Henry is pulling out his feathers

[noodles123]

Just get him to the vet ASAP (sometimes there are underlying problems)---I didn't look at the albums, but it sounds complicated....
Do you have a routine and is he getting enough activity/attention/out-of-cage time?
As far as humidity, Google your particular bird variety, but for cockatoos, it is on the higher end.
That having been said, if there are open sores etc, bacterial growth may be made worse be overly warm/humid conditions.
Excess heat can also place stress on a bird (even though one would think they would be okay with heat, that is not the case). 82 F is the MAX for cockatoos.

 

[noodles123]

ps: that looks like a skin abrasion in that picture-- and corn starch etc will still work temporarily, but a self-mutilating bird needs veterinary help ASAP

 

[Sunnyclover]

Oh no! Please take care of that blood feather or he could bleed out in the middle of the night. Pack it with cornstarch or pull it out as noodles123 said. Let's us know how it goes and what the vet says.

 

[LaManuka]

That poor birdie! You have my every sympathy!! I’m very sorry you are going thru this, it’s heartbreaking. I don’t have much more advice for you other than the very good info you’ve been given so far but keep us posted on what the vet says ok?

Our hearts are with you

 

[Laurasea]

Behka can we have an update on Henry???? How did the vet visit go? How is he??? What did you find out??? We are so worried about your little guy!

 

[EllenD]

This is quite alarming...Your poor Green Cheek has something very serious going on and he needs to get to either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet immediately (NO EXOTIC'S VETS! He needs to see an Avian Vet!!!).

****He's most-likely going to have lots of blood-feathers coming in because of the number of feathers he's pulled/pulling out, and every time he picks a blood-feather and breaks it open, he's going to bleed badly. If he breaks a large enough blood-feather, he can easily bleed to death in a matter of minutes!!! So you need to make sure that you have lots of CORN STARCH in your house, and have it close at hand. And you'll need to make sure that your husband knows about the blood-feathers and the Corn Starch, as if Henry starts bleeding profusely, the Corn Starch needs to be dumped on top of the broken blood-feather immediately and packed down on it, it's the only thing that will stop that amount of bleeding...That's the "emergent" situation that is going to arise from this...

As far as what is wrong with Henry, to me this looks like more than self-mutilation/feather-destructive behavior, though it definitely is this as well...However, Henry has something else going on here, either an allergy to something in his environment, a parasite such as some type of mite, a bacterial and/or fungal infection of his skin or feather follicles, a virus of his skin or feather follicles, such as PBFD, some kind of nutritional/metabolic deficiency, some type of toxicity, or some other disease or congenital condition that is causing his skin/feather follicles to become horribly itchy or irritated. So he needs a full set of blood-work done ASAP by only and Avian Vet who will know exactly what specific blood tests to run in addition to the routine blood-panels.

****The fact that you're gone all day and your husband doesn't let him out of his cage at all or pay much attention to him all day long could certainly be causing him anxiety, however Henry has large scabs/sores all over his body, including in places that he can't have started them, such as his face and head. And in my opinion, just the appearance of the lesions/scabs/wounds that he has makes it pretty obvious that he didn't cause them or start them, and that they are part of some type of allergic reaction, infection, or disease process.

It's quite possible that whenever this first started it was so itchy, sore, and irritating Henry so much that he naturally started to scratch/dig at himself and pull out the feathers around the irritated/itchy areas, and since it's been constant so has his scratching/digging/feather-pulling, and at this point he's continuing to do this to himself for not only the physical reasons, but also for psychological reasons as a matter of habit now...Either way, there is no way that this is strictly a neurotic/compulsive behavior that is strictly due to anxiety, boredom, etc. There's most-definitely an underlying disease-process, allergy, metabolic/nutritional issue, or pathogenic process going on. And the only way to figure out the cause is through blood-work, skin cultures/swabs, and possibly follicle biopsy/microscopy.

****You said that you've had Henry for 2 years now, but how old is he? Did you adopt him from his prior owner, or did he come from a rescue/shelter/pet shop where there were other birds? And how long has this been going on? Was he already doing this or showing signs of this already having started when you brought him home? If not, how long ago did it start? And do you have any other birds in your home, or other types of pets in your home?

You stated that "he's been eating the same old thing", indicating that his diet hasn't had any changes in it, but what is his regular, daily diet? Does he eat a staple of pellets, seed-mix, or both? And what brand/type? Does he eat veggies and/or fruit, and if so, which ones? Have you changed anything at all in his diet since you brought him home, before this started? Treats?

I'm just trying to cover all of the obvious bases, because there are certain foods, cleaners, scented items, fumes, etc. that can cause these kinds of reactions. Just looking at Henry, it really does look like he's got some type of allergic reaction going on, or possibly a reaction to a constant toxin that he's being exposed to. That's why if Henry didn't come to you with this issue and it didn't start until AFTER you brought him into your home, it's extremely important to try to think back to the things that you changed in his environment, diet, etc. when he came into your home, because it could very well be something that his cage is near (did you change the location of his cage in your home BEFORE this started?) or that you're using on/in his cage, such as too strong a cleaner or undiluted vinegar, or even if you use a natural cleaner he may be allergic to it. If you use any type of liners in the bottom of his cage (such as puppy "pee-pads", I've seen bird owners use these in the bottom of their bird's cages and the absorbent material inside them has caused serious issues), etc. Is it possible that any type of insects could be getting into/around his cage? Do you use anything in a spray/aerosol can in your home, such as cleaners, fragrances, perfumes/colognes, etc.?

I hope that you have an experienced Avian Vet who will know what tests need to be run, and who can get to the bottom of what is going on here. Try your best to not take him to an Exotic's Vet or a General Vet, as they have no extra education or training in birds like CAV's and Avian Specialists do, and unfortunately Exotic's Vets tend to not run ANY diagnostic tests, no blood-work because they don't know how to take it and are sometimes even afraid to take blood from a bird (which is a simple and harmless procedure for an Avian Vet), and they don't know what tests to run in the first place...And make sure that you request that they test for PBFD, as unfortunately it's very much a possibility here, though it's presenting more like an infection or allergy.