I feel so helpless

denise3mom

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Hi a couple of weeks ago i was telling you about my baby grey who is plucking Charlie is 6 months old and now over the last week he has plucked his entire chest bald! I want to cry! He is reaching all over to pull feathers I have done everything humanly possible to stop it It is horrible :(
 
What does your vet say?
 
Oh no, I am sorry. I agree that getting a vet's opinion is the best place to start. But, always know that you can love your sweetie just the same if he won't stop. I have 2 greys and I adopted one as a plucker. He plucks certain areas completely bald, but he is still a silly little doll.
 
That's so young to start plucking. Have you taken him to the vet? It might be a health issue, something you could take care of before it becomes too much of a habit.
 
Yes he has been to the avian vet all bloodwork came out normal he is on organic pellets no beak and feather no pysical cause that he can see it KILLS me I have another thread on here with more details anything and everything you can do I have done ... full spectrum lighting the whole thing I noticed right away any I mean any change freaks him out so i would make sure i would intoduce something new all the time and show him its ok well I think when I put up he full spectrum light on his cage caused him to go crazy plucking he doesnt make much noise except my cockatiel call he was on and off makng whisles now he just obesses over his feathers I bought pluck no more will try that ....
 
what when they take it off ..he will go back to it?
 
There is an older book in African Greys that shows how to notch the lower beak so they can't pull the feathers. The book was written by Fran at Exotic Birds by Fran! . Inquire there.
 
Is he fully flighted? I would let his flights grow in and teach him recall training indoors. If a bird needs their feathers they're less likely to destroy them. Also do some trick training with him.
 
Is your vet that you are using a board certified avian specialist? If not then I suggest making an appointment with one. If one is not available in your area then I suggest going outside your area. Your vet should have given you some solutions. I used to always think that behavior modification should always come first. Now I really think that its a mix of things. Quick question: how old was he when you brought him home? Did he come from a private breeder or pet store? Was he kept with other babies before you brought him home? How long have you had him? When did the behavior start? Have you talked to the breeder about what they think is going on?

I would suggest getting this problem under control as soon as you can. I would suggest letting his flight feathers grow in (any bird that is prone to pluck, shred etc. should NEVER have any physical alteration done i.e. wing clipping, or it will encourage the behavior). I would build an aviary outside. Until the flight feathers come and he is flying outside all day in the aviary, I would suggest having a collar put on. I would have the collar on until hes flying well and is adjusted to the aviary. Then I would put him on a med that calms him and have the collar removed. Once the collar is removed then I would slowly wean off of the meds. This process may take up to a year. The collar is not the fix to the solution, the collar just allows you to make adjustment and allow the feathers to grow in fully while those adjustments are being made. If the feather shaft gets damaged too much they may not come back or you will end up with cyst formation - which would have to be surgically remove.

However I am not convienced that there isn't anything else going on, maybe a food allergy, rare skin condition, communicable disease etc. I would go to a specialist, perhaps the state university or even the next state over. It is not normal for a baby to be showing this type of behavior and would def get a second and third opinion before taking the measures I listed above and I would do them sooner vs. later. There is obviously something going on. If you have three board certified avian specialist tell you that its nothing physically, then I would do what I mentioned above plus I would get an avian behaviorist involved, one that does home visits.
 
Has his stools been checked for giardia? A lot of times that will cause plucking around the legs like that. From the pic, the skin looks really red, inflamed and irritated. Thats not how skin usually looks on a bird that plucks a lot.
 
HI yes He had stool done so many tests food My avian vet said it just isnt normal and very rare that a baby parrot at 4 month old would start to pluck over the last 5 days he ripped out his whole chest legs and back I am heartbroken for him he has to have physicologil problems soo sad last resort is to collar him now Its horrifying ,I called the man I got him from Mark Marrone from TV show petkeeping with martha stewart He said he will fix this :( I dont see how when all he is obessed with was ripping any change even at 3 months he would go to his shoulder and pull Not to mention the enmorous cost in the last 6 months :( . Will hear from him on friday
 
I really think that you need to take him to another vet for a second opinion. I suggest only going to a board cert avian specialist. If you don't get any answers there then I would go to whatever state university that you have that has a vet program. I really doubt that he has some sort of mental thing going on here. More than likely he may have an allergy going on. I think that you need to explore the possibility of this being a physical thing more before you treat as a mental prob. At 4 months it just doesn't make sense. If he were mine I would definately be getting a second (or third, fourth) opinion. I just dont think that one vet's opinion of him being fine is enough to go off of. If you don't find out what the cause is soon, then this will become a life long problem. Maybe he has an allergy to a plant in your yard, a cleaning product that you have, a perfume, detergent, hand soap, the oils on your skin, etc. He needs to see another vet and then another one after that if they cant figure it out either. At 4 months, I just cant see it as a mental issue. Esp since his skin looks so irritated and red in the pic. When Rome was plucking her skin never got red or inflammed.
 

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