Feather shredding

[IcyWolf]

Does anyone have any suggestions when it comes to feather shredding? This is something else I have been trying to find info on and all I can find is articles on plucking. When we got zig, her feathers were in perfect condition. We have had her about 2.5 months and she has developed the habit of shredding her feathers She never actually pulls them out, just chews on them to the point they get all jagged looking. I cannot figure out why, she is on a diet of zupreem pellets, seed mix, and fresh veggies/fruits/pasta daily. She has a huge cage and lots of toys and I regularly stuff her toys with newspaper and paper towels which she loves to shred. We have been interacting with her on her terms only and not forcing her to be held unless she wants to. I have also been giving her showers a few times a week. It just has me perplexed that she has starting doing this, every other bird I have had has had their plumage improve after I adopt them, not the other way around. I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong I'll try and get a picture of her feathers so you can see what I'm talking about but she is kind of camera shy and my camera isn't that great.

 

[kerry]

Does she have wood to shred or chew on?
Here is an article written by an Avian vet on the topic:

http://www.theexoticvet.com/documents/FeatherPluckingandSelf-Mutilation.pdf

 

[IcyWolf]

She has wood block toys, a driftwood toy, plastic ones, and even a huge paper preening toy. I have also been knotting paper towels and newspaper around her plastic toys and she shreds it off almost immediately.

 

[kerry]

Here is another article on it;
Parrot plucking/shredding of feathers? - Yahoo! Answers
Have you had him to the vet to make sure that there isn't anything biological or systemic causing it?

 

[IcyWolf]

I guess now that I think about it, I haven't seen her do it for a few weeks, maybe it was because we changed rooms and it stressed her out a bit? I can't wait until she molts, I guess that will be the true test to see if she is still doing it. Thanks for the article by the way! Everytime I would search for feather shredding I would find either toy ads or articles about plucking.

 

[IcyWolf]

This is the best picture I could get of it with my camera. If you look at the ends of her feathers you can see where she was chewing on them. She did the same thing to her tail. It's still as long as it always was but kind of looks like leaf now, with jagged edges.

 

[Printer bird]

My GCC (a rescue) shreds his feathers and we have been to the vet a few times about it although he has persisted. Surprisingly, he seems to chew less when he has sleepover weeks at my parents' place (we've brought him there a couple of times when we went out of town). The vet thought that this might happen and that his chewing is about his attachment to us/sexual frustration (although it has been going on now for about nine months so you would think the hormones would have dropped a bit at some point).

I do recommend going to the vet, they can rule out nutritional and disease problems. They can also advise on behavioral which we've tried as well.

Despite our work, the large amount of chewing toys (rotated regularly), good nutrition, lack of disease, frequent baths and aloe sprays, 10 - 12 hours of sleep in a sleep cage in a quiet dark room, our lovely little Charlie continues to chew his feathers. We are accepting that this may just be how he is, and are trying to accept it and work with him despite this. We give him as much attention as we can, routine, love etc. We will see the vet again in a month or two for his check up but are not sure if anything can be done or not. Our guy seems to chew most when he is relaxed (at night, during his day naps or snoozing with us on the couch) which seems contradictory to most reasons for chewing. Basically I'm just saying it can be a complex problem.

Go as soon as you can to start receiving suggestions from your vet. The sooner you intervene, the more likely it is that you can stop it. (we did go right away and have been following suggestions but it is a difficult problem and have had mini-successes but have not solved it completely. Its your best shot, though so do it!).

Good luck! Please post what the vet says, I'm always interested in trying new ideas. One that I haven't tried is a UVA/UVB lamp. We put that type of bulb in the lights near his cage but will try a direct one next. Its a frustrating issue and I know we always feel like we are failing him by not figuring out a solution but we also know its a tough issue that can be difficult to treat. There are a couple of other members on here who have chewers, they can maybe offer suggestions or just can sympathize. You guys aren't alone and it doesn't mean you are a bad owner.

 

[IcyWolf]

Wow, thanks a lot for all of your advice! I have also been debating on getting a uvb light for her. I have kept reptiles for years so I know the importance of uva and uvb exposure for them but I am kind of in the dark(no pun intended ) about it when it comes to captive parrots. It seems like there is some debate on whether or not they are good for them. It's something I am definitely going to start looking more into. And it could very well be why she is chewing. Her previous owner lived in a house with a ton of windows and natural light. Our bedroom has no windows in it and since ziggy's cage is too big take outside(it has to be taken apart to get it through the door ways ) she hasn't really had a lot of sun exposure since we have had her. I have an extra cage that my friend was supposed to be returning to me and I had planned on keeping that one outside for her but I have yet to get it back and now it is starting to get too cold outside. Maybe some good ultraviolet rays with help alleviate her chewing.

