Feather plucking

[MarcusA]

We have had a cockatoo for about 4 months, who is nearly 4 years old. We were given him by someone who was trying to sell him for £600 pounds because his wife was sick of him. He is really jumpy and nervous, but he is making great progress. The feather plucking is the problem. He seems to stop for a while and then just as he is really on the mend, he plucks them all out of his chest again. He recieves tonnes of attention, plenty of handling and affection and is on a good diet. I'm wondering if perhaps a change in this immediate envirnoment may be all it takes for him to reacte in this way. Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers,

Marcus

[Monica]

Have you taken the cockatoo to an avian vet to determine if this is a medical problem?

What is the diet?
How many toys?
Does he get exercise daily (i.e. flying or you holding him on hand/arm and running about the house or moving arm down until bird is winded?)
Does he have a way to forage?
Daily spritz bathes? (may need to include aloe vera juice into the spray bottle to help soothen skin)

Pictures of his cage?

[MarcusA]

Hi,
He comes out of the cage every evening. Sometimes it can be for hours at a time. I spend a lot of time playing with him. He is amazingly affectionate and playful, but terribly nervous. He knows he can trust me but it's taken ages. He has plenty of toys in his cage, although for some strange reason, he has recently taken a real shine to trying to tear the soles of my trainers to bits, when I'm lying on the couch. He moves his food dishes around a lot etc.
He eats Vita Special hoops and general seeds, as well as fruit etc. We sometimes put food in a plastic tube for him to forage for. The cage he is in is the one he's been in since he was little and we're pretty sure it is big enough. We spray him sometimes too. I think his nervousness is now a part of him and I can't see it getting much better. He's an amazingly loving character but so jumpy. We suspect he may have been mistreated in the past. The guys wife hated him. He's in a very loving envirnoment now and we will keep working with him.