Plucking

[Jezzahbella]

My lovebird Jezzahbella is plucking her feathers to the point where she has scabs. I know that if she continues she could pluck one the wrong way or something and she could bleed to death. I am scared for her and have tried everything to get her to stop. I spend more time with her than ever, almost always have her cage door open, lets her use my giant full size mirror when she wants, give her lots of toy (without crowding her cage), give her a wide variety of foods for her, most of which she doesn't even bother to touch. I feel like such a bad bird owner. :(
Sometimes after I have held her for a little while and spend time with her then leave and come back I find she has plucked many feathers. She seem to not mind my company when I keep my distance or when I'm giving her another piece of paper to nibble on. I was considering getting another lovebird but I don't trust pet stores and I can't find a breeder in the New England area. I know females can be territorial but I am not prepared for breeding if I was to get her a male counterpart.
I got her from a friend who never even wanted her and kept her in a poorly lite area for about half a year or so. Could this be part of her problem?
I truly love Bella and feel we have made some great progress, I'm just really scared of her taking the plucking too far, or her being unhappy.

[Elle]

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that Jezzahbella is plucking. We have some members who's had issues with pluckers and it is never fun. I understand your sense of frustration and guilt. However it seems that you are doing everything right.

There is no easy answer when a parrot decides to pluck. Again, it seems you are doing the right thing for her. You are offering her attention, lots of toys, a wide variety of foods. At thispoint, have you considered taking her to the vet to rule out any medical condition?

Last winter, I took one of my bird to the vet for mutilating his feet. I was lucky in a sense that he was not plucking his feathers. My vet and I discussed many posibilities and made some changes to rule out as much as we could.

1- environment- is it dusty, what kind of product cleaning are we using, is the humidity level appropriate for my birds?
in my case, it turned out that the air was too dry. We bought a humidifier and ruled out all environment.

2-Food- Is the bird getting a variety of food? Is a food suplement necessary?

3-Foraging- Is my bird mutilating because he is bored? We discussed many foraging options and added some to his daily routine. We also included preening toys and destructible toys ( not that he didn't have enough but it's important to rotate them so they don't get bored with what they have)

4- Sleep- Is my bird getting enough sleep? they require 10 to 12 hours of uninterrupt sleep a night. They also require, during the day enough natural light (a uv lamp would help with that)

5- medical- We did some blood test to rule out medical. However, there are so many conditions that it's impossible to test for all. My vet also took a sample of his skin to rule out mites. He was prescribed a pain killer and also an antibiotics because of the state of his feet. If there was an infection, we wanted to start treating it now. The pain medication also help because we could see his feet were not comfortable. If I remember well, Jennifer (Buy A Paper Doll) also had anti histamine prescribed to her lovebird to help with the itchyness.

With the proper changes, our bird stopped mutilating his feet. We don't know what caused it because we made so many changes at once. But it was worth it and it created a better environment and care for our birds.

Feather picking and mutilation are very similar in many ways even though they can be seen as different. It is mutilation and it is caused by something. If nothing is done, it can turn into a behavior problem.

Again, it seems that you are doing what you are supposed to do. I would recommend at this point to talk to an avian vet. A good avian vet can be our best resource.

Don't give up and remeber even featherless, our little lovies still want to be love.

Best regards,

[Jezzahbella]

I will try to find a vet in the area immediatly. I thought it was something I was doing but maybe it is a medical problem. By the way, your birds are immensely cute. :]

[Christine9]

I just wanted to say that I sympathize with you. I have five lovies, and one of them started plucking himself last fall. He plucked his back, his legs, and his chest, all entirely bare. Finding out what was causing the behavior wasn't not easy, let me tell you. I spent literally hundreds of dollars trying to find out if there was a medical reason- which thankfully, there wasn't. I also tried everything possible to make sure he wasn't doing it out of boredom. Rotating his toys, giving him foraging opportunites, shreddables; none of which worked for him.

I wish I could give you the answers that you're looking for. Elle has given you some great advice as far as the things you need to address. As far as my lovie is concerned, it appears he suffers from some sort of anxiety issues. They seem to be brought on by fear of separation (that I suspect was brought on by the fact that he was given up by his first home).

