feather plucking!!

[jessiealfie]

Hi i have two parrots 1 mealey amozon 5 and a grey 1 male and female !!
they both live together and get along fine grey talks non stop amozon dosnt!! they are feed on a very veried diet of parrot mix mixed frut and nuts dried,seeds,fresh fruit and green leafy vege and grass , they come out every day and the grey interacts with the family happily , but for no apparnt reason no change at all to their routine the grey has started to pulck and has given herself bare legs over night!! she also plucks the down feathers from her hornches /back and will keep twiching her wings as if she is irritated !! i have sprayed them both with a mite louse spray today to be sure its not that , and added a molt/vitomin aditive to their water ,ibut have noticed the amozon is very intrested in her and is following her close by somthing he dosnt normally do !! he is male grey belived to be female ,could this be a sign of a stressfull time of her thinking of mateing she is only 1 , nearly 2 but this is the first time she has done this , i keep a harris hawk and owls that has bad times when coming into molt and stress out can this also happen with the parrots , she is coverd up as i type but can hear her twiching away ,!! please help its really destressing seeing her do this to her self i just feel i have let her down and failed her by letting her get like this but as i say this has only started 2 days ago and balded her legs the first night over night, the amozon isnt pestering her he knows his place although she is smaller she is the boss for sure so no trouble there!! they also have plenty of toys attached to the inside and out side of their cage and are against the patio doors where there is never any direct sunlight!!,one thing i did do the other day was spray them with a plumage spray johnsons!! diluted as said the amozon loves it and the grey not keen so didnt do much to her as she flew off but did get some on her could this have any affect any help would be great i am having sleepless night worrying of her state in the morning !!

[Lisa B]

they shouldnt be housed together. that is a disaster waiting to happen.
the grey needs her own place. the Zon will be come hormonal and might attack. his following her is showing signs. she is prob scared and plucking.
also spraying is not a good idea. you dont knwo what is going on, so by self medicating might add more problems. Vitamins shouldnt be added to the water. it starts to grow bacteria after two hours of being in the water.
I suggest you seperate them IMMEDIATELY. this comes from over 30 years experience on my end.

[Lori~D]

I second that

[cozyparrot]

Agree here too on the separation. I'm not a fan of mixed species together, especially with an amazon. If she has not had a checkup, she should be seen immediately as well. She will be checked for fungal infection at the vet and this is very important. They can carry fungal infection without many visible signs other than barbering or plucking their feathers. (especially true in eclectus) Has anything changed other than what you describe? And by this I mean even the smallest change. Have you clipped her wings recently? The reason I ask this is because you say it began with her legs. With the wrong kind of clip, the sharp ends of the cut feathers rub against the legs. They are very sharp and she may try to alleviate the irritation by plucking. Have you moved any furniture around? Moved the cage? Think really hard. Even a new picture hung nearby might be viewed as a predator. (I had that happen once!) How are her droppings? Do they look normal? What about appetite? Plain water spritzes at least every other day are better than additives right now. Greys are hard to soak because of the feather dust. If you can coax her into the shower with you, that would help you make a game of it and really get her good and wet. Is she getting some full spectrum light? Next thing is diet. Is she on pellets? If so what kind? Is she getting vegetables and fruits? Are they organic or at least washed in water and cider vinegar to remove pesticides? Does the fruit mix they're getting contain sulfur? Dried fruit is often sulfured and many birds have allergies to it. There are some good mixes out there like Avian Naturals that have unsulfured fruits. I would also try to get her on an organic pellet with no color additives - something like Harrisons or Totally Organics. You can also try King's Pluck No More but not in the water. Use half a capful in the spritz water and spray her with it. She will preen it off her feathers and ingest it that way. It may help fill a need for vitamins and is completely natural and safe. I agree about the water/vitamins - it grows bacteria way too fast. Have you switched types of cleaner that you clean the cage with by any chance?

I was never the type that was totally into organics but my own problems with feather destruction with one of my birds has made a believer out of me. I don't feed everything organic but I do it as much as possible now. Birds just can't take all that pesticide. Hope something here helps. Keep us posted and separate them as soon as possible.
Gena

[Beaks]

stop spraying that garbage on your birds because some birds dont like the way it makes their feathers feel and will pluck them out because they think they are dirty or damaged.

use good old clean water, relax and watch the feathers grow back.

[cozyparrot]

I forgot to mention one thing. I heard once about a bird that was destroying their feathers. In careful evaluation, it was finally discovered that someone in the home was eating potato chips then handling the bird. The oil from the chips was being deposited on the birds feathers. In an effort to get rid of it, the bird pulled the feathers out. Once the person washed their hands before handling the bird, the plucking eventually stopped. I know it sounds silly but we just don't always think about these things.

Gena