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parrotletsRcute · #1 (**permalink**) 10-07-2009, 04:50 AM

Hello everyone!

I have a male parrotlet named sharky. I have had him for a year and he will be a year old this month. He is such a wonderful little guy and we love him soo much! Well he has a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I live in an area that is in the middle of nowhere and I cannot find a bird vet that is in my driving range. There are a few vets that are far away and very expensive and they don't take payments.

Well he is plucking all his feathers. I kept him outside in the summer time during the mornings so he could get his sunshine. He loved this until he got mites. I have tried sprays, bleached his cage, and cleaned my carpets and furniture but to no avail I felt like I could not kill these things. A vet felt sorry for me and told me tho he doesn't do birds he would give me something called ivomec. I did this ivomec which it did work at first cuz all his feathers came back in and he was looking sooo good!!!!!!!!! Then he plucked them all clean out again while being still treated with this product. The vet says i can keep using it until the mites are gone but since the vet does not do birds I worry about the long term effects on my little sharky.

Recently I have checked him over and checked everything over but i cannot find a single trace of these mites. I think i got them taken care of??????? but i don't know how to tell if I do. I don't get why he keeps plucking. My husband and I have both checked him over and left white tape on the cage and connot see any mites anymore. If I have to I will find him a new home that can afford to take care of him, / and is near a vet he can see. So far no luck with advice or finding him a home. If anyone can tell me what to do to help little sharky please share.

chapala · #2 (**permalink**) 10-07-2009, 04:24 PM

Has a vet seen your bird and actually diagnosed mites? They aren't that common in Parrotlets, though plucking occurs for a variety of reasons. It could be that your bird doesn't have mites, or doesn't any longer, but has a habit of plucking. You do not want to keep treating your bird for mites when the plucking may not be from that at all, and your bird may have no mites.

I know of quite a few plucking Parrotlets, with owners that have done vet visits, changed the environment and diet, added more toys, more out time, more attention. Some birds stop, many continue plucking. At some point, the plucking birds need to be accepted for who they are with their gray pajamas. They still can make wonderful pets.

parrotletsRcute · #3 (**permalink**) 10-08-2009, 01:57 AM

Im pretty sure he had mites because when i first noticed him plucking i put tape on his cage and i got little reddish black bugs all over the white tape. Then when i looked through the top of his head with a tweezer i saw them moving. I got some and pinched them with the tweezer. They are very tiny and they look like itty bitty specks of moving dirt and I could only see them with my glasses.

Since I have treated him tho and cleaned the house like crazy i cant seem to find any traces of these things anymore on him or on the tape. I don't know if they are either so few I cant find them or he is just plucking now to pluck.

I did change his diet after i noticed the plucking. I did some research and learned they cant have an all seed diet and so i put him on roudybush daily maintenance. He would not even touch this food at first but I did what the bag said and he is now finally eating it. I have added a little tiny bit of seed every other day or so to his diet and I try fresh veggies but the only one he will even touch is corn so far. I bought him some plastic balls with some bells in them and he likes to push them around the living room. I feel like If I dont babysit him every second of the day he gets to plucking.

When he was a baby he would play toys all the time in his cage. Now it seems like he will only play toys if I encourage him too. I dont know if I just keep getting him the most boring toys out there or what. He throws food up sometimes and it seems like he is trying to give it to me which is really gross and I tell him no!! I sometimes wonder if he is plucking for mites, plucking for loneliness, or boredom. I have tried to fix all that but I cant seem to figure it out.

anyone let me know what to change and what im doing wrong. I would rather fix what im doing wrong rather than find him a new home. I am willing to accept the fact that he could be a plucker.