Pluckers "Refeathering Kit"

[MonicaMc]

Pinecones were mentioned in another thread and it reminded me that there is a "kit" to try and help parrots stop plucking. Not sure why I didn't think of it before, but for those of you who have pluckers, feather barberers, or other feather destructive behaviors, this might be of interest to you?


Cockatiel Nirvana Pine Cones

 

[Boysmom]

Thanks for this link, I am going to order pine cones from them. I have never given my birds pine cones because I was worried about pesticides and such, but these are pesticide/ fertilizer free and sanitized.

Anyone know how to sanitize pine cones from our yards ? I live in the country and am surrounded by pine trees, so I would love to know how to treat them to be bird safe on my own. Plus it would save $ if my birds really take to the cones.

 

[SandyBee]

I boil mine and then let them dry out, that what was recommended to us by the local rescue!!!

 

[MonicaMc]

I heard that you just bake them in the oven to kill germs. Never done it myself so I don't recall the exact temperatures or time.

 

[GinaF]

I heard that you just bake them in the oven to kill germs. Never done it myself so I don't recall the exact temperatures or time.

250 for 20 minutes.

 

[jugoya]

I've only ever had one 'Plucker' and that was Charlie, he stopped once he got enough attention from us. Poor guy had been strung up in a large cage with two toys... nothing but a few dowel perches and no attention.

We 'rescued' him from a woman who had far too many birds as it was, and had no time for him.

Today he's a pain in the tail end... finicky tempermental bird that attacks everyone but me... or my sister.

We used a 'sock sweater' to get him to stop.

 

[MikeyTN]

The sock buddy we've all been discussing lately!

 

[MonicaMc]

Was doing some more research and thinking about pluckers....

Thinking of things off of the top of my head.... things to do for pluckers.

1. CBC/Blood panel to check for any potential health problems (ask for the pluckers CBC)
2. Skin & Feather biopsy to test for bacterial infections only on the surface of the skin
3. Try a fresh food/sprouted seed diet
4. Try Harrison's HP Diet with Sunshine Factor/Booster ---> Exotic DVM | See Clinical Cases - Birds (beware, some graphic images!)
5. Try Roudybush Rice Diet (for potential allergies)
6. Remove allergy type foods from the diet (peanuts, soy, corn, wheat, sweet potato, sunflower seeds, etc)
7. Provide a gluten free diet
8. Provide foraging activities/teach them how to forage
9. Remove free feeding stations and only feed through foraging activities/feed twice a day meals
10. Provide exercise in the form of flight every single day
11. Purchase full spectrum lighting
12. Invest in an outside cage/aviary for the bird to be in for 1+ hours per day to receive natural sunlight
13. Consider getting a companion of same/similar species for the bird
14. Teach new behaviors in the form of 'trick training' (it's more than just training 'stupid pet tricks'! )
15. Change the water source
16. Frequent, daily bathes (if not multiple bathes)
17. Get a humidifier to increase humidity to around 50%
18. Provide Vitamin A and/or E supplements (Red Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Fish [Liver?] Oil)
19. Try Avicalm and Featheriffic and/or Pluck No More products or other calming products
20. Make sure hands are clean before handling your bird (nicotine from smoking cigarettes, lotion, oils, etc may bother their feet and skin)

Apparently, it is possible through clicker training to teach a parrot not to pluck! Interesting... Anyway, I'm sure there are more things one could do for a plucker, but those are the things I can think of for now!


There's something about nucleotides being important... and only Pretty Bird offers a diet that includes those.

The Importance of Nucleotides


Which also leads to the fact that Pretty Bird does have species specific diets. Some, but not all.... I don't recommend Pretty Bird, but hey, if it works, it works!

Pretty Bird Shopping Cart




And more diet info....

The Diet for the Feather Plucking Bird

Avian Behavior | FEATHER DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

 

[MonicaMc]

Haven't read over them, but Pamela Clark has a couple of articles for feather destructive behavior.


Articles

 

[jenniferdiane]

our green cheek conure has started to pluck took him to vet vet has given all clear for mites etc,he has said it could be hes wonting a bit of the other sex.lol the sock buddies are they for conures he has took all his feathers from under his wings so his back is bare,everytime hes going to touch his back I distract him its hard work doing that but hopefully hes stop now just worried will they grow back

 

[MonicaMc]

The "sock buddy" is just a human sock cut to fit onto a bird. It may or may not help.

Were skin scrapings done? Was an x-ray done? Full CBC? Crop and fecal swab?



Have you tried teaching him new behaviors to do instead of plucking?