I wondered if anyone could help. I’ve got a ring neck parrot I’ve had him for a few months now and he’s started to loose all of his feathers. Ive tried using a mites spray to see if that would help and he’s stopped itching a little but his feathers just don’t seem to be coming back. Is there any recommendations that would help him. Or does anyone know what could be the cause to this. I’ve uploaded pictures from when I first had him and what he looks like now.Thanks
My Ring neck parrots gone bold
- Thread starter Bongo1.xo
- Start date
It would appear that your sweet baby has been plucking and I would recommend that you set an appointment with an Certified Avian Vet in the very near future to confirm if that is true. Also, consider a skin test to determine if there is a skin issues, as a small percentage of pluckers have been found to have such a problem.
The Avian Vet could provide you a cream that may help for short periods of time. Care should be taken to limit the amount of cream used and how often. Also, consider lightly misting your Parrot with fresh clean water by misting the air above your Parrot allowing it to fall upon your Parrot, never mist /spray a Parrot directly in the face.
The Avian Vet could provide you a cream that may help for short periods of time. Care should be taken to limit the amount of cream used and how often. Also, consider lightly misting your Parrot with fresh clean water by misting the air above your Parrot allowing it to fall upon your Parrot, never mist /spray a Parrot directly in the face.
Last edited:
- Feb 20, 2022
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Awww precious little buddy! Welcome to the forums 
My ringneck is a chronic plucker and was bald from the head down when I first brought him home. From what I understand, many times plucking starts because of a health issue. My parrot was diagnosed with a skin yeast infection when he first was plucking, and later had a chlamydiosis infection when I met him. We also did some testing for internal parasites and the "bad" bird viruses, since feeling ill in any way can cause them to start plucking.
So in your shoes, I would see a vet to try to make sure you're not dealing with any medical problems. If you have access to a certified avian vet that would be my recommendation as bloodwork might be recommended and my preference is to have that done by someone who has worked with a lot of small birds.
Here's the forum's resource for finding a vet near you:
Avian Vet Resources
With my ringneck, after watching him for six months now, I think part of his issue is that he was likely from a parrot mill where he was taken from parents early to be "hand-raised" so he has NO clue how to take care of his feathers. Now that he's healthy, he doesn't pick like he's itchy anymore, but he still breaks his feathers off and only has a few that stay besides his downy fluff. He also hasn't yet bathed, and nothing I've tried works (he will immediately pull out feathers that get wet). From what I've read and what my vet has said, regular bathing can help their skin feel better especially in the drier air that comes with winter where I live.
We do have a subforum for feather destruction - there might be some ideas in there for you, too.
Plucking, Feather Destruction and Mutilation
If you want to read a very long winded detail of how things have gone with my parrot who was very sick when I brought him home, I have a thread in the Incredible Journeys subforum. It's a lot of me trying to pretend everything was ok when I was freaking out that I was doing everything wrong and we're still a work in progress!
But, as SailBoat said, my #1 priority would be an avian vet visit to make sure he's healthy.
He's really freaking cute, by the way! I obviously have a soft spot for naked ringnecks and I'm really glad you've joined us here!
My ringneck is a chronic plucker and was bald from the head down when I first brought him home. From what I understand, many times plucking starts because of a health issue. My parrot was diagnosed with a skin yeast infection when he first was plucking, and later had a chlamydiosis infection when I met him. We also did some testing for internal parasites and the "bad" bird viruses, since feeling ill in any way can cause them to start plucking.
So in your shoes, I would see a vet to try to make sure you're not dealing with any medical problems. If you have access to a certified avian vet that would be my recommendation as bloodwork might be recommended and my preference is to have that done by someone who has worked with a lot of small birds.