He is also the only one of my nine birds that only enjoys the company of humans, and not other birds. I have three other females that he wants nothing to do with, so even if you were to get Bella a male friend, there's no guarantee that she will accept him, especially if the male is younger than her.

Anyway, like I said, I wish I had the answers. Just don't give up. Try everything Elle has suggested. Good luck, and keep us update of her progress. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the both of you.

[Jezzahbella]

Thank you:] you people are so nice here, I was expecting full on ridicule. I really do feel terrible. I don't at the time have tons of money for vet bill but I will deffinatly be looking for one in the area so I can at least make sure its not anything huge.
I really want to get a bird that is about the same age of my Jezzahbella, is that a good idea or unimportant. I heard its bad to get a young one or baby to put with an adult, I believe Bella is 1 or 2.

[rainbow/bambam]

there are some anti plucking sprays on the market also try some wth omega 3s wich are great for the skin of the bird.

[michael]

Jezzabella. An initial vet exam really is needed to rule out any obvious medical issues. Its understandable that cost is generally the biggest factor in some birds not getting the care they need. Surely, not everyone here can afford to take their bird to the vet even once a year, and I'm sure some have no reason to if their bird/s are very healthy and happy. But it is advisable that whenever any pet becomes a new family member, an initial vet exam is important regardless of any problems or not and helps to establish an emergency backup system just in case of sickness or injury. The once or twice a year exam helps to establish a health record. Something I'm sure a lot of us wish we had when adopting a previously owned bird. If possible, an avian vet is the best option. They will generally know which tests are most important to rule out medical problems and facilitate a treatment plan. Self mutilation can end quickly with an easy cure, or can last a lifetime, with feather loss as the only obvious symptom. The sooner you begin treatment, the better, especially with pluckers as some medical reasons turn psychological fairly early on.

One thing I'd like to comment on is the care your giving her. The fact that you risked being criticized by trying to get answers that may help your lovebird is indicative of someone who cares about their pet very much. Although I'm fairly new here myself, I've been convinced from the start, without being told, that this community is here to help share information, idea's, and anything useful in caring for our feathered friends and family. Including love.

I wish you the best of luck, and hopefully you can find a good avian vet and maybe get her in for at least one good workup. I'm on my third vet so I understand the difficulty and expense involved. Maybe try to find other bird owners or breeders in your area and ask who their vet is and how they feel about them. I found my current vet through the help of this community and a friend I did work for. For three years I had no idea he owned any birds at all until a couple years ago I heard shrieking from inside his home. He had in fact recommended the vet we're seeing now. ........Take care and please keep us posted regardless of what you can do. Feather pulling and self mutilation is a very common problem mostly isolated to birds in captivity, and anything to help treat or manage this is very important.......Goofy lovebird and Michael

[Jezzahbella]

Thank you. And I will find a vet immediatly. Does anyone know of any in NH or southern ME?

[Elle]

there are some anti plucking sprays on the market also try some wth omega 3s wich are great for the skin of the bird.

From personal experience, the sprays do not seem to work as well as they want us to believe. My personal views on it is our birds spend so much time preening their feathers to keep them clean, if you spray them, you are putting the focus back on their feathers since they want ot remove the stuff to again, keep their feathers clean. With a plucker, you want to take their mind off their feathers.

[BarbieH]

Hi Jezzahbella;

The following link should help you find an avian vet in your area: http://aav.org/vet-lookup/.

Best wishes,

[Christine9]

Thank you. And I will find a vet immediatly. Does anyone know of any in NH or southern ME?

Jezzahbella- I live in southern NH and I can recommend a few good avian vets. If you can't find one, pm me and I would be more than happy to give you their names.

[Jezzahbella]

I have found the names of a few vets in my area and I will be calling around in the morning! Thanks so much for the website!

[Christine9]

Good luck and let us know how the visit goes. :)

[Jezzahbella]

After getting her a friend to sing with, I am very proud to announce Bella has stop plucking! I will still be getting her an appointment with a vet though to make sure shes happy and healthy. :] Thanks to all that helped me out!