The Woes of a Plucky Redhead

[Amie]

My beautiful angel Scarlett, Vosmaeri eclectus, is a plucker. She is our resident nudist. And I hate it because she is SO beautiful.

Her best friend, our CAG Quasi, died 6 years ago from a rare genetic disorder. She began plucking 3 days later, and hasn't stopped. We are trying everything. Changed her diet, changed her cage, got her new toys, EVERYTHING. Of course, we got her vet checked immediately, and have still kept up with that. But, she's just determined to be naked.

We discovered Pluck No More last December, and the changes were DRASTIC. She let her down feathers completely fill in. She allowed some top feathers to remain unscathed. She was becoming her old self again.

And then. . . we ran out at the beginning of last week.

I was on a business trip when the fiance used the last of the Pluck No More (I honestly thought I had another bottle left!). He's learning to be a wonderful bird daddy, but he had no idea where I ordered it online and didn't think it would be a big problem for the 2 days I was out of town.

We ordered more Pluck No More, but the last three days have brought horrible storms, and our package is being held somewhere North in the state until the storms blow over.

Yesterday, I came home, and discovered she had plucked ALL of the feathers on her left leg, all the way to her side. She NEVER did that before, that's a new place. Her neck is a tiny bit less covered than it was last week (her neck was her favorite spot to pick and pluck before starting the Pluck No More) but mainly, this new leg spot, and one spot on the middle of her wing.

The Pluck No More will be in on Monday, just a little too late.

I hate that she does this to herself. I started to cry when I came home and he showed me what she did while he was running errands yesterday.

My beautiful, beautiful angel. I just don't understand what we're doing wrong by her. . .

[jimpierce7]

you may not be doing anything wrong. She could just be missing her buddy.

[Amie]

Thanks.

We hit the vet just in case, since picking a new spot can be an indication of something wrong, and we're waiting on blood work. She's on antibiotics for a spot she made raw, and if there's an infection, hopefully that will get rid of it, too.

At least she's being incredibly well behaved when taking her medicine. I think she realized pretty quickly that she gets special treats and lots of loving after I have to shove them down her throat, so she's been willingly letting me towel her for the medicine-giving.

She was starting to look like her old self. . .I think that's what upsets me the most about it. . . as long as she's healthy, I don't care. But she's such a beautiful angel.

She even let the vet give her tons of scritches and stepped up and down like a good ekkie. Didn't try to bite, didn't fight. I think it was good that we switched vets. She must have gotten the same vibe from our old vet as I did!

[Sashagirl]

Amie

I'm so sorry your going through this.I'm going through the same thing with Buzz one of my B&G Macaws.I hope your vet is able to get to the bottom of this and find out the cause.


Marcia

[Amie]

Originally Posted by Sashagirl

Amie

I'm so sorry your going through this.I'm going through the same thing with Buzz one of my B&G Macaws.I hope your vet is able to get to the bottom of this and find out the cause.


Marcia

Oh, tell Buzz I said to stop it!

Honestly, I don't think there's a physical cause. I think it's just a new bout of pluckiness. The strange thing is, most people I know with plucky ekkies say their beebs are more aggressive when they're plucking. Scarlett is more of a cuddle bug than normal. . .and she's a HUGE cuddle bug. The vet says she's her favorite patient because of how easy going she is, even when she's visibly terrified.

I'm going to look into a different full spectrum light. I don't think the one I've got now is working. . . It was a quick pick-up after ours was annihilated by Katrina, and I honestly have been a bad mama and never replaced it like I was supposed to. I bet it's something stupid and silly like that, and it IS my fault!

[Sashagirl]

I believe the standard is change them at least 6 months.I could be wrong.Buzz vet deemed it habitual she came from a bad situation.I know your Scarlett is in a good home.Who knows why some of them do it?Can she still be grieving after all this time?Give Scarlett a hug for me.

[Amie]

Well, I think it's a definite possibility she's still grieving, since she still HATES my mom (she took Quasi out of his cage at lunch while I was at work the day he died. . .and since he never came back, I'm pretty sure Scarlett thinks my mom killed Quasi!)

I think we'll be getting her a new buddy as soon as we're done with the wedding and the move. She did barber once or twice seasonally before Quasi died, but she had allergies to peanuts we didn't know about. Three days after Quasi died, I cam home to a mostly naked ekkie. So, there's no doubt in my mind what started it.

I just realized, last week was the 7 year anniversary of Quasi's death. How incredibly odd. . . .there's no way she could have known that, right?

[Sashagirl]

You'll be surprised at what our animals will remember.Wedding what wedding?Write me privately.I hope after whatever Miss Scarlett will get back to her old self.

[Amie]

Update::: Scarlett's blood tests were all perfect.

So, she's just crazy. And that's okay, because she fits in perfectly with our little family of rescues and misfits

Also, I have reason to believe the "full-spectrum" bulb I bought at a bird fair after our light was Katrina'd was never a full spectrum. You should see her bask in the new light. . .and the old one was just, you know, there. This one has her all fluffy and goofy when it's on. SHE LOVES IT. So, maybe I WAS a bad mama with the quick fill-in after the storm.

Now I'm mad I kept getting new bulbs for it. Ah, well. As they say, hindsight is 20/20