Meet Hannah!

[Pixie603]

This is our new family member, Hannah! She was in a huge but very bare minimums cage. We got her with her cage and we fixed it up with some new toys and a variety of perches.

She is a bit scruffy looking, but her personality is just amazing. she is very shy but she wants so hard to come out of her shell! She even let me hear some of her goofy sound effects not 24 hours after we brought her home.

Im just curious if anyone has any experience with adopting a plucker. She started plucking and over preening due to boredom and lack of human interaction. Now that she has attention, toys and a better, more varied diet, how long will she begin to stop her plucking and over preening? Should i correct it when i catch her? She seems to have slowed down considerably between yesterday and today. Just wondering if she will eventually stop or if i should be distracting her when she starts?

I'm assuming we have what it takes to keep her happy since we are the proud parents of a fully feathered and very spoiled 2 yr old eckie!

Her old cage set up:
new cage set up:

 

[Mayden]

When adopting a plucker - don't have expectations of them to stop. Sometimes it's habit, sometimes is medical, sometimes its psychological.

If you see her doing it, off her a toy or something, do not punish her for it, in any way. Many pluckers never ever overcome plucking even with the best care givers around. Don't beat yourself up about it if she does continue and just help her deal with it if you can - don't expect it to stop though.

Have you had her at the vets for a checkup to see if it's a medical thing why she plucks? (I can understand with the cage and all that it looks down to boredom, but you never know!).

I hope she's happy with you and congratulations on your sweet silly grey!

 

[Pixie603]

I asked for a health check before purchasing her due to how much they thought she was "worth". She is clear of any health issues but she was only eating zupreem fruit pellets and a scrap of leftovers here and there. She is estimated 10 yrs old and we will be her 4th home.
Well thanks for your honestly, i'll hope for the best but prepare for her to be my little chicken forever she has some pins that she isn't touching (she has a few red feathers coming in on her neck and i'm hoping she lets them stay, very curious to see those) from what i've seen here she is only taking out the fluff. I guess only time will tell.

 

[Mayden]

I asked for a health check before purchasing her due to how much they thought she was "worth". She is clear of any health issues but she was only eating zupreem fruit pellets and a scrap of leftovers here and there. She is estimated 10 yrs old and we will be her 4th home.
Well thanks for your honestly, i'll hope for the best but prepare for her to be my little chicken forever she has some pins that she isn't touching (she has a few red feathers coming in on her neck and i'm hoping she lets them stay, very curious to see those) from what i've seen here she is only taking out the fluff. I guess only time will tell.

Right okay I see! Some birds will also go through phases of not plucking too (many owners screeching hallelujah!) but then one teeny tiny thing triggers them to do it again and you've gotta start over. So even if she does appear to be good with her plucking, don't expect it to be forever either.

As long as she's not actually in distress anymore, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Lintini]

Hi I adopted a 24 y/o grey last year and she plucked. I was told two different stories to why, but the story I know is true is she plucks because she was completely ignored and never had fresh food or water, and that food was seed or trail mix if she got any.

A few feathers have come back. she leaves all her down feathers tho so she isn't naked. I think she has done it for so many years she has ruined them. I have her surrounded by 20 toys in her cage right now, and I switch them out and buy new ones often or make my own so she is never bored. She picked up my voice quickly and learned lots of new phrases. She also turns insideout for men lol.

I don't have expectations for her to grow in her feathers, it's wishful thinking. She does look better tho in some areas than when I first got her. Altho, she hasn't really molted either, not like my conures do. She's had some pins in her head and that's it, and that was just once, and I have had her 13 months now.

If I see her preening heavily I just talk to her to distract her. She's really happy now and chewing up her cardboard box atm. I even bought 2 dwarf hamsters that are next to her cage and she watches them when they run in the wheel. It's so cute, she turns her head to the side to eye them better and says "ooooooh" at them LOL. I say they are hers now haha.

Hannah is adorable, and the new cage is really nice! When you get a chance, you can try buying her a foraging toy and toys with rope might encourage her to preen them instead of herself. My vet suggested large paint brushes which Chloe really really liked but she pooped all over her last one and I haven't gotten her another yet. They are cheap which is great.