 

[Rio Mom]

I just ordered a full spectrum light (uva/uvb) for River, should be here in a couple days or so. Of course I had to get some treats and toys too though lol.

 

[IcyWolf]

I just ran across this and it has some good info
UVA-UVB necessary for parrots

 

[Molcan2]

Sorry in advance for how long this is but its sort of a heavy topic.

First get her checked out at a vet, make sure there isn't an underlying health problem that is causing it.

So if all checks out normal:

If the problem is a chronic one:

How old is she? You said you've only had her for 2.5 months. Contact the previous home and find out if she did it there. If she has had a history of doing this then it doesn't surprise me that its taken this long for her to start to do it again. A lot of the time they get very distracted in their new homes and once they get settled - they start their habits back up. If this is an old habbit then: (I'll try to make it brief) There is nothing that you can do to stop this behavior. You can provide the best environment possible but it isn't anything the YOUR causing so don't take it personal. Shredding/Plucking is for what ever reason your birds way to cope. I've said this so many times but I will say it again - Having a bird that shreds (or plucks) is like living with an addict. It is not your fault, its life long and you will always have relapses. If this is something that she has done before coming to you then you will never really get rid of the problem. You may go a few weeks, months, years without incident and then one day she shreds herself completely - that is just how its going to be. Provide the best environment possible and except her shredding. Look at as just feathers. Don't even acknowledge it when she does it - this will encourage her to do it more. Treat her as if she has no feathers at all and if she wants to shred until she's bald then so beit, let her - its beyond you control and there really isn't anything you can do to stop her. Love her for who she is. My Rome is a shredder, she came to me that way and in the begging I foolishly thought that as long as I provided the right environment that she would never do it again. This is a false and unrealistic way to think when you take on a shredder. The first time she shred I took it to heart but now that I've come to terms with it, it doesn't bother me any more. Rome has the best environment possible and still shreds on occasion. Its just who she is.

If the problem is something completely new:

If this is something that she truly has never done before in her life then there is something stressing her out (whether it be health or environmental). What kind of food do you have her on? Make sure she is on a good pelleted food and getting a complete diet. She also needs natural sunlight in order to absorb vital nutrients. This means either put her outside for a few hours a day (it doesn't have to be direct sunlight just as long as she is outside for a while) or get the necessary lights that will provide artificial sun light. What is the stress like in the house right now?

 

[Molcan2]

I know you said she has all sorts of toys but does she play with them?

Some toy ideas that may help:

Kerry suggested to me to use Phonebooks, they work fabulous (thanks!). I hang them in the cage and she shreds them.

Also foraging toys are good as well, gives them something to do all day other than just sit there. Rome spends half of her morning foraging for food. Also in addition to the toys, we got a large piece of untreated pine, we drilled various size and depth holes in it and we put treats in the holes and she has to chew the wood up to get to the treats. Right now she gets treats in her foraging toys but we are in the process of switching it so that if she wants to eat during the day she will have to forage for her pellets as well.

 

[IcyWolf]

She is on a good diet, zupreem pellets, some seed mix, fresh veggies, fruits and grains daily. I change her water at least 2x a day as she insists on making pellet soup She plays with her toys all of the time and I have been knotting paper around some of her more plain toys and then stuffing seeds and pellets inside the paper for her to chew out. Stress level in the house is pretty minimal, we are all pretty calm, generally happy people. Practically no traffic past her cage and I am almost always (except maybe a few hours a week) in the room with her. She has a little talking session everynight(with herself lol) and seems otherwise happy. I am looking in to getting her an avian lamp, does anyone have any suggestions on a good quality light that is reasonably priced? I have been looking online, trying to find one locally(in a store) so that I don't have to order it, I hate ordering stuff online, but I will if I have to. I think we are going to get her some more toys, she has about six right now that I rotate and I make her easily destroyable toys about every other day. I have to get over to my moms place and see what toys I may have from when we had birds before too. I worked at a pet store so I bought toys that I never used, just gotta find them She is also never locked in her cage, she is free to come and go as she pleases and hangs out on top unless she is eating or in bed for the night.