Babysitting a Grey that is plucking, picking and barbering like mad

[Danita]

I birdsit occasionally for this couple with their grey.
The couple is gone for 2.5 months, and I have a feeling she picked up on the energy and got stressed out, leading to pick more.
She is with me this weekend and then she will be back and forth between me and their son for the rest of the time.

Anyway, she is so plucked now neck, belly, under wings etc...
She is really going at it. She is so nervous.

Bea and I keep telling her no, she stops but goes right back to it.
She eats harrisons, abba greens, a good diet

 

[Birdasaurus]

As hard as it is, try not to pay any attention to it. Also maybe try a rope perch for her. That really distracted Tango when he got into those moods as he loved the snapping sound the rope made as he tore through it.

 

[Danita]

You don't think I should tell her to stop? She listens when I do, for 15 seconds lol

She does have rope she grinds on and she loves paper.


If I get that Avi-rain, and she is scared of being sprayed, do you think it will do more harm than good if I spray her anyway??

 

[GG.]

can you handle her - as in spray the AviRain on your fingers and then rub on her?

if she doesn't like being sprayed, am afraid that spraying her with it may make it worse

 

[Bokkapooh]

How long has she been plucking? How old is she? When did she first start?

I have found that a wet birdie wont typically pick at their feathers.

 

[Birdasaurus]

By telling her to stop she's getting attention for doing it. It needs to be ignored. I personally wouldn't mist her because I doubt it's anything physcial right now that's causing her to do it. If it's her nerves and she hates being sprayed, she may just do it more. Just try and give her other things that would be more enticing for her to nervously chew on. Rope perches and leather strings are Tango's comfort toys.

 

[atvchick95]

I'm sure the bouncing between your home and their sons home probably isn't going to help her issues any either ,specially if she's doing it because of stress, going from one home back to another then back to the other is going to be extremely stressful - she's going to feel unwanted (not that she is of course but her brain doesn't know that )

 

[Danita]

She is about 20, her first owner passed away and she lived at the vets for a year or so until this new couple adopted her. She really loves them and visa versa.

 

[Holiday]

Gosh, it's such a difficult issue. And so particular to each bird... I am certainly not the expert, since I can't get mine to stop, but toys made of vine and paper seem to offer him a good alternative for a long time....

 

[yvette]

Would a harness work so that her chest is covered? I have never dealt with a plucker. Just a thought?

 

[Danita]

I hope she isn't bald by the time they return.

I agree going back and forth isn't good.

She is used to having her family around all the time, they are retired.

 

[Monica]

It's still a good idea to rule out medical issues... infections especially. Fecal, bloodwork, and a skin/feather biopsy. If it's medical, the sooner it's treated the better.

Next. A look at the cage. Plenty of toys to destroy? What about fresh branches? Untreated 2x4s? Anything to distract from the behavior.

Diet? Sounds good, although perhaps you might want to try going heavier on sprouted seeds and fresh/cooked foods. If she's eating the high potency, maybe try switching to adult lifetime? Might even switch diets completely and try feeding Roudybush Rice diet. Don't feed yams, corn, wheat, peanuts, or other allergy foods.

*DON'T* reward her for plucking. As the others said, yes giving her attention, even if it is to tell her no, is in fact rewarding her. It's better to ignore the behavior or to distract her but not reward her. Distraction? A nice good soaking bath! If she likes going outside, take her outside in her cage for as long as she likes and for as long as you can supervise her outside. Give her some fun toys to play with and reward her heavily for playing with those toys. Besides, if she gets more attention for doing something you *WANT* her to vs something you don't want her to, then she may try doing the better behavior more often.


And.... foraging! It's a great way to make birds work and can be quite entertaining and self rewarding!
Foraging for Parrots
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Parrot Enrichment


What about yet one more good idea? Have you ever thought about clicker training? What about her owners? It's not so much about teaching these cool tricks to birds so much as it is learning how to understand them and to better communicate with them. I read in one book that an owner taught her parrot not to pluck. Well, how does that happen? Easy. Reward for the behavior you want, ignore the behavior you don't want. There's a lot of good information out there and a lot of good books. Look into it!
Training Parrots | Parrot Training DVDS & Books
Karen Pryor Clickertraining

 

[Saemma]

She has a very pretty face.