Feather picking

[Mica]

Hello everyone I have a eight month old black headed caique and Ive been with him for three months. I recently noticed that he has a small patch of picked feathers, im really afraid and this is my first parrot so any help would really make me happy. Also all of a sudden he wont let me touche him and that's really weird because hes hand fed and since Ive had him hes loved to get pet on his head and body.

I usually take the bird out for around two hours on week days and 3-4 hours on the weekends.


Thanks
-Mica

 

[LordTriggs]

is it actually a patch from plucking or is it molting? At around 8 months a molt sounds right, which would also explain his sudden distaste towards petting. If he has truly plucked a patch then I'd say to take him for an exam at a Certified Avian Vet just to rule out any medical reasons for it. If it turns out just to be molting you'll have some pin feathers to contend with on the way. Steam works wonders for calming the pin feathers so when you have a shower let him sit in the room and get a good steaming to soften the sheathes and stop them irritating.

Also you may be at the end of the honeymoon period where he begins testing his boundaries and becoming more boisterous. Try to avoid a situation where he bites, if you do get caught learn what made him bite (grabbing a pin feather or touching when he doesn't want to be touched or even fear over something) if/when you get bitten give a firm but calm "no" then immediately place him away from you, be it on the floor or a chair or something and completely ignore him for a minute then go back to interacting with him (just like flocks do in the wild)