Sos Help Please!

[Heather_Bird]

Emma, there is definitely something more than a little problem there. It does look like he may have a disease such as PBFD or polyomarvirus which is preventing him from growing new feathers on a large area of his body and also starting to affect the growth of his flight feathers. Without actually seeing him or knowing more of his history I find it very hard to be more specific but I would suggest that you Google feathers+diseases+lorikeets as you will be able to tell which problems his symptoms fit. I would also suggest a trip to the vet for a blood test to try and identify the problem. Another word of warning is that many of these diseases are highly contagious so please do keep him away from other birds until you have a definitive answer.

I know you were joking about the little jumper but it is a definite possibility and I have seen several versions. I believe there are even 'off the shelf' versions available for confirmed pluckers in America. Not sure about the UK but again you could have a search. Might be a life saver in the winter!

I would be most interested to hear how you get on with your enquiries and wish you all the luck in the world! <hugs>

All the best,

Heather

[swanwillow]

umm, OR he could have just plucked himself so bad for so long that he has gone and damaged the feather folicles, making it impossible to grow back.

I can put you in touch with a lady that has a conure that looks JUST like that.

anyway, HI! I'm new here too, and I've got myself a lory.

careful for high iron foods, such as some iron fortified baby foods, and some fruits are high in iron. Its a disease thats called iron storage disease, lories will retain iron, and eventually it will build up bad enough to kill them.

FEEDING LORIES is a good place. I don't think that s/he needs honey added to the diet, its an unnecessary food, and can pass on botulism.

The pre-made lory mixes are good for a sole food source, or it can be mixed with juice. Also, veggie/fruit smoothies are good. in that, you can add sweet potato and peaches (two great foods) among other foods. Go organic if you can.

Anyway, if you want me to hook you up with a bird that looks like yours, go ahead and PM or E-mail me. Thats assuming that you've had him/her tested for PBFD among other things.

[Heather_Bird]

Hi Jodi and welcome to Birdboard! Thanks for your thoughts and I do agree that lories don't need honey, there are better alternatives available. I have shared my home-made recipes in another thread in this section and this is what is recommended by many breeders of lories. There is a more info on this link... about The problem that I have found with pre-made nectar powder is that it can contain other (undesirable!) things in some cases. Some are fine but others are dubious and how does one tell? A friend of mine who bred lories had some mix that she was using analysed as her lories began behaving differently after she started using it. It turned out to contain female hormones in quite large quantities. I would guess this was some sort of cockeyed attempt to knock out some of the famous lory feistiness for pet owners. From that day on I researched and commenced making my own lory diets as at least I know what goes into them.

As far as the little guy who is the subject of the thread goes, I am concerned that plucking isn't the cause for two reasons. First it is so extensive and appears (from the photos) to include areas that he would have a job getting to with his beak - like high up on the back of his neck. Also for him to have made such a good job of it that NO feather follicles are left that are able to grow would be little short of a miracle, again particularly in the awkward areas. The other point of concern were the twisted looking feathers and the only time I have seen such an effect is in birds with polyomarvirus, hence my worry.

It really isn't possible to diagnose something like this from a photo which is why a vet visit is so important. As you say, the first thing to do is check that it isn't a disease based problem as this could lead to many other worries. Let's just hope it isn't.

All the best,

Heather

[swanwillow]

yuppers... I should ask the lady if I can borrow a photo from the other site, and post it... hes bare like a chicken, in the exact same pattern, and my lories feathers look like that from playing, but I'm NOT saying to not go to a vet, I'm just being positive. having it for 2 years with no other major signs can point to other things...

the diet is odd though. I don't think a bird would be able to live for one MONTH on milk/chocolate, much less some infinate amount of time. Diet causing extreme plucking, causing folicle loss....

downward spiral... If it was on that bad of a diet and had a disease, would it have lived through it?

[swanwillow]

found a site with pics of PBFD, and a utube with a lory with it... (positive test, poor baby)
so heres the link to the utube vid, its in the early stages, not much feather loss. Lories are great carriers.
YouTube - Squee

he passed away May 29th

I adopted a quaker that was diagnosed with PBFD a month after I got him... a week of bleaching the house later... its a bad, bad, bad thing to go through.
http://manauspbfdiseasesite.com/diseaseprogression.html
thats a too with it, they show the progression and what happens with it...

[Heather_Bird]

I've known quite a few birds who pluck, barber and mutilate themselves (thankfully none of them have belonged to me! ) but the possibility of an infectious disease MUST be ruled out before any other steps are taken. The dangers of cross-infection are huge and I'm more concerned about other birds - even wild birds - that Emma may inadvertently come into contact with and infect. I too am hoping that it isn't anything like that for Emma's sake (not to mention her little bodyguard! ) but the problem has to be addressed with the 'worst case scenario' first in this instance for everybodys' sake.

I totally agree that chocolate and dairy products are pretty awful for birds. Having said that, lories do seem to be able to assimilate such foods better than your average hookbill. Maybe that is what saved the little guy? Food intolerance can indeed cause feather irritation and plucking or mutilating and it may be that it was a habit that started long ago and will be impossible to stop now. If he has been having a good diet for two and a half years now I don't think it can be diet related directly as there should have been at least some signs of improvement. Plucking is a terribly addictive habit for many birds but there are usually other clues such as catching the bird at it, scarring from follicle damage, etc. If Emma does get some kind of jumper/flight suit or whatever and she leaves it on the bird she should start to see some re-growth in the areas the bird can't get to anymore. It may not be perfect but there should be some evidence.

All the best,

Heather

[swanwillow]

yup, but all that after tests!!! theres ways to stop a cronic plucker... toys, suits (which will also help keep them warm, they chill easily I hear) collars, lots of stuff

[jessica313]

Originally Posted by swanwillow

found a site with pics of PBFD, and a utube with a lory with it... (positive test, poor baby)
so heres the link to the utube vid, its in the early stages, not much feather loss. Lories are great carriers.
YouTube - Squee

he passed away May 29th

I adopted a quaker that was diagnosed with PBFD a month after I got him... a week of bleaching the house later... its a bad, bad, bad thing to go through.
http://manauspbfdiseasesite.com/diseaseprogression.html
thats a too with it, they show the progression and what happens with it...

that second site brought tears to my eyes. i have never seen it broken down like that, as i am not highly educated on PBFD and all the symtoms. very sad, but extremely informative. thanks for sharing

[Heather_Bird]

Thanks for the links Jodi! I guess we can cross the plucking bridge after Emma has checked everything else out and knows she's safe.

All the best,

Heather

[swanwillow]

if Emma comes back :(