Wild Caught Timneh suddenly plucking

[Navre]

I took my 30ish-year-old wild caught Timneh Grey to the vet a few weeks ago. He had never been a plucker at all. He hates to be handled, but I figured a vet visit was necessary. Everything checked out okay at the vet, but once he came back he started to pluck. He pulled his entire tail off, and he is now bare on his chest and back. I think it was just the stress of going to the vet. And since i was the one who took him, he doesn't trust me any more.

The plucking seems to have subsided, but is still found "too much" down at the bottom of his cage this morning. The vet wants to see him again, of course, but if going for the car ride is the problem, then I'm afraid that will just make it worse. He is seen at Angell in Boston, but because traffic is always terrible, it is 45-60 minutes in the car each way.

I took a fecal sample in for a bornovirus test, just in case, and I was given gabapentin for him, but I haven't started it yet. I started him on avicalm and i have increased spray baths to every other day.

His skin does look "too red" on his butt where he has plucked, but I've never seen a plucked Timneh, so I'm not sure.

I'm torn between taking him to be checked out again, or letting him be and seeing how he does. There is the possibility of getting a vet house call, but it will be a different vet, and that would be stressful, too. And if he ends up needing radio graphs to rule out PDD, he will have to be taken in, anyhow.

 

[Navre]

This is a picture from before I took him home. He was still at the rescue then, in 2015.

 

[sunnysmom]

@BirdGuy21 ?

 

[Navre]

 

[Navre]

His whole butt is bare and his tail is gone, too. I don't want to bug him too much with the camera.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I'm sorry to hear your Timneh is plucking, I know how difficult it is to experience. We just adopted a 19 year old TAG a few months ago and have been working to figure out his plucking issue and help him move past it.

Is he still plucking since your last post? I am inclined to say it was due to the stress of the vet visit that started the plucking behavior if he has had no history of plucking or feather destructive behavior in the past. The thing I would add to that though is from my research there are usually several "causes" or triggers that lead up to feather destructive behavior, not just one incident. Have you noticed any changes in behavior in the past several months or weeks? How is his enrichment, does he like to forage and play with toys? Nutritional issues can lead us to FDB as well.

One of the harder things to do, in my opinion, is to try to not reward the behavior when you see it. But you also dont want to let him continue and make the plucking a habit. Try to offer different toys and keep him busy so he doesnt stray back to plucking, but don't react and try to scold him or tell him no if you see him do it. Try to disctract him without drawing attention to the fact that you are trying to distract him.

We are still working with my guy and he just had a set back a few days ago. Best advice I was given was to relax and look at it the issue with a level head. Birds are so keen on picking up the emotions and feelings of their people. When we're frustrated or upset because they are plucking, they become frustrated and upset and it can lead them to pluck even more; its a vicious cycle. I've found this to be particularly true with my TAG Harley. It's actually amazing to see how quickly he picks up my emotions and transfers them to himself. Give him lots of love and keep your eye on him. I'd let him settle from the vet first before making too many unaccustomed changes. Take a look at his diet and enrichment and go from there.

 

[Navre]

 

[Navre]

 

[Navre]

I work out of the house one day a week, just on Fridays I go down to Rhode Island to volunteer at a parrot rescue.

Nicholas prefers my wife to me. He doesn't seem to trust me, and prefers women in general. Yet today, while I have been gone, he started plucking in earnest.

I had been encouraged that Nicky had been becoming his old self again, walking around in the floor, talking, and plucking less or not at all. I had been giving him avicalm and giving him more spray baths and it had seemed to have been working. It's a bit strange to me that he plucks more when he is with his favorite person.

I'll post more after I make the drive home and see how he is doing.

 

[Begone]

It's a bit strange to me that he plucks more when he is with his favorite person.

Read this, that makes sense to me.

When we're frustrated or upset because they are plucking, they become frustrated and upset and it can lead them to pluck even more; its a vicious cycle.

I guess that your wife, the person he likes the most, is sending over some "bad" signals to him. My suggestion is that you handle him more and your wife starts doing some meditations to keep her calm.
And also parrots are very forgiven, he will trust you again.

The most important for him right now, is that you start acting like nothing ever happened. Don't give him more or less time or attention, do as you did before he start to pluck.

 

[BirdGuy21]

That's the hardest part, at least for me. I can get very upset if I don't watch myself when he plucks or I come home to a bunch of feathers. I try to take a step back and relax and just love him. I haven't accepted that he is a plucker, I am still fighting to find a solution and holding out hope for every feather, but I am trying my hardest not to let Harley know how upset it makes me. What @Eloy said I think plays a big part of it. It actually amazes me how much more sensitive Harley is. Before I had a Grey I always read how emotionally sensitive they are and wow, he does not disappoint.

Another thing to look at is his diet. What is his average breakfast and dinner like as well as amount and frequency of treats?

