Great :-( Salty is 'barbering' his tail feathers

Salty lost the 2 center tail feathers a few days after I brought him home. The other 2 have always looked kinda ratty, and I expected the 2 center ones to grow back eventually. But my wife showed me last night that one of the remaining tail feathers is now missing all the barbs on one side ( the out side).
Neither she nor I ever see Salty picking at his feathers, and else where he is in good feather. So:

1) Always thought Amazons were not really pluckers or chewers of feathers. Am I wrong?

2) COuld this be an illness manifesting itself?

3) Salty gets a shower 1X a week, in the human shower. He does not really do anything like bird BATHING it.

He is very active, inquisitive, a bit nippy last few days, but not overly so. Depending on what folks on here say, I may take him to the vet and see what she says.

1) Always thought Amazons were not really pluckers or chewers of feathers. Am I wrong?
Any bird can pluck. Some species may be more "prone" to plucking than others, but any can and will.

2) COuld this be an illness manifesting itself?
Possible, and if in doubt, it doesn't hurt to seek an avian vets advice!

3) Salty gets a shower 1X a week, in the human shower. He does not really do anything like bird BATHING it.
He may not be "old enough" to figure out bathing yet.


Here's another thought... maybe he's missing barbs on one side of the feather due to rough play or getting his tail stuck in something? It's extremely unusual for birds under a year old to pluck. Not to say that they can't, just highly unusual. It might just be a situation where you need to keep an eye on him and try to discover if he's doing it himself or if he's just a clumsy baby!

Many young parrots are prone to bad tail feathers because they don't know how to steer those things! It may take at least 1-2 years before they are old enough and figure out how to *NOT* damage their feathers! Of course, it does help to not have any perches too close to the cage bars or toys too close to the perches! (i.e. try and make it so your bird doesn't bang his tail feathers around on anything within the cage!)

As stated in the above post, young parrots are prone to tail feather loss, damage and preening errors.

Also, this time of year, if you are using any type of heating system, your home maybe much dryer than normal, add to that, feather loss and arrival of new feathers and those areas can become dry and scratchy. I would recommend misting his rump area once a day or every other day. A once a week bath maybe a little long between showers, misting between showers, in general, is a good idea. Avoid misting directly at your Amazon's face. Directly at only the tail (rump) area and for the remainder of the body, misting up so water droplets far from above (like a very light rain).

Our 18 year old DYH Amazon is now two years in too replacing his tail feathers after a serious fall prior to his coming to live with us. He had lost 100% of his tail feathers and their supporting secondary feathers. Add a cross-splitting opening of his rump skin and its been a long and slow recovery. Cause: He was trimmed from a fully flighted Adult to the flight-abilities of a dropped rock. After trying creams and medications, we found that misting his rump was the best solution for him.

A follow-up visit to your Vet is a good idea. But unless your are seeing reddish skin or an open wound, I would wait 30 days since your last visit. NOTE: Your family is seeing him many times each day, if you have a heighten concern - go to your Vet immediately.

I can recall when Amy was young her tail feathers also got beat up qiute regularly..the "steer" thing..hitting her toys,house walls etc.


Jim