Here's the forum's resource for finding a vet near you:
Avian Vet Resources
With my ringneck, after watching him for six months now, I think part of his issue is that he was likely from a parrot mill where he was taken from parents early to be "hand-raised" so he has NO clue how to take care of his feathers. Now that he's healthy, he doesn't pick like he's itchy anymore, but he still breaks his feathers off and only has a few that stay besides his downy fluff. He also hasn't yet bathed, and nothing I've tried works (he will immediately pull out feathers that get wet). From what I've read and what my vet has said, regular bathing can help their skin feel better especially in the drier air that comes with winter where I live.
We do have a subforum for feather destruction - there might be some ideas in there for you, too.
Plucking, Feather Destruction and Mutilation
If you want to read a very long winded detail of how things have gone with my parrot who was very sick when I brought him home, I have a thread in the Incredible Journeys subforum. It's a lot of me trying to pretend everything was ok when I was freaking out that I was doing everything wrong
and we're still a work in progress!But, as SailBoat said, my #1 priority would be an avian vet visit to make sure he's healthy.
He's really freaking cute, by the way! I obviously have a soft spot for naked ringnecks
and I'm really glad you've joined us here!
Littleredbeak
Well-known member
- May 27, 2020
- 621
- 870
Anne an IRN was plucking her wing feathers when I first got her. I gave her multiple supplements Thrive and Missing link. She stopped plucking
Her multiple Avain vets where unsure if this behavior could be stopped
Have you seen her pluck her feathers? I would really take her in to see a AV if you haven't already to rule out an diseases.
Her multiple Avain vets where unsure if this behavior could be stopped
Have you seen her pluck her feathers? I would really take her in to see a AV if you haven't already to rule out an diseases.
While behavior or diet/health plucking is likely.
You are going to need to test for PBFD when you go to the veterinarian. As bald patches on head and face are places he can't pluck. And are very difficult to remove with feet or rubbing......
Please don't self treat for mites unless they are seen or diagnosed by a professional. The medication can be toxic or irritating to birds.
I don't see scale thickening on legs or face. So scaly face and leg mites are unlikely.
The red mite sucks blood. Tho very small, can usually see, or evidence of in un-clean dirty cages, in corners and debres.
Excerpt above on red mites
"
An infestation of red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) causes birds great discomfort. The blood-sucking creatures are difficult to spot with the naked eye, at just 1mm max. They are also nocturnal, attacking your pets at night. If unchecked the mites will soon reach plague proportions, and the resulting blood loss may weaken your parrot’s immune system and lead to secondary infections.
One way of verifying the presence of the tiny mites is to put double-sided sticky tape in the nooks, crannies and corners of the aviary where the creatures gather in the daytime. The mites will get stuck on its surface. Once you know they’re there, you need to clean everything in the cage thoroughly with hot water and a scrubbing brush, and keep checking and cleaning over the next few days until they’ve gone"
Also for behavioral. Cage size is important. As well as cage placement. A cage on the floor causes increased stress so raise to your chest hight when standing can help. To small of a cage causes a lot of stress, they can't move around enough, or retreat from stresses. Not enough perch options toys ect.
Chronic zinc toxicity can cause itching and feather plucking. Many cheap toys, cages , food dishes can containvzinc. As well as chains, bells, jewelry, curtain rods...birds.
The presence of other pets especially predator pets like cats , dogs, ferrets, rats , snakes can cause chronic stress.
Diet is important in overall health and immunity. Proper nutrition plays a big role in feather health. A seed only diet is lacking vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. The diet must include pellets or vegetables or both in addition to seeds. Diet we have tons if threads on. Plus lots of help and guidance if you have a dedicated seed eater who doesn't recognize other stuff as food yet.
Feather plucking/ or feather quality issues are complex. Definitely must start with evaluation with an avian veterinarian to rule out health issues like bacteria, yeast, virus, parasites, toxicity, nutritional deficiency. A look at cage, lifestyle, and diet, and stress.
If behavioral, head feather would be intact unless another parrots were plucking their head. So you really need to rule out health issues.
