet is right about this but he was kind of an bum about it so I won't be back. He dismissed my concerns without actually hearing any of our experience with Roy. So we didn't talk about hormones, according to this vet birds never suffer allergies, and he can't be bird lonely because his breed is pretty independent... Since pretty much all parrots live in flocks I don't know about that last one.

Roy calls to every single bird he sees. Crows, ducks, hawks -- everything. Meanwhile, he very rarely calls to me or my partner, although he does it more and more as time goes on.

Since we're not ready for another bird yet, we are trying everything else to get him engaged. I've installed wooden platforms all over his cage and moved his fruit kebabs around so he has to move from place to place to get his food. I want to encourage him to forage so I've made some toys that I think he'd like, because nothing I've bought so far interests him. Despite that, I bought him some new toys anyway. He's got a grass mat that I've hidden seeds in and some cardboard foragers to try. Otherwise, I've got a ton of cork, sissal twine, and wooden shapes for him to chew. I'm also providing lots of tangerine peels for him daily, because that's his favorite chew thing. He's also getting a lot more attention from us, although the bird was already crazy spoiled in that department. We're doubling down on harness training him so he can spend time outside.

I did insist on a blood panel at the vet and that came out fine. I wished it was a physical thing we could take care of, but I hope all of these changes will abate his behavioral issues.

 

[cassiesdad]

It's good to hear that there's no physical problems with Roy.

I wished it was a physical thing we could take care of, but I hope all of these changes will abate his behavioral issues.

I understand completely...I felt the same about Milton. I think all the things you're doing with Roy will help some. Hopefully you can find a vet that's more understanding about the situation at hand...