cinnamon green cheek plucking?? HELP

[jmigs]

my cinnamon green cheek is 3 years old. Her behavior has been excellent, no problems until recently about a week ago. She has been itching all over her head, and chewing her feathers under her neck. Her diet has been the same, and her cage set up has been the same since we have gotten her, there are has been no environmental changes where her cage is. She looks completely healthy,and there is NO signs of cloudy eyes or runny nostrils. I have noticed that the bottom of her cage was covered in small feathers, almost like she is in the process of molting. But i am not sure if it is a self destructive behavior or its just her molting. When she is on her perch or hanging outside of her cage she tends to chew at her neck feathers. When I blow on her neck I do see new pin feathers . I need help to determine whether this is the beginning stages of plucking? or just molting! PLEASE HELP.. i have also a video of her doing it
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5VVZJ1DEc]VID_20130414_090708_1848 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[MonicaMc]

If her cage hasn't changed any, it sounds pretty boring....

When in doubt, an avian vet is always a great resource! Especially if it might be medical related. If you rule out medical reasons, then you can look at behavioral reasons. Is the bird getting enough stimulation from it's diet? Toys? You? It's surroundings?

 

[jmigs]

well her cage has changed..different toys, beds, etc...but the layout is the same.. When she is on her perch all she wants to do it is chew on her feathers...After a bath it seems to get worse.

 

[weco]

When you say chewing, is she leaving chewed feathers on her body or on the floor of the cage, or are you just seeing whole feathers on the cage floor ? ? ?

While ruffling their feathers usually takes care of the loose ones, some times there are hangers-on...sort of like hairs/eyelashes that hang around & irritate you, until you brush them away, birds will worry with those too.....

Molting causes their skin to become itchy & tender in spots, but if you're not seeing chewed feathers, I would say she's chewing the new sheaths from her incoming feathers...and that's just a regular occurrence, but if you are finding chewed feathers on her body, you may want to have your vet look at her.....

 

[jmigs]

i see the chewed little feathers on the floor. And sometimes i see pieces of the feather stuck on her beak. When I give her a bath she tends to touch the area around her neck more.

 

[MonicaMc]

Vet visit and distract, distract, distract!

If she loves them, look for some fresh safe branches in your area to give to her. Fresh with bark can provide a great opportunity for destroying!

Foraging is a great way to make them think to get treats or food.

Baked pinecones are another great item for destruction!

I would recommend allowing her flight feathers to grow out then teaching her to fly around your house (after making the proper safety precautions).

May need diet change and look into providing a different source of water.

Can you get us photos of the area she's going after?



Still recommend an avian vet visit.

 

[jmigs]

i am making a vet visit just in case. I have been making these toys out of newspaper to distract her with that, and she has this foraging toy that has food in it but shes not going after that.. here is a photo of it right now. there is still pin feathers coming in but some parts is bare, like this one, and she keeps attacking this one area and trying to start on the other side. here is the pic.. thank you for replying to me you are really helping me out. I am becoming very nervous since she has never done this before

 

[jmigs]

sorry here is the pic didn't upload in the other one

 

[WharfRat]

How often does she get a bath or misting? I've found that's a big issue with all I've read/know. We thought our Hahn's was plucking but it wasn't the issue, it was us being bad caretakers which obviously we have since corrected. Hope this helps

 

[jmigs]

honestly I was just giving her a good soaking once a week putting her in the sink and she loves it. But during the week as soon I change her water bowl she hops in it and gives herself a soaking, so I would say a good 4 out of 7 days shes getting baths. Ever since she started this the past week I have made more of an effort to give her a misting every day. But since i started and when shes soaked she seems to nip at her feathers more. So this morning I didn't give her one and I came home from work and she dunked herself in her water bowl

 

[MonicaMc]

If she's not using the foraging toy, then either the reward is not great enough or she doesn't know how to forage just yet and needs to learn how to.


Also, check out some of the links below! (sorry if any are dead)

Foraging toys can be bought
Forage Toys for Parrots

Articles on foraging...
HolisticBird and HolisticBirds
Foraging for Parrots
Parrot Enrichment
Foraging Ahead
BirdBoard.Com - Parrot Message Board & Pet Bird Owner Forums
Kibibi's InfoSuperFlyway - Top Ten Favorite Parrot Foraging Toys

Below are some ideas for toys and toy making supplies!
Parrot Enrichment
Cheep Parrot Toys N Tips
Bird Toy Outlet
Birdy Boredom Busters
Birds Just Wanna Have Fun
Twin Leather Company
For the Love of Birds - For Birds Sake Toys
Nalani Toys
Parrotdise Perch
Talon Treasures
California Bird Nerds--Simple Joys and Safer Bird Toys



Hope you are able to find something out at the vets! Could be something like a skin/feather or crop infection, too!

 

[jmigs]

thank you so much for all your help! I took her to the vet last night cause it has just been getting worse and the vet said she is most definitely starting to pick. She got two separate cultures done that we are still waiting on results. The vet has given her clomipramine that I have to give her once a day to keep her more relaxed since she has been very anxious atleast for the time being until we find out if it is a medical issue. I was told to change her food. She is on an all seed diet which can be lead to birds feather plucking, so I will have to gradually move her onto pellets.

 

[MonicaMc]

I wouldn't say that a seed diet leads to feather plucking, per say, but it's definitely not a healthy diet!

A pellet based diet with sprouted seeds, fresh and cooked foods is the way to go!


Hope the cultures give you some idea of what's going on with her!

 

[jmigs]

thank you very much! I will give you an update once we find out!

is there a certain brand of pellets you recommend?. I was told to wean her off very slowly since she is going through this plucking. so have a half of the seed in one bowl and another with just pellet in another right next to her food bowl so she can start experimenting with it. I have also given her a piece here and there when she is out on the perch and she has taken it from me and ate it! As far as my other sun conure, she wants nothing to do with it! she is going to be the fiesty one ha ha!

 

[MonicaMc]

Harrison's, TOP's, Roudybush, Mazuri.... There are a lot of brands out there, but those would be the ones I'd recommend.

That said, when switching seed eaters over to pellets, you may want to try a variety of brands in at least two different sizes and see which ones they take up on.

Check out this link. Near the bottom is a list of pellet manufacturers. Some may give free samples, some may give free samples if you pay for shipping, some may sell sample packets and others will have a money back guarantee.
Cockatiel Sized Pellet Comparison - Artemis Aviary: African Lovebirds; North Carolina, USA