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Amazon farinosa a feather plucker & screamer for 13 years now

fnix13

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Nikos
Hi every one!! We have an amazing parrot full of character!!! He is a male amazon parrot (amazona farinosa) with a split ring with the inscription NL13K3H 307. I do not know his age since I got him from a previous owner (I think had him a couple of years) who had decided to give him up for adoption due to extreme feather plucking (plucking until he blead...) and now he has been in the family for 13 years. He continuous to pluck himself allot and screams continuously although I have tried a number of things (collars, medication, change of environment, destructible toys, various trainings, examinations and blood samples, stopped feather clipping, different foods, jungle gym etc.). He doesn't like children's or a woman's voice (high pitch) just the sound of them sets him off and he screams as loud as he can without stopping (like an alarm), he is very affectionate and will allow my sons to feed him and stroke him and he bobs his head continuously when they do (they are only 5 and 2 my sons) but he will scream constantly when my sons are in the room.

We used to have him in a spare room on his own to quite down the screaming (wife and kids handled as much as they could), we use to have him in the living room but it didn't work out. Now due to lock down I moved him to my basement where I work from (telework), here he is calm and quiet with me (I think he likes the classical music I play while I work) but he doesn't like it when I'm on the phone or when he hears my boys, so I use a headset and close windows if needed. I don't think he will ever change in character, it just means I cant have him with the family as he prefers to be on his own. He isn't very aggressive and he allows you to pet him (he likes it allot) and will rarely bite (and when he does it isn't a strong bite). I have a doll inside his cage which he bites allot when my kids come to see him, I think he puts out his aggression on it. His cage is always open but he rarely comes out, only when I give him baths and put him on his jungle gym for some exercise but he will soon fly back to his cage and sit inside where he nibbles his toys, prunes himself or scratches his head with his feet :) .

Wife has suggested (numerous times :) 1622376732332.png to give him to a more appropriate owner since we don't seems to have an environment that suits his likes, with the kids and a busy noisy life (I use to travel allot for work so the parrot was alone a fair bit). But I cant really let him go!!!, sometimes I think maybe he needs some calming agents but never really liked the idea to medicate him and have always avoided it although the avian vet suggested it once, we tried for a week but the parrot was really drowsy so we stopped it (just wasn't himself). Don't know if we should of taken him in, but we did and have cared for him allot, probably will continue the way he does, otherwise he is heathy, cheerfull, talkative, affectionate, playfull and allot of fun to have!!!
 

Hankmacaw

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Have you ever had him on Gabapentin? It is a neural pain killer and it has some sedative properties. I have had great success with it over the years. It is not an opioid. Haldol and Tramadol and diazepam/valium can be used to calm a bird, but with all of these it takes several days (sometimes) to determine the proper dosage.

My female GW macaw was on one or the other of these, for surgery and chewing on a toe that had been injured. They all took some adjustments to the original prescription dosage to find the right level. Haldol was the most sensitive to dosage.

I hope you can find some way to give your bird relief.

Welcome to AA.
 

macawpower58

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That's a Mealy, right?
I have one, and they are loud! Mine sounds off regularly, I thinks it just being a Mealy.
Does he like music? Mine loves to play his own music box, but it also can set him off.
Your bird sounds like he has the same personality as mine, calm, kind of likes sticking close to the cage.
Mine is not aggressive but will scare most folks with his attitude and antics.
Likes pets on his own terms, but will warn you off if not in the mood.

Can the family not handle the noise?
Sounds like you love your bird, but it's a shame he can't integrate in family life.

Is your bird screaming for attention, or it he just sounding off?
 

fnix13

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Hi all, thank you for the welcome. I think he screams because he is mostly afraid of small children for some reason they promote anxiety to him and he over reacts. He will scream for attention of food but the difference is recognizable. I have not tried medication but I will discuss with my avian vet the ones you propose. I was thinking of using passion flower extract in his water as a calming agent, but haven't decided yet if I should. Well it is not that they cant take the noise it is that it is constant, he will not stop until they leave. Something new that I'm trying is that I have cut back allot on giving him seed mix (down to only twice a week) , so he is upset these days he doesn't like his fruit and vegies too much but will eat his cherries alright, lentils a bit and some of his pellets. I'm keeping records of what he eats want to see if a different diet will calm him down, up too now its not working.
 

fnix13

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@macawpower58 Yes he is a mealy and the personality is as you describe!!.
@Hankmacaw I will think about medicine again and will talk to the avian vet about Haldol and Tramadol and diazepam/valium & Gabapentin for the screaming right?.
In the past when we medicated it was for the plucking where the avian vet wanted to try different dosages (since I told him the bird was not totally drugged out) but I was skeptical since I saw how much it had affected him (drowsiness) so we went with the collar option. He wore a collar on and off for years, whenever I took it off he would pull his feathers out (I even wore him a mouse jacket for a long time to replace the collar as to ease his life but he learned how to take it off and that was that). Feather plucking continues from time to time and it saddens me to hear him plucking himself but I don't really want him to wear a collar for ever so I let him be. He doesn't do it so much and it isn't that bad anymore, I don't know why it reduced, the only thing that changed from my side which happened with time is that I started to see him as a parrot rather than a cat or a dog so I moderated my interaction with him (handling and petting) but the damage has been done.
 
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Chomskypom

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Hankmacaw

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Thank you so much for posting this article. I have always looked askance at homeopathic medicine - there have never been any controlled peer reviewed studies done on any of it's so called medications. The FDA has not approved on, not one homeopathic medicine. The whole theory is as full of holes as a sieve.

Here is what the FDA has to say;
Homeopathic Products
 

Hankmacaw

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Those medications are for sedation of anyone and anything and they are effective pain killers. I can't help but be suspicious that your bird is in pain. Has he ever had a very thorough physical workup? Amazons are highly susceptible to atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis hurts. A friend had a macaw that became a plucker and she like I doesn't put much stock in plucking and screaming being 99% psychological. She insisted that her regular vet run many tests and the bird had a MRSA infection in his feather follicles. After a long regimen of antibiotics (MRSA is a btch to cure) the bird quit plucking.

Thirteen years is an awful long time to be uncomfortable.
 

macawpower58

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You haven't mentioned whether he likes bathing or not. I'm not sure your climate, but it's it's hot/dry, a daily bath or misting might help to soothe his skin. Most birds do better with regular bathes.

It's not a cure, but may help feather health.
 
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