You are going to need to test for PBFD when you go to the veterinarian. As bald patches on head and face are places he can't pluck. And are very difficult to remove with feet or rubbing......
Please don't self treat for mites unless they are seen or diagnosed by a professional. The medication can be toxic or irritating to birds.
I don't see scale thickening on legs or face. So scaly face and leg mites are unlikely.
The red mite sucks blood. Tho very small, can usually see, or evidence of in un-clean dirty cages, in corners and debres.
Mites – Recognising and Avoiding Infestation in Budgies, Canaries, and Finches
Mites – Recognising and Avoiding Infestation in Budgies, Canaries, and Finches We’ve taken an in depth look at the different diseases that affect kept birds in our blog about parrot welfare, and many of these conditions and their symptoms can be extended to Budgies, Canaries and Finches...
johnstonandjeff.co.uk
Excerpt above on red mites
"
Red Mites
.An infestation of red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) causes birds great discomfort. The blood-sucking creatures are difficult to spot with the naked eye, at just 1mm max. They are also nocturnal, attacking your pets at night. If unchecked the mites will soon reach plague proportions, and the resulting blood loss may weaken your parrot’s immune system and lead to secondary infections.
One way of verifying the presence of the tiny mites is to put double-sided sticky tape in the nooks, crannies and corners of the aviary where the creatures gather in the daytime. The mites will get stuck on its surface. Once you know they’re there, you need to clean everything in the cage thoroughly with hot water and a scrubbing brush, and keep checking and cleaning over the next few days until they’ve gone"
Also for behavioral. Cage size is important. As well as cage placement. A cage on the floor causes increased stress so raise to your chest hight when standing can help. To small of a cage causes a lot of stress, they can't move around enough, or retreat from stresses. Not enough perch options toys ect.
Chronic zinc toxicity can cause itching and feather plucking. Many cheap toys, cages , food dishes can containvzinc. As well as chains, bells, jewelry, curtain rods...birds.
The presence of other pets especially predator pets like cats , dogs, ferrets, rats , snakes can cause chronic stress.
Diet is important in overall health and immunity. Proper nutrition plays a big role in feather health. A seed only diet is lacking vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. The diet must include pellets or vegetables or both in addition to seeds. Diet we have tons if threads on. Plus lots of help and guidance if you have a dedicated seed eater who doesn't recognize other stuff as food yet.
Feather plucking/ or feather quality issues are complex. Definitely must start with evaluation with an avian veterinarian to rule out health issues like bacteria, yeast, virus, parasites, toxicity, nutritional deficiency. A look at cage, lifestyle, and diet, and stress.
If behavioral, head feather would be intact unless another parrots were plucking their head. So you really need to rule out health issues.
Last edited:
- Feb 20, 2022
- 3,131
- 10,896
I agree and can't believe I didn't mention this specifically. This was the #1 thing my vet wanted to rule out for my bird as soon as we could draw blood, because when it first starts it can seem like "just" plucking. Definitely a disease you'd want to know about if he has it
HeatherG
Well-known member
- Apr 25, 2020
- 3,893
- 6,971
Oh yes. The head baldness concerned me right away. I also wonder if he could have mites living in his ears? As that is such an unusual place to see bare. But I really don’t know.
Please get your little guy checked out so he or she can be more comfortable! Being itchy is miserable.
Please get your little guy checked out so he or she can be more comfortable! Being itchy is miserable.
aussie_wings
Active member
- Jun 24, 2022
- 94
- 250
- Parrots
𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽〘F Lutino Budgie〙
𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧〘M Cinn-Turq-Pied-Spang Kakariki〙
Did we ever find out what the issue was? Starlight's been having a similar situation. I've been giving her vitamins and Mango (safe, non-chemical) mite spray. I also got her some new toys. I think she's looking a little bit better. Trying to keep her on a routine and keep her comfortable, as well. We do have an appointment with the avian vet Feb 9th.
