Chewing at feathers

[Sandy19]

Peanut keeps chewing her feathers the way a dog would do if they were itchy from fleas. She's not plucking any feathers out, she's just picking at them as if she is itchy or cleaning herself. She's been doing it for the past few days quite a bit so it's not normal for her. Anyone know what would cause that? Maybe mites?

 

[Mindy]

Is she dry? I don't know about mites, never experienced them, but if the furnace is on there's no humidity to speak of.

 

[Sandy19]

I thought about that. I'm in Florida so I very rarely turn the heat on, but I did have it on the past few nights because it's been unusually cold here. That's the only thing that has changed so perhaps it is that. She's really picking at herself though. She doesn't particularly like taking baths, but maybe it would help if I put her in the shower with me whether she likes it or not?

 

[Mindy]

I would guess heat then. What type of bird is Peanut?

 

[Sandy19]

She's a Senegal. I've haven't been able to get her to take a bath other than when she splashes around in her water bowl, but she doesn't get completely soaked. She's not going to like it if I put her in the shower.

 

[bill_e]

Nike likes baths but doesn't take them often enough in my opinion so what I do is turn on the shower, then grab her and just put her under it for a few seconds. Upon returning her to her water bowl she always takes a bath to finish the process. Might be a way to kick start her into bathing when it's dry without upsetting her with a lengthy shower.

 

[bill_e]

Also, I bought one large (32oz) water bowl which I attached to one of her out of cage perches. It's just the right size for a Senegal and enables her to do a better job than when she uses her 8oz bowl. It's screw on so you can use the included bracket for a cage or my preference screw it to a perch with a 1/4-20 bolt so the cage doesn't get a bath.

 

[Mindy]

I don't know how often they 'should' have a bath, but whenever I read a recommendation it's a lot more often than what mine will do on their own. I put them under the shower running (like it or not) and have also filled the sink up neck high and put Finnegan in to get a really good soak. I've also read air dry is best, but I honestly don't know why. It's too cold for that here so I wrap them up for a bit so they don't turn into birdcicles.

Peanut won't like to get a bath for a few minutes but I'm thinking she'll be more comfortable after.