Amazon Plucking

Amazon Plucking & Twitching

I've owned my Amazon for 11 years and he's never been sick or plucked. Always a happy feisty guy. Not overweight either. Last week my spouse and I came home to discover all these white feathers at the bottom of his cage. I thought he might be molting. Second day same thing and nothing else seemed different about him. Then I noticed one of his legs were bald and I freaked out. Well since last week he has plucked off so many feathers, he now has bald spots all over. We took him to the emergency room in the middle of the night because he was always twitching his leg as if something were biting him. I thought he might have a mite or bug. They gave him a course of antibiotics to be on the safe side and I just got his blood work which showed nothing wrong. He's been on a diet of Harrison's Coarse ever since we got him. He's had regular check ups at the vet. I don't give him seeds and he gets an occasional nut as a treat. There were no changes in his diet or surroundings. I don't know what could have set this off. It seemed to have occurred overnight and not a gradual thing. He's got plenty of toys in his cage and we leave a radio on while we are at work all day. I am emotionally and physically exhausted from worrying and don't know what else to do. I've taken him to the doctor 3 times in 48 hours. They gave him an e-collar in the emergency room which only prevented him from grabbing his food and eating. Then his regular vet gave him a different collar and he destroyed that around the neck and plucked his feathers where the collar is. The collar is no good if he can't eat or drink. He will eat if I hand feed him but I have to go to work and I can't seem to find a durable collar that allows him to eat and drink by himself. He's miserable and and I'm worried sick over him. I don't even think a collar would "cure" his plucking. I need to get another one that allows him to feed himself. The doctor doesn't seem to have one that is perfect for an Amazon. Any suggestions, because I am at my wits end here. My little guy is miserable.

I am so sorry about your dilemma. It must be absolutely nerve wrecking to not know what has happened to your baby literally overnight.

What type of Amazon is he and how old is he? Do you know he is a male with certainty? I am only asking because "some" Amazons (including my YN) has gone into "broody" mode rather early this year. No, mine doesn't pluck, she is just constantly looking to "mate".

How often does your zon get a bath? If he was checked for mites and came up clean, is there a possibility there are some bugs in his perches?? I'm fishing here....

Also fishing, maybe food allergies or sensitivities developed. Harrisons is great, but corn based. There are some rice based pellets out there.

He's 11 year old approx. Had him DNA tested when we got him. He is also twitching or tapping his foot as if a mosquito was on it. We re-cleaned his cage. He isn't acting as if he wants to mate. We spray him with water but tend to do so less in the winter for fear of him getting a chill. His skin looks so inflamed from where he plucked. My heart breaks looking at him.

JerseyWendy said:

I am so sorry about your dilemma. It must be absolutely nerve wrecking to not know what has happened to your baby literally overnight.

What type of Amazon is he and how old is he? Do you know he is a male with certainty? I am only asking because "some" Amazons (including my YN) has gone into "broody" mode rather early this year. No, mine doesn't pluck, she is just constantly looking to "mate".

How often does your zon get a bath? If he was checked for mites and came up clean, is there a possibility there are some bugs in his perches?? I'm fishing here....

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Well, we took him to the vet (again) and ran a whole bunch of blood work & gram stains. He tested negative for Borna Virus. All other tests are negative as well. He is still plucking - perhaps not as much but still. He is eating and has an appetite however he has lost weight since this started and I'm still concerned about that. I'm at work all day so I can't monitor him during the day. The vet said next step we could x-ray him but since all his tests came out negative, we can't figure out why he is twitching his leg and tail feathers. I'm wondering if it's the irritation from losing feathers? He is on Celebrex and anti-fungal / yeast medication as a precaution. He also received an antibiotic at the vet. I just want him to get better. I don't know what else to do!

I still haven't seen an answer to the question about mites?? You can check yourself. "Dab" his bare leg (no feathers) with the sticky side of a piece of scotch tape. Use a magnifying glass to look for small bugs.

henpecked said:

I still haven't seen an answer to the question about mites?? You can check yourself. "Dab" his bare leg (no feathers) with the sticky side of a piece of scotch tape. Use a magnifying glass to look for small bugs.

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Thanks! I'm going to try this tonight.

Update:

No mites or bugs..all blood work came back negative. He is now off the Celebrex and the anti-fungal / anti-yeast meds that his vet put him on. He has stopped yanking out his feathers and appeared to have stopped twitching his wings and feet. If it starts again I will return to the vet asap. Still don't know what caused any of this.

One thing I noticed since he got sick and has now recovered, he has become more tame with me. He steps up a lot more willingly now. Doesn't nip us or bite us as before. I want to say we have seemed to have bonded in a way we haven't before. I love my little guy and I hope he lives a long, long time. He looks up at me with this adorable expression on his face. Maybe he truly realizes now how much I love him and worry about him.

I can't even imagine how worried and sad you must have been!! It sounds like he's improving, I pray he continues to get better!

Glad things are better, he is beautiful!

Amethyst said:

Update:

No mites or bugs..all blood work came back negative. He is now off the Celebrex and the anti-fungal / anti-yeast meds that his vet put him on. He has stopped yanking out his feathers and appeared to have stopped twitching his wings and feet. If it starts again I will return to the vet asap. Still don't know what caused any of this.

