Koba is Still Chewing..

[Sarin]

No matter what I do, Koba is still chewing her feathers. She is in a nice 36x28 playtop cage which is filled with toys.. Things she can preen, forage for, chew on, everything. She has 4 acrylic foraging toys (which she only touches 1 of) and 2 other foraging toys. I made sure there is lots of sisal in her cage for preening but she doesn't touch it. She has soft wood blocks which she chews on once in a while. About 2-4 days a week she gets coffee filter toys scattered around her cage which usually takes her a few hours to get through all of them.

She gets Zupreem pellets, water, and frozen vegetables in her bowls every morning. Small toys and dry foods go into all of her foraging toys.

Thing is, she is a HUGE perch potato! I watch her a lot during work via webcam and she usually just sits in one spot and talks to herself all day. Playing once or twice.

She gets 1-3 hours of out of cage time every night. (Which is really hard because I work average 9 hours a day and am tired when I get home.) During this time she gets full interaction with me and whoever else is at home at the time. She is fully flighted and is allowed to fly anywhere she pleases in the home.

Koba always sticks with me though, because she is very bonded to me. If I leave she will follow. If she is unable to follow me, she screams for me. It is so sad.

She is only about 2 years old and I really want to stop this before it becomes a habit that I can't stop. Koba is the only bird at home at the time but there used to be Cockatiels in the same room as her, I have rehomed them.

The vet thinks it is a behavioral problem and not a health problem.


So what do you guys think? Do you have any ideas/suggestions at all?

 

[allison]

Maybe you should make the coffee filter foraging toys in bulk and put some in there in there every day. Is she on colored zupreem or natural? If it's colored, it could be an allergy to the dye. How frequently is she bathed? Have you ever used aloe? Has she been seen by a vet?

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

I would keep a log of all the foods she eats and a log of when she plucks and see if there is any correlation there is a yahoo group feedingfeathers I believe that address food alergy issues for your bird

 

[Kimba]

I see that Koba is on pellets and frozen veggies? Is that all? In general zons have a hard time absorbing synthetic nutrients. Which is what is in most pellets. Any chance you could go fresh? Poe (bfa) is on a 90% fresh diet with the remaining 10% being pellets. It has done wonders for her. I started this with her about 3 years ago. Before than her diet was much the same as Koba's, While she was not a full blown plucker, she was always in a chronic moult, had dry feet and itchy skin. One month after going fresh she was back to normal, I also use zupreme. She only moults once a year now, and is in perfect feather.

My other questions would be (i don't know Koba's history) what tests has the vet done? The majority of plucking or feather destruction starts off as either medical, or environmental. The behavioral aspect comes into play after the plucking has gone on long enough to become a habit.

It might help to look at the issue in this manner

what has been established as far a tests go? and what can reasonably still be tested?

on an environmental stand point, how often does she bath, do you have a humidifier, what is her exact diet, where is her cage located, what is her lighting situation........you get the idea. but you need to look at her entire environment. Cleaners, carpet in the house? Mold anywhere? Is it possible for her to go to work with you once or twice a week? can she go on outings to help broaden her horizons and allow her to start focusing on something other than her perceived mate?

And lastly behavioral.....that you are already covering with the toys and such. The only thing I could see would be her coming out of the cage more. How about using an aloe spray or aloe detox? Toxin that buils up in the liver can contribute to feather destruction as well.

With respects to diet and zons. I wish I still had the study, but in a nut shell...

2 groups of zons were used. ONe group was feed a strict pellet diet, and the other 100% fresh balanced diet. The group that were given the pellets....over half of those birds developed feather destruction issues. The other group that got all fresh....NONE of those birds engaged in feather distruction. When they swapped diets....the pluckers stop plucking and the non pluckers started plucking.

food for thought! I have since got fresh. I realize that going fresh is not always possible. Maybe change to harrisons pellets? They do not use synthetic vitamins. As well as up the amount of veggies. mashes are great and can be frozen in ice cube trays for single servings. Just pop out and warm up. or muffins loaded with veggies.

 

[Sarin]

Okay, I will try to answer all of your questions, guys!

I make the coffee filters in bulk and she goes through them in 2 days. It takes awhile to make them all.

She is on Natural Zupreem Pellets Cockatiel size.

She is bathed in the shower 1-2 times a week.

Never used aloe but I want to try it! (Where do I get it and what do I look for?)

Koba gets frozen vegetables every day. She gets fresh veggies and fruit 1-2 times a week. I could try fresh every day like I used to. It is just hard because of the very little time I have anymore.

Koba has had blood tests, fecal tests, and general exams with everything coming in negative.

I do not have a humidifier. Her cage is located in my computer room in the basement. Normal light. No sunlight available. No cleaners but there is carpet in the house. There is a lot of Mold in the house. (I really can't do anything about that.) Not possible for her to come to work with me, I own a restaurant and could get into lots of trouble with the health board for having an animal near the food. I try to bring her to new places with me but she is deathly afraid of her harness.

Hope I answered everything.

 

[Kimba]

The mold is a huge issue and may very well be the problem. Has Koba been tested for aspergious? I see that she plucks her chest? Is that it? Most birds pluck in certain areas for a reason. One Too that I know of was only plucking her lower abdomen....turned out she had a kidney infection and was plucking in that area. Birds that pluck just there crop, usually have a crop infection....ans so on. Vets do not typically test for aspergillious (sp) and it is difficult to treat. And can be a life long battle. I would definitely get her checked for that one!!!!!! Even if it is not aspergilliuos, any other mold could very well be the cause of the whole problem. Until you rule out that as a possibility, I would not be focusing so much on the behavioral aspects. Still do what you are doing mind you, but the mold issue needs to be looked with Koba.

 

[allison]

The aloe juice you can get at any health food store. They also have it at Walgreens.
As for the fresh diet, I use a food processor to chop the food. It's much faster and they are more likely to eat everything and not pick and choose. I also mix in some sprouted seeds/grains. It lasts almost all day. I leave it in while I'm at work for 8 + hours and take it out when I get home. Also, you might want to try a pellet with less preservatives. I like Totally Organic.