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Mother plucker!

animalvr

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Mango is definitely plucking his legs and back. The back spot is a good size but it is pretty much hidden by longer feathers. Its only a matter of time before it shows though. Theres also a flight feather that he chews the end of too.

I don’t know when this started but I need to nip this in the bud STAT. I didn’t pay $3.5K for a plucked chicken. I’m doing my best to redirect him to chew other things but that only works so long. Do the topicals work? I saw a spray that looked good.
 

April

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Have you been able to book a vet appointment for him yet? It could be any number of reasons why he's plucking but could include mites or other medical issues.
 

Shezbug

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Please don’t use any shop bought sprays on your bird- they’re not needed.
Water is the best and safest thing to apply to feathers and plucking is never an easy thing to stop a bird doing once it’s started- many never stop even after the initial problem seems to have been sorted out.
Plucking can happen to any bird- paying a lot of money for it doesn’t ever insure it won’t pluck. Plucking can be from pain, illness, stress, boredom etc. Best to get him seen by an AV asap.

Edit: can you add photos of his back where you say he’s plucking? They are not as heavily feathered in certain areas of their body so you may possibly be seeing less feathers in places where that could be normal.
 

animalvr

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Have you been able to book a vet appointment for him yet? It could be any number of reasons why he's plucking but could include mites or other medical issues.
Not yet. Got referrals yesterday. Will schedule this week for sure. Ill make sure I ask about the plucking.
 

April

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Not yet. Got referrals yesterday. Will schedule this week for sure. Ill make sure I ask about the plucking.
Wonderful! Hopefully you'll be able to find a good trustworthy vet soon.
 

animalvr

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Please don’t use any shop bought sprays on your bird- they’re not needed.
Water is the best and safest thing to apply to feathers and plucking is never an easy thing to stop a bird doing once it’s started- many never stop even after the initial problem seems to have been sorted out.
Plucking can happen to any bird- paying a lot of money for it doesn’t ever insure it won’t pluck. Plucking can be from pain, illness, stress, boredom etc. Best to get him seen by an AV asap.

Edit: can you add photos of his back where you say he’s plucking? They are not as heavily feathered in certain areas of their body so you may possibly be seeing less feathers in places where that could be normal.
He wouldn’t le me get a good pic becuase I have to pull his wing back. Its bigger. You can see the nubs. He basically chews the the three places constantly if hes not doing something else.

So the natural bitter topicals don’t work?

 

Pixiebeak

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can you share a picture of the whole bird?

Most store bought stuff is just a gimic...and isn't well regulated

If there was a spray cure the whole parrot community would know about it.

Vet health check. Good diet. Lower stress. Give your new buddy time to adjust. Be calm yourself. Parrots pick up on our stress.

 

Shezbug

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So the natural bitter topicals don’t work?

No they do not, and, in some cases they have possibly even increased the plucking or barbering problem as the bird tries to remove the foreign gunk from its feathers.
Parrots do have taste buds but they are right at the back of their throats and tongues, they have way less taste buds than us so things we may find horrid and sour they may not be bothered by as much as we would like to think they are- my cocky actually prefers the unripe mandarins to the sweet ripe ones, same with many of the little lorikeets and other fruit eaters we get in our yard, they eat the nearly ripe fruit well before even considering touching the ripe and ready to eat (for us) stuff.
Parrots do not put their feathers far enough in their beaks while preening, barbering or plucking to have the residue of the spray reach all the way to the back of the throat or tongue where the taste buds are- when they preen it is usually the tip of the beak and tongue that do most of the work so they would not taste the spray while messing with feathers unless they were attempting to eat the actual feather.
 

animalvr

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Dean
can you share a picture of the whole bird?

Most store bought stuff is just a gimic...and isn't well regulated

If there was a spray cure the whole parrot community would know about it.

Vet health check. Good diet. Lower stress. Give your new buddy time to adjust. Be calm yourself. Parrots pick up on our stress.

Thanks.

I’ll post pics tomorrow.
 
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