 

[Navre]

He gets a gloop mixture of grains, beans, vegetables, every morning. It's always the same, what changes daily are the fruits. I'll add grapes, apples, slices of corn on the cob, or other stuff daily. He asks for many foods by name, and he knows what they are. If he asks for broccoli, he won't stop asking until I give him a piece of fresh broccoli. Broccoli, carrot, apple, corn, and "how about a grape" are all on the request list.

He gets Tropimix pellets. It probably wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's what we gave him at the rescue, and he doesn't eat a whole lot of it anyhow. He get nutriberries. I used to give him senior bird nutriberries, but I switched him to regular ones recently. He only eats one or two a day, but he loves them. He insists on calling them crackers. He eats nuts like pistachios, and almonds. Not a whole lot, and they're always handed one at a time as treats. He will eat 2 or 3 sunflower seeds a day. His diet is largely the same as it has been since I brought him home in July of '16. I should mention that he came into the rescue in July of '15. He had been owned by a woman who also had a green wing Macaw and a hispanioloan Amazon. I initially adopted the Amazon, Tanya. She was very sick. With fatty lipomas all over her and a cholesterol of over 600. We tried everything but she passed away in April of '16. Necropsy showed that she has long term-liver damage that was probably from years of dietary abuse. According to imtwke paperwork, the birds were all fed a seed diet, primarily sunflower seeds. I adopted Nicky in July of '16 and had his blood tested, and liver function tests don't then, and again this year. His cholesterol is good and his liver functions are normal. The vet said his bloodwork is great.

He wakes up at sunrise, and goes to sleep at sunset. He is largely undistirbed after dark. I never turn on a light in his room after dark. I turn on the full-spectrum lights from 0900-0300 this time of year. His room has 4 big windows facing East and South. This has been the same since he got here.

He has, in his room, a female GCC who was here when he got here, and a male hooded Parrot who moved in in November. The GCC would love to be friends, but Nick wants nothing to do with her. Given the size differences, I have never let them interact. The hooded Parrot was a breeder, and is wild, and does not come out of the cage.

Nick can fly, but does not. He loves to walk around on the floor and explore. If I say his name he will run back to his cage.

He prefers shredding toys, soma balls, big corks, stuff he can wreck. He has a rope perch swing and he likes to shred that up, too.

Cage and location has been consistent.

 

[rocky'smom]

have you tried chamomile tea? this has calming effect on some birds. please make sure to get loose leaf flower buds that are dried. you can find them on line or some tea shops. I volunteer at a clinic and there is plucker there right now, as long as she has her tea she leaves her breast feathers alone. just a thought.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Tea is very highly recommended by Dr. Jason Crean, who runs the Facebook group Avian Raw Whole Food Nutrition. He is a major advocate of feeding raw, natural foods such as soaked and sprouted grains and seeds, as well as tea. He actually started a tea company just for birds and pets and formulated several tea blends that you can purchase through their website. It is Greywood Manor Tea & Provisions, Animals, Tea, Herbal I use their Pretty Plume blend as well as the relaxation mix. Harley doesn't drink too much of it out of a bowl but loves it from a coffee mug. You can also feed the tea mix dry or after it has been steeped. My flock loves the flowers.

Has the plucking improved at all since your last post?

 

[Navre]

I have a tea for beaks package here somewhere. I will look into it.

There has been no plucking since my last post. He's more himself lately, too.

Today, after going on a long rant and talking up a storm, he paused and then said, "I know, I'm silly." I don't know where this stuff comes from sometimes.

I am still giving him the avicalm, but only on his soft food. I don't like when he bathes in his water bowl and the avicalm is in it. The avicalm powder feels sticky and I am afraid of leaving a residue on his feathers.

I really appreciate all the advice. I'm going to look into that tea.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Tea for Beaks was actually formulated by the same person as the teas from Greywood Manor- Dr. Jason Crean. The Greywood Manor teas are a newer, supposedly better formulation but I am sure the Teas for Beaks is very good as well. My guys favorite thing to do is eat and chew up the tea after its done steeping.

Glad to hear there has been no more plucking, hope he stays that way! I love when they say things that fit so perfectly, smart little guy!

I don't put Avicalm in the water for that very reason. I offer it twice a day, once in the morning and at night. Harley loves apple, so every morning for breakfast he gets a slice of apple sprinkled with Avicalm. Then for dinner we sprinkle it on his chop along with Featherfific.

 

[Navre]

This afternoon he started breaking the feathers off his back. No idea what changed today. He wouldn't take shredding toys or even fruit. He just dropped anything I gave him and went back to snipping feathers.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I'm sorry to hear that he has started snipping feathers. I know it doesn't help, but I feel your pain. My TAG Harley is a snipper and chewer and it is so hard to see. I know its much easier said than done, but try your best not to react to the feather destructive behavior. Try and gently distract him and redirect his attention. I found out Harley loves seagrass toys and will happily chew and shred these. Maybe try something like that to distract him?