pics soon, picking around his neck, not sure what to do.

[ParrotsinHAWAII]

Solomon picks around his neck and under his wings. Scratched his neck with his feet all the time. acts like he has a bug problem. after going to the vet, they checked for everything, no mites no problems with bacteria etc.
I feel bad for him, he is always whining. Thinking about treating him for bugs anyway?

any help appreciated.

 

[ParrotsinHAWAII]

pic 1, some feathers under neck seen missing

 

[ParrotsinHAWAII]

yet another pic, underside with bare side of electus

 

[Jewelz]

I don't know if this will help in any way at all as I don't have much experience with stuff like this but I had a casual conversation with my vet about this not too long ago when I had my little guy in. When we briefly chatted about this she said once you rule out any physical ailment you have to start ruling out environmental factors and that could range from his diet to his sleeping arrangements to where his cage is placed in the house.... She said this can be really overwhelming and that it is important to consider what could have initially triggered the picking and work your way from there as you start ruling out what may be causing this.... Again... I am no expert by any means but was given this info in a brief conversation with my avian vet. I hope it helps a bit good luck... I hope he gets better really soon

 

[rbreck]

I am no expert either...just spent $400 at the vet today and I drove two hours each way to visit this bird vet. My bird is barbering, not to bad yet but... Scary. I spent over an hour with the vet talking about the basics!!!

1. Diet. Fruits and veggies...the basics explained by experts on this site. No pellets. I notice a difference in Maui one day after feed pellets, he is jittery.

2. Foraging - vet wants me to try to make all morning for foraging - put in little boxes or bags, egg cartons...make him work for it. They forage 6 hours a day in the wild. Evening I will feed as usual.

3. Bathing - every day!

4. Stimulate/socialize, bigger the flock the better- flock doesn't need to be birds - games, tricks. I will start taking Maui to the park with me.

5. Sleeping - is he getting a good night sleep? Maybe even cover.

He also recommended a couple of books. I will look up the books...stand by.

Read read read! And remember the basics.

^ vet also took blood and remove band from leg.

 

[rbreck]

Books-
Barbara Heidenreich - parrot training.
Captive foraging - Scott Echols

 

[KimKim]

Sorry I have no experience with this either, but the reptiles you got are excellent! I hope they can help you figure out what is wrong with Solomon.

 

[MikeyTN]

How old is your Eclectus?? What diet do you have him on? Any other animals in the house? Is he pretty attached to you?

Most of the time the plucking issue is due to stress related issue. Hormones have a big part to play in it that's why I asked about his age. Once they start the plucking, it's hard to stop them from doing so. Have you looked into buddy sock???

 

[ParrotsinHAWAII]

he is 10 years old. we have an african gray, 2 breeding macaws but they are outside (crazy), a senegal. the birds do not like each other. I feed them all wild bananas from the yard, mango, papaya oats etc. We know a lot about parrots, but never dealt with this except with our breeding macaws, but macaws are known pluckers when breeding.

The vet mentioned similar stuff, diet, environment etc. But all the birds get play time, are very tame and are fed very well. Being its Hawaii, they are spoiled with the natural habitat of easy 85 degree weather.

I think it is stress as well.

He was an indoor bird at first then was placed outside by previous owner. They had to leave the country (lot of military here) but he has a great demeanor. He is very friendly but is still getting used to us I think. his cage is near the front door, but a good 6' away. I am thinking about putting him on our lanai.

Anyway I will keep everyone posted.

Aloha

 

[melbourned]

MikeyTn: What is buddy sock?