Feather picker!

[GeneG]

I have a 3 year old male GCC whom I got when he was a few months old. Everything was going fine until about a month ago he started pulling out (or rather nipping off) his feathers on the chest, legs, and back. He's never done this before but now this seems to be his favorite activity, and you can only distract him from it with a treat or a water spray. He is out of his cage pretty much the entire time we are at home, has toys all over the place and gets a lot of attention from us. We diversified his diet, brought in different toys, tried to spend even more time with him, but nothing seems to work. Our vet says there could be a hundred different reasons for why he's doing it (gee thanks for the great insight!) and I'm about to start tearing my own feathers out. Has anyone had to deal with this? What else can I try?

[schellp]

I have a cockatiel that is a feather plucker, it's maddening isn't it? First thing I was told was to take him in and get checked for diease, which he didn't have. I found my baby in my front yard just over a year ago and he was naked and I do mean naked, he had pulled out all of his feathers. My vet said that he probably plucks due to behavior as opposed to illness...yeah ok so how do I stop it? I haven't, but he is no where near as bad as he was. Now he just gets under his wings. The rest of them have grown back pretty much, although, I suspect he will never get them all back. But good lord he'll scream and scream it just breaks my heart. I started gving him baths 2 times a week which is torcher because he hates them, but it helps. He concentrates on real preening and not plucking. I have also started sqirting him with a water bottle whenever he starts, this so far is stopping him in his tracks. He stops as soon as he sees the water bottle now. I don't want to have to resort to a cone, I've seen to many accidents, but that might end up being the only way. The one thing I would caution you about and I learned this the hard way, is there is something you can buy at the pet store and I'm sorry but for the life of me I can't remember the name, but it claims to help with feather pluckers by easing irratation and has a bad taste, hense stopping them from doing it, all it did was make it so he didn't feel it as much and the whole area under his wing was real bad. The flavor did not offend him and he plucked more then ever. Good luck

[shosh]

Schlepp...the product is bitter apple or something like that. Doesn't work and can make them pluck more.

There are lots of products that supposedly help pluckers....I found a pair of lovebirds recently, one of which was self-mutilating. For the wounds, the vet gave me flamazine which has been working wonders...it is a topical anti-bacterial med. But, if yours is a plucking issue, I have heard you can try many things.
Some have had success with Pluck-No-More....it is a topical, homeopathic spray...but is is VERY expensive and the jury is out as to whether it works...there are other products out there that PLM supposedly copied....I think They are by BIo-King and called Stress no More or something like that.
Anyhow....not recommending them because I'm not so sure they work and you might be spending a lot of money for nothing. Maybe others can weigh in their success or lack thereof.

Now, with my lovie, I have noticed a MAJOR difference in her plucking issue since I started taking care of her. The mutilation was my biggest worry, but that seems to be easing and healing nicely. The plucking is better as well...she had plucked her upper left back, middle back, under the wing, chest and left leg. Every once in a while, I'll see a feather on the ground, but changes in her environment, diet and cage/toys has made a remarkable difference.

The advice I have heard is essentially this: Change the environment. If the cage is in a high traffic area, perhaps the bird is too stressed by the noise and needs more calm...Try moving it to a different area of the house..or even a different area of the room....perhaps put it near a window so it can look out. I change the toys and perches around in my lovebirds cage quite frequently so they always have a "new" home to explore. Add some veggies high in calcium and Vit.A....The dark, leafy greens like kale, swiss chard, spinach.etc are fabulous.

I also started to mist my bird daily with warm water and aloe juice. You can buy the pure stuff in a health food store....do not get the gel because it isn't pure as it has the thickening agent. You can also order "george's aloe spray" if you can't be bothered mixing the juice and water although the former is probably more economical. Aloe is a great soother and since the new feathers coming in are often itchy, the aloe and water or even plain warm water misted daily ( if you forget the aloe...not a big deal) is very beneficial towards helping keep the skin moist and less itchy and , therefore, they won't be tempted to pluck the new feathers.

I also read that putting in lots of chewy, rip-up toys is good. One site recommended a feather. So, I went out and got a natural, non-dyed feather...it was a cat toy. I hung it up and the birds love it...They often preen the feather which is supposed to be good because it takes the emphasis away from self-preening.

I have heard, however, that spraying them with water when they pluck isn't always a good idea because although it might look to us like we are distracting them, we are actually reinforcing the bad behaviour because it is getting a response. We should, supposedly, ignore the plucking when we see it....

As for the cone around the neck. That is, in my mind and in the mind of my vet, a last resort for severe self-mutilators. It is extremely stressful on the bird because it impedes their normal behaviour...ie: Preening. I would try the environmental/diet/watering approach first of all.

Something is obviously troubling your little fellow and it's frustrating because he gets lots of love from you. Unfortunately, he can't tell you so it's up to you to figure it out.

Quick question: even though he is out frequently, is his cage large enough for his size? It is still their refuge/security/home and it needs to be spacious and have lots of toys inside for them to play with.

Hope this helps somewhat...keep us posted. If none of this works ( with time...obviously...there are no overnight miracles) then medical tests might be in order. Some pluckers never stop...it becomes habit. Some seem to make a full recovery and then their owners wake up one morning to find every feather on the floor of the cage. Some recover and never pluck again. All you can do is try your best to make your GCC feel better.