My lovebird has plucked all his feathers :-(

[sassa]

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to stop him from further plucking before this becomes a habbit?

He was not taimed when I got him, he was only 2 months old. I had to clipp his wings in order to feed him otherwise he wouldn't eat and I was afraid he would die. I clipped his wings a little, but then he started plucking all this his feather to the point where he has no feathers accept for the little itty bitty gray color feather, which I belive is called the down feather because they are the softest feather of a bird.

I see some feathers growing, and notice that he is not plucking those yet, but I wanted to ask anyone if you guys have any suggestions as to what I can do so he doesn't continue on plucking on make this a habbit.

[nestbox]

That is a hard one. I hope some one can help you but I'm sorry that I'm not any help when it comes to feather plucking, it's so sad when it happens. Good luck.

[sassa]

Yes, it is. This is the first time I have ever had it happened to me, well this is also the first time I have owned a lovebird that wasn't taimed.

[shosh]

First you have to find out WHY he is plucking...there are possible medical explanations you may want to rule out but often these things are behavioural.
Often changing the environment can help...does your little fellow have a lot of toys to keep him occupied? Room to move about, fly, spread his wings in the cage..( in other words, a large cage for his home), does he have good food and a varied diet>? Does he have mental and emotional stimulation? Is the cage placed in a good spot...has something changed that could have brought on this behaviour? Sometimes, a bad wing clip can cause it too...

There are products out there that some have had success with....I know that some people swear by Pluck No More but it is expensive and, from what I understand, has about a 50/50 success rate. More reasonable and again some have had success is AVICALM....you can get it through AVITECH products...both are meant to help pluckers.

In a worse case scenario, sometimes the bird may need a collar but lovies are tough ones to collar.....I HAD to finally do that with my self-mutilator/plucker and it was a battle but I did make a collar that worked for her and she is amazing now. Her issue was an injury though that wasn't healing and she kept hurting herself...before I knew what was going on I had tried the homeopathic stuff and, of course, because it wasn't really an emotional/psychological issue, they didn't do any good.

So...that being said...try the environmental changes first...see if that helps. Give her lots of things to play with...change around the cage...that can often make a big difference.

[sassa]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ok, I clippped his wings, so he cannot fly now, it was about a month ago. When I clipped his wings is when he started plucking.

He has no mental issues and no bruses on his body, he's not bleeding anywhere, so I know he has no issues, accept that he plucked his feathers out. However I'm happy to say they are growing back and he's not plucking on hem, but just in case I wanted to know if there was any remedies, like ointment or something I could put on him for him to stopp just in case he started plucking again. I would only use it on him if I see that he started plucking, otherwise I wouldn't use it.

At first he didn't care for toys, but now he does jusssttt a little. He stopped plucking when I moved here. He love to sit by the window, and I believe that is his distraction from plucking. It's his favorit spot in the house.

He doens't have a cage, I bought a small travel cage and I only use the bottom part to keep his food. His water is in a cats small plate, enough for him to also bathe in it, which I change every other day because it's not dirty, it's away from food and he does not poop in the water.

His sleeping quarter is a separate cushion type log house. It's looks like a tree bark, only it's cushion and that is where he sleeps. I put a small wash cloth towel so it's extra soft on his feets. I take him up stairs with me to my bedroom and that is where he sleeps, during the day he stays down stairs with me by his large opened screened window of course.

He likes hearing the noises of the birds, which in turn he makes noises after them. I don't cage him. But I will buy a cage for him now sense he can't fly just in case I go out I will put him in there for safety, but after his wings are grown I will put the cage in storate.

How expensive are those products? If I can I will definatly try it only if I see that he is plucking again, but I can see him now, and I see his wings has some feathers and on his back are a few that is growing. I will keep an close eye on him, at the same time I'm trying to taime him as well. His eating habbits, well he pretty much only eat one thing right now, the mellets, he love them so much. I bought some seeds and he won't eat them. I had givin him veggies and he won't eat them. But I will keep on insisting with the food. He is still young right now, he's only 3 months old, he was born first day of spring this year. He will be four months July 21st.

[chapala]

I haven't heard the 50% success rate for Pluck No More - I have heard more like 90+% of people that have said they used it and wrote about it said it didn't work.

[SuzyCupcake13]

Is it possible he's not plucking & he's just molting? My lovie just went through his first molt & it seemed as though he plucked all the feathers and then they grew back in.

[sassa]

I highly dought he was molting, I would think he was a bit to young to do that, as he was only 2 months old when he started to do it. plus, as soon as I clipped his wings that is when he starting viciously plucking his feather out starting with the wings and his tail.

[sassa]

I found those products and sense someone said Pluck No More really works, I will try that one first. As long it works, it's worth the price. But of course I will wait and see if he continues to pluck, then I will proceed with ordering the prodct. But I want to wait and see what he does first, hopefully he's not plucking anymore, but I don't know yet.

Shosh, thank you for your suggestions. Much appreciated ;-)

[shosh]

Hi sassa,

Judging by what you say, I'd wait before you invest money in Pluck No More...it's quite expensive and I'm not sure it will work in this case.( as was mentioned...a lot of people say it doesnt...for my lovebird, it didn't do a thing but my case was different...I have heard some say it has worked....)

If your little lovie started plucking after the wing clip, I'm going to venture a guess that it WAS the wing clip that caused the plucking.

Something was done improperly or was aggravating to him...enough to cause him distress and draw his attention to the wings.
Let the feathers grow back in....mist him with water every few days to keep the skin moist...divert his attention to other fun things.

Remember, young lovebirds don't often take right away to different foods/toys....they grow into them. This is the best time, however, to introduce him to new foods. Millet isn't enough of a complete diet....I don't know where you live, but you should try and get him a good pelleted food, have some good seeds as well and lot of fresh veggies and some fruit. Dark leafy greens like swiss chard are really healthy with lots of vit.A and calcium. Millet is a wonderful treat that they go crazy for but shouldn't be used as the only food. It might take your little guy some time to develop a taste for the other foods but you really must give them now...

Although it's a great idea to allow your bird his freedom, a cage also gives a bird a sense of security. It's kind of like his home.......he has some perches, some toys inside, his food/water....it's a place to sleep and be safe.
Kind of like our home....and for a bird, when you can't be supervising it, it is probably a good idea to put him in the cage.

I might suggest looking into buying a cage...it doesn't have to be HUGE for one little lovie, but should be a decent size..so he can jump around, you can put some wood perches/rope perches...maybe a swing and some toys....and you can also have an extra water/food dish in there ( in addition to the ones outside.)