Biting feathers because of dry air?

[nightinday]

So, it was not too hard to notice that my baby boy started biting his feathers. It happened to me last year also, started the same way - as soon as the winter season came and all the heaters were on. He starts biting feathers on his belly, they kind of split in the half and eventually bite the feather off leaving just an end inside. No plucking, no blood, just biting them. Eventually he bit all those broken feathers off and last year I got really scared because quite a big part of his upper belly was biten off. I called the vet, she looked at him and said that everything is completely fine, that he doesn't seem sad or sick. Around summer he started molting and lost all those biten ends, got new nice feathers and his belly was back to normal.
But, the story is repeating itself. I noticed that he started "working" on 3 feathers on his belly.
It's Lou's 3rd winter with me and during the first one i've had a humidifier and he was perfectly fine, no feather damaging there. But my humidifier broke, didn't get to buy a new one but I'm trying to give him baths as often as he is willing to get into water. I was wondering, can a dry air (the air in my room sometimes gets really dry when heaters are working constantly) cause feather biting? I don't know what to do here, it breaks my heart seeing him harming himself.

 

[weco]

Yes, dry air can cause a bird to scratch, chew feathers and/or even to pluck its feathers...and...strange as it seems, plucking once started, often become habitual and even a self induced drug high due to the endorphins released by the pain associated with some plucking.....

As to a new humidifier, an inexpensive medical vaporizer (that has never had medications in it) can be used very successfully.....I don't know what they might cost in Poland, but you can find combination digital hygrometer/thermometers on the internet for less than $30 USD and about the same for a vaporizer.....

Good luck.....

 

[nightinday]

Thank you.
I'm going to the store tomorrow to look for a new humidifier. For now I've put some wet towels on my heaters and gave him a bath, he seems fine, not even touching his belly. Usually he is more around belly feathers when it's bed time and all the windows are closed and the room is warmer and, as a result, the air is more dry.

 

[weco]

If you have steam heat, because wet towels can dry out rather quickly, you could also use an old pan & fill it partway full of water & put it on the heater in the room your bird is in.....