Eclectus feather mutilation

[Parkiboy]

Hi, I have had my eclectus 'ollie' since january and he turns 1 next month, he is great and quite a character and a non stop chatterbox! He is still very naughty and stubborn at times but this just adds to his character

I have had a couple of issues with him which i have resolved, despite his young age he was very aggressive when we first got him which we have worked through and he is now for the most part very gentle, he can still be a bit jumpy at times but seems to trust us well so i assume this will pass in time.

He had always wing flipped/toe tapped from a very early age, I did a lot of research prior to getting him he gets 3 meals a day, 1 chop, 1 serving of fruit and a warm veggie meal or a salad with foods selected for the best nutritional value. I spent months eliminating certain foods to try and eliminate this with no avail until i introduced Tops Pellets into his diet, to my surprise he almost immediately stopped completely so he now gets these with his fruit daily and luckily he loves them!

The one problem i cannot seem to shift though is feather mutilation, he is not a plucker but he is always chewing his wing feathers and tail feathers to the point he has no tail feathers and almost all primary wing feathers are gone, he has essentially clipped his own wings and as a result cannot fly.

I have tried everything, we do work but we do leave cartoons on for him and i come home every dinner to see him, but this behaviour appears to be worse on a night. He is out 90% of the time we are home, he has plenty of toys which we rotate regular, he goes through phases where he is always playing and others when he is not bothered. He gets alot of one-on-one attention and we even take him out at times in his travelling cage when we are visiting family, he is definitely not a neglected parrot.

He gets a shower at least every other day, I have tried ignoring this behaviour, i have tried deferring his attention elsewhere when this behaviour begins (which does work for a short while then he will go back to doing it) Does anyone have any ideas at what else i can try? I have tried that bitter tasting spray. i want to get the little guy flying again as he was so good at it before.

Many thanks
Craig

 

[itzjbean]

I have a quick question, when was the last time he was vet checked? Always a good idea when getting a new bird to get them to full health check from a certified Avian Vet who can look over him and make sure he does not have any underlying health issues that may be causing him to act out or mutilate himself. I will let the experienced Ekkie owners take over and offer their advice!

 

[plumsmum2005]

I would hazard a guess that there is an imbalance in his diet of some sort. The preferred solution is to work with your AV on this. Are they up to speed working with Ekkies? Avoid any supplemental vitamin injections until you are sure they are the right thing for your guy, research, research and research. Check Carolyn Swicegood out.
Roughly what quantity of pellets do you give per day?
Any chance of metal toxicity?

 

[Parkiboy]

He's not been back to the vet since i first got him and the vet was very inexperienced with eclectus. Here in the UK i dont think eclectus are a common breed of bird and alot of vets have no or very little experience with them

He gets a tablespoon of Tops pellets with his fruit every day which solved the toe tapping/wing flipping.

His chop varies slightly each batch but this months consists of

65-70% dark leafy greens (always), broccoli, chilli flakes, sweet potato, carrot, bell peppers (with seed), radish, squash,

15-20% quinoa, bulgar wheat, brown rice, pearl barley, oats,

10% mixed berries.

I highly doubt metal toxicty we were very careful making our house bird proof and disposed of anything that may cause him harm.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Might be worth contacting The Parrot Society to ask the question if they know of an AV that is specialised in Ekkies?

Are you willing to try reducing or withdrawing the pellets for now? An experiment?

Search all of Anansi posts in the Ekkie forum. He is a MOD and has two of his own.

Check as stated before Carolyn Swicegood.

 

[Parkiboy]

I gaev him the pellets as an experiment, he has only been on them 3 weeks and has been doing this longer. I did alot of research on this and tops are one of the only accebtable pellets for eclectus as they are 100% natural.

The pellets have eliminated the toe tapping/wing flipping and we have also noticed behavioural improvements so i am reluctant to take him off these.

I will contact the parrot society, thats an excellent idea thank you.

 

[plumsmum2005]

I gaev him the pellets as an experiment, he has only been on them 3 weeks and has been doing this longer. I did alot of research on this and tops are one of the only accebtable pellets for eclectus as they are 100% natural.

The pellets have eliminated the toe tapping/wing flipping and we have also noticed behavioural improvements so i am reluctant to take him off these.

I will contact the parrot society, thats an excellent idea thank you.

Metal toxicity from cage? Beak rubbing etc?

It is possible that Ekkies get a build up and then show symptoms. If you can get yourself well informed and prepared before I would make the change IMO.

http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/

did you get your boy from a breeder? If so can they advise re AV's?

 

[Parkiboy]

he does chew his cage however the cage i purchased specified it had a non toxic avi coat powder that is lead and zinc free. This is why i went for the cage i did.

 

[LordTriggs]

just a quick thought. What time do they go to sleep/wake up? Depending on the times it could be related to a lack of sleep

 

[Anansi]

Hmmm... there are any number of things that might potentially have been the cause of his plucking/barbering. Finding a certified avian vet experienced with ekkies is definitely the way to go on this. There could very well be a medical issue at the root of all this.

Your assertion that the addition of pellets stopped his wing-flipping and toe-tapping leads me to think that the issue might have been a calcium deficiency. For the most part, dietary causes usually spring from one of 2 camps: too much of a particular vitamin/mineral, or a calcium deficiency. If he's still calcium deficient, but to a lesser degree, I wonder if that might explain the plucking/barbering behavior? (Was he damaging his feathers for as long as he was toe-tapping and wing-flipping?)

Another thing to keep in mind is the possibility that this is actually neurological in nature. Here's a thread of mine that discusses this in depth: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/61889-okay-let-s-talk-abv-pdd-toe-tapping.html Now, there are other possible reasons for nerve issues that might lead to toe-tapping and wing-flipping than what I mention in that thread, but the point here is that those behaviors could conceivably be tied to the plucking/barbering behaviors. And if there is an issue of nerve pain or discomfort, there is medication that might offer relief.

Of course, the plucking could also conceivably have begun as something medical and now become a habit through repetition. Here is a link to a really good thread by our own Allee regarding plucking: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

Hopefully you can find a good avian vet to help narrow down some of these possibilities.