One thing I noticed since he got sick and has now recovered, he has become more tame with me. He steps up a lot more willingly now. Doesn't nip us or bite us as before. I want to say we have seemed to have bonded in a way we haven't before. I love my little guy and I hope he lives a long, long time. He looks up at me with this adorable expression on his face. Maybe he truly realizes now how much I love him and worry about him.

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You never know what it might take to turn the corner with these guys...

Increased bathing sometimes helps. When I got my red lored, she hadn't been bathed in two years. She was tearing out the "icky" feathers. (which were most of them at that point.) As soon as I started bathing her regularly she stopped doing it.

Amazons are pretty hardy and are not quick to pluck, so something was clearly bothering him.

The twitching foot and wing thing usually means that they are just really uncomfortable. Mine does this during particularly hard molts...

Could this have been just a really hard molt?! Where the old/new feathers were just bothering her so much she decided to tear them out?

Wow! Great update! Feather plucking is the worst. I had a naked lovebird for years and years - hormonal cause, as far as I know, as all bloodwork as normal. I'm so glad your guy's issues have resolved so quickly! I think it must have been an underlying illness or infection of some sort. Perhaps the initial round(s) of antibiotics before the bloodwork interfered with detecting the bacteria. In any case, wonderful news and I'm happy for you and your amazon.

I have no idea what it could have been and I feared the worst. I'm no bird psychologist but as someone mentioned, amazons are hardy and feisty and his temperament is not one of a typical plucking situation. He was pulling those feathers out as if something was biting him, not as a depressed or bored bird.

He is so comical, every Sunday morning (and why he chooses Sundays, I don't have a clue) he will climb into his water cup and give himself a bath in it. He doesn't do this on any other day of the week.

I spray him with water but tend to do so less in the winter time because I worry about him getting a chill. Also, in spite of not feeling well a few weeks ago, I noticed he still said a very quiet "good night" to us as we covered his cage and closed the lights in his room. He's so darn cute!!

I don't know if anyone mentioned but my one conure plucked in January two years in a row. He doesn't do it at any other time. This is usually around the time when we start cranking up the heat. We figured out it was the humidity in the house that started him plucking. We got a humidifier for the room he is located and he stopped plucking the day I set it up.

Glad he is doing better!

riddick07 said:

I don't know if anyone mentioned but my one conure plucked in January two years in a row. He doesn't do it at any other time. This is usually around the time when we start cranking up the heat. We figured out it was the humidity in the house that started him plucking. We got a humidifier for the room he is located and he stopped plucking the day I set it up.

Glad he is doing better!

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Yeah, that's a skin issue.

I'm still thinking this might have been a particularly hard molt... since the tests were negative, and no bugs were found.

I would increase the bathing for now, and use 100% pure aloe on the skin around the bad spots where he chews if it ever happens again. See if that helps.

Thank you for the suggestions and well wishes! xo

Well unfortunately I spoke too soon. All his symptoms have returned. He has returned to pulling his feathers out of his back and leg, and his twitching and trembling has returned. I called the doctor and I will be bringing him back there to go back on the medicine. I don't know why this has returned. If his prior test results came back negative, is there a chance it could be a false negative? He was off the Celebrex for two weeks and his feather grew back, he looked great, he gained some weight, he became his usual self and we were thrilled.

Now I am at my wit's end. Don't know what else to do for him but bring him back to the doctor for medicine. I'm afraid of losing him. He gets the best love and care from me and my husband. I look at him and feel helpless knowing he is so uncomfortable. I see him twitching and even growling because whatever is bothering him prevents from getting a good nights sleep and is irritating the heck out of him. Neither of us slept all night. I hope this next doctor's visit can help him.

Do you think he might have PSFD or another virus? So far he has tested negative but could there be a false negative? I'm no doctor but the way he is pulling his feathers out, and twitching, I refuse to believe this is behavioral. This is something else.

Heart problems can also result in plucking.

An X-Ray may or may not help.


As mentioned, it could also be allergies. It's possible to develop allergies to something you've never been allergic to before. Likewise, it's possible to lose an allergy to something you are allergic to.


Sorry to hear you are going through this. Some things we simply can't figure out very easily.

You said that he had blood work done, how is his values for his liver. Liver disease has also been known to be an underlying cause of plucking.
Also please look at allergies and changing his diet to a more rice based instead of corn and see if it offers any relief as well as increasing humidity.

I'm so sorry this is happening to your little guy One thing I thought of is some eclectus' get something called "toe tapping" (which sounds similar to what your BFA is experiencing), which can also lead to plucking and is caused by a nutritional deficiency. I am not a vet, but it is possible he is missing something in his diet that are causing these symptoms. I might discuss with the vet what diet your bird is on and if he can suggest any potential dietary changes or supplements that could possibly help correct the problem. I didn't see you mention him eating anything besides pellets and the occasional nut, but if he isn't eating fruit and veg daily as well as given sources of protein and calcium regularly, that can lead to a problem. Even if you provide him a complete diet, that doesn't necessarily mean he eats all of the healthy food either, which is something that can be worked on. If the vet you are currently using is not giving you any answers and your bird is worsening, it's time for a second opinion. I know I would be freaking out if my baby were having this kind of issue. Best of luck with him!