Male Cockatiel Plucking Female

[Vilas]

I was thinking it was my female, Pumpkin, that was plucking herself naked... then tonight while everyone was getting their share of pasta, I saw Max do it to her....(YELLOW FEATHER IN HIS BEAK) Her top notch is almost gone, under her wings (pits), her butt, and her back. I know I need to seperate them, but he's going to scream for her Any thoughts to help me out? The female is about 18 mos old, unk for the male.

[tielfan]

If you put them in side by side cages they'll still be able to see each other and socialize. They can have supervised time out together if he'll behave himself most of the time.

This might be a hormonal behavior. You could try giving them the "long nights" treatment (12-14 hours of uninterrupted darkness every night) to see if it makes a difference. It'll take a week or so for it to have a noticeable effect on their behavior.

Birds can pluck themselves over most of their bodies but they can't pluck their own head and neck. So when you see feathers disappearing from these areas, it's a sign that someone else is doing it!

[Astrid660]

My male tiel plucks feathers from my females head crest.. It makes me so sad to see, so now I separate them as soon as they start preening. (they all play out together usually but not so much anymore, because of this problem!!) Good luck, hope you can figure out something that works.. I think it's because (in my case anyway) the female is really docile and shy ?