Turquoise GCC Plucking and Over-itching nose

[conureddor]

I have a Turquoise Green Cheek Conure, and she has not been doing well lately. First, winter in NJ is pretty horrendous for birds overall. Low humidity, cold, etc. We're limited in how much heat we can turn up, but overall, their aviary temperature is 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity level, even with our Dyson humidifier running at full blast, is limited to an average of 38 on colder days, and when it warms up, about 48 (just so you know the range).

1. Plucking
She started this not too long ago (roughly 2 months at the most). We put a collar on, which stopped most of the plucking, and then have been giving her a misting bath daily. This helped, but recently (two days ago), she fully plucked her entire back and under her wings (both sides; near the ribs). This saddens us so much because we are not sure what more we can do. We put a collar back on again, and have been spraying her with aloe mist on those exposed areas. After doing a ton of research, we understand that this is either behavioral and/or because it's so dry. What are your experiences with plucking either during the dry months or behavioral?

1. Very itchy nares
She has been constantly rubbing her nares against hard surfaces. It's obvious that something's irritating her, but we can't find out what it is. When we observed her closely this morning, we noticed that her nares were extremely dry. So there's one reason. Could it be bacterial/fungal? FYI, we ALWAYS clean her cage very well, so I'm not sure it's really something fungal. Sure, it COULD be bacterial, but could it really be? Does anyone have experience with extremely itchy/dry nares for their conures/birds?

My wife and I sincerely ask for help from the community. Any info/details/suggestions you could provide will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sparkles!]

Has she been in for a vet check up?

Stress and/or hormones can definitely cause a bird to suddenly take up plucking. But undiagnosed pain can as well.

Most birds are not going to start plucking or feather mutilation just because the air is dry or temperature fluctuations.

The nares would have me scheduling an appointment- if her nose is visibly dry and flaking, and she is rubbing it non-stop, definitely something going on.

I don’t like collaring a bird unless skin mutilation is going on. Collars can be even more frustrating and do not solve the core issue.

 

[Hankmacaw]

She needs to go see a vet and be appraised in depth for any physical reason for her plucking. More birds pluck from physical reasons than from emotional ones - sometimes it's just very hard to find the Physical reason. The irritated nares gives more credence to a physical reason. Maybe a low grade chronic infection.

 

[conureddor]

Has she been in for a vet check up?

Stress and/or hormones can definitely cause a bird to suddenly take up plucking. But undiagnosed pain can as well.

Most birds are not going to start plucking or feather mutilation just because the air is dry or temperature fluctuations.

The nares would have me scheduling an appointment- if her nose is visibly dry and flaking, and she is rubbing it non-stop, definitely something going on.

I don’t like collaring a bird unless skin mutilation is going on. Collars can be even more frustrating and do not solve the core issue.

She already mutilated once before her entire right side, and so we put it on as a precaution.
Her stool looks perfectly normal; nothing out of the ordinary.

We scheduled a vet visit for tomorrow already, so hopefully we can get to the bottom of this.