What Am I Doing Wrong?

[Beilana]

Chia is a DNA sexed Female Cinnamon Green Cheek Conure. She will be 1 year old April 23rd 2011. She eats Harrisons pellets, power trests, fresh fruit and fresh veggies. She has a large cage, toys, perches, and natural branches. She is NEVER alone and even when she is just on her cage there is always someone around her. She gets a steam bath once a day and gives herself daily cold baths. She generally seems very content except...

Chia has been chewing her feathers. Her tail feathers, wing feathers and chest feathers.

I really need to know what I am doing wrong here??? Is this hormonal and she is just maturing??? I don't want her to get into a habit of this. What things can I do to stop her from chewing???? Its extremely disgruntling and confusing to me...

Another thing I have noticed is she is starting to bite me...HARD. She never used to but recently sometimes when I put my fingers for her to step up she lunges and CHOMPS. Not the typicl GCC nipping either, this is a BITE. Then I will get her and she will snuggle up and chirp and act like nothing happened its almost like she is a teenager hitting puberty or something like "I HATE YOU" one minute and "I LOVE YOU" the next.....Is there anything I can do for this??????? I try not to pull away and ignore it but when I have done this she occasionally keeps pulling back and lunging foward again. I realize I could just leave her alone but I don't want her to assume a hard bite means I go away....

Please someone help me....I'm at my wits end between the chewing and biting...

 

[Colorguarder08]

I know that Hallows Eve is chewing on his feathers as well but he is molting. It sounds like she is too. Because when they molt they are moody as their pin feathers grow in they are uncomfortable for them because if they move certain ways it's like you sticking yourself with a sewinging needle that you can't get rid of.

 

[Printer bird]

Hi Beilana, I am going through the same thing with my gcc. We adopted him from a man who never cleaned his cage, fed him only dyed pellets and nothing else, had no toys and very little interaction. Charlie now has a big cage, lots of toys (that are rotated), better pellets, more variety in his diet (we are still working on lots of veggies but he is slowly trying more), lots of attention etc. About a month ago, he started chewing off his feathers! I was so distraught and felt like I was doing something wrong, that I couldn't leave him for even an hour to run errands (which is no way to live). Anyways, we finally took him to the vet and they suspect 'he' might be a 'she' and is indeed likely hormonal and is a combination of frustrated, feeling sore (in the belly area) and taking away feathers for better heat contact with a future egg. The vet had great advice and it was very reassuring to hear from them that we were doing everything right but there were still some things we could try. One was diet (to go from rowdybush to harrison's which you are already feeding), more veggies (which we were and are still trying - he's still not very excited by them), NO fruits except berries twice per week (for the antioxidants), no porridge etc. So harrison's, some berries, and bird mash for food. We also put him in a sleep cage now which we place in a different room all the time (apparently when they are nesting, they sleep in the same place whereas when they are not breeding, they sleep in random places every night. I do find when Charlie's sleep is disturbed he chews more feathers (our upstairs is pretty open so when we put him to bed we would go downstairs but then he would hear us when we came back up to go to bed).

Then, lastly and the hardest thing, was to eliminate any nesting and sexual behaviors from us. So we could no longer play towel games or have him investigate our pockets or sleeves This is all nesting/searching for a nest behavior which brings up the hormones. NO petting on the back or anywhere except the head. No hand snuggles either. Boo! No nesting materials or behaviors either and no Happy Hut if you have one. He used to but didn't have it at the time.

His chewing has improved but he still pulls out a few feathers throughout the week and is still chewing his grey down. I imagine it takes awhile to calm down the hormones and we are doing our best to be affectionate but not snuggly (which is hard because they are just so cute).

I imagine the biting is related as hormonal parrots are biting parrots, even with their favorite person. Just ask any amazon owner! Just continue to be consistent with the training and they will come out of it. You can take Chia to the vet if you would like reassurance OR if she's actually pulling out the feathers (Charlie just kind of clips them off, the end is still in his skin) or if there's any sign of rash/irritation in the areas that are being plucked. It looks like you are in Calgary and i would definitely recommend the avian vet clinic off of Crowchild if you don't already take her there. Good luck! If you find things that work, let me know as we are not quite out of the woods yet with Charlie.

 

[Beilana]

Thank you! That was very helpful advice! Chia sleeps in the same place every night, not in a snuggy hut but she likes to sleep between the cage and the wall (she doesn't go in her cage as someone is always home and she is clipped.) unfortunately I can't put her in a sleep cage in a bedroom because I am in a 1 room condo and my parents have the room and like to keep it COLD in there...

She doesn't pluck her feathers they are just chewed the same thing where the end is still in her skin.

I do have to admit that I am very snuggly with her, I put her under my chin and rub her with my chin I will stop doing that and stick to the head! Because as of now she is acting like a crazy girlfriend LOL

I just went out today and spent 200 dollars on new things for her LOL I got her a full spectrum lamp/light as well as new java wood perch, rope ring, ladder and toys. I thought maybe I was underestimating the boredom thing HAHA Hopefully it does help a bit. I heard the lighting can help with feather chewing...

Anways thanks again!!!!

 

[Printer bird]

Maybe just putting her in a cage in the same room and covering it? I would try what you have and then maybe try the sleep cage as a last resort. That is super cute that she sleeps between the cage and the wall! I know I have been super disappointed about not being as snuggly with Charlie. I selected a gcc because of their snuggliness! I used to rub him on my cheek because his feathers are so soft. The hormonal plucking is a bit ironic in that it is kind of caused by being so nice that they feel they want to breed. The vet figured that for Charlie, he (she?) was in such poor conditions for awhile and suddenly things are looking better, so why not make some babies? Let me know how the lamp works, maybe that will be Charlie's new accessory! I also went crazy at first with extra toys and things to do (which is never a bad thing) especially for when we were gone during the day. I thought at first we would have to give him up since we couldn't quit our jobs (but the vet was reassuring in this area) so whew!

 

[wildheart]

Hi Beilana, ag I am sorry to hear that you are so worried. Feather chewing is definitely a very stressful thing.

Thanks for the advice printer bird, I hope things will start looking up for you as well.

Can you take some photos of the feathers as an example for us who has not seen it before, if you can, thanks?

 

[Beilana]

Printerbird, I will keep the cage in a separate room as a last resort as she is very happy and comfortable where she is now and HATES being covered.(When I have tried in the past she sits at the bottom of the cage and bangs her beak on the bars) I would hate to take her out of the warm area and into a cold room in a strange cage covered by a blanket lol. If all else fails though I will give this a try.

Your so right about not being snuggly! I also love GCC's for their cuddlyness and its hard not to cuddle them. I also rub chia on my cheek and under my chin lol only bird people eh!

Have you ever thought about having Charlie DNA sexed to know forsure???

Wildheart, I will upload some photos as soon as I can

 

[Printer bird]

Hi Beilana, We are OK not knowing. If the vet advises us, we will get him sexed. My fiancee says he still thinks of Charlie as a boy and it just doesn't matter to him. We don't really care one way or the other so long as we aren't endangering his health!

Here is a picture of his underbelly (he was actually being cooperative this morning). You can see how there are still grey down feathers (although its gone in an area above his leg) but they are a bit chewed looking. He generally clips off the feathers (you can tell when they clip rather than pluck because there is no shaft on the feather) and he chews the grey down feathers (there are tiny little bits of down in the cage some days that you can only see when you blow gently on the newspaper). He has only taken off a few this week and nothing in the last two days so its better but I won't say that he is over his hormonal period until I see no feathers for at least a week or two.