Cone?

noodles123 said:

Hmm...that is tough. If anxiety is the cause of her plucking, then my answer would be different than if she was plucking to alleviate boredom or something.
My gut instinct says that if she is going to town that much, that you might just want to put it on, but if she is already scared, you could upset her. Is it possible that the vet could put it on her for you so that you are not the "bad guy"..Afterwards, monitor her to make sure she is eating and drinking and also make sure she doesn't start picking at new areas like her ankles etc.


Sometimes it can just be a bad habit that is very hard to break even after the cause of the initial habit is alleviated. Good luck!

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itzjbean said:

Have you heard of the soft lily pad collars for cockatiels? They're like cones but don't seem as plasitcy and awkward... they help with plucking! May be a good alternative.

If you can get someone to help you hold her while you put it on her, would be easier than driving to have a vet do it for you. If you try to let her get used to it, it probably won't ever happen so you may just have to put it on the sonner the better.

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EllenD said:

I think that the two words are interchangeable, or at least they are normally used that way...If you're being technical, I think a "cone" is one of the hard-plastic ones that fastens around their neck but is actually cone-shaped, so that it curves up around their face so that they can't even see their body at all (think what a dog gets to wear after a surgery, like a male dog after being neutered, so they don't chew their stitches out)...And a "collar" is considered one that is not made of a hard material like plastic and that doesn't curve up around their face, like what you bought. Either way, I've heard most people use the two terms interchangeably.

i'd definitely put the collar on her immediately, due to the severity of what she just did to herself. It seems that her self-mutilation is progressing, and the last thing you want to have happen is for her to injure herself very badly to the point that she has to go back to the CAV, be sedated for tests and procedures like stitches or staples, and then have to stay with the Vet overnight or longer for antibiotic injections, etc. That situation would stress her out way more than you just putting that collar right on her. I'm glad you're off work that day so that you can be with her while she adjusts to having it on. Try giving her lots of attention, her favorite treats, play with her, try to keep her busy and comforted as much as possible, as she is probably going to be frightened/stressed by the collar at first, but unfortunately it's very necessary to protect her from herself right now. Hopefully the end-result of her wearing the collar will be that she stops self-mutilating all-together, it does happen sometimes, but at the very least you'll know that she's not going to hurt herself anymore, and it should allow her time for her feathers to start growing back in.

Where on her body does she usually pluck herself? I'm asking because if she usually plucks herself on her neck/chest/belly/back, then something that works wonders for a lot of birds is a sweater. I've seen several birds come into the Rescue I volunteer at wearing sweaters because they pluck, and though it doesn't stop them from plucking their legs, vent area, or wings (their wings obviously stick out of holes in the sweaters), the sweaters allow all of their feathers on their "bodies" to grow back-in. I've seen several Cockatoos who wear sweaters permanently, and you wouldn't have any idea that they pluck themselves except for the fact that they are always wearing a sweater. And they don't seem to mind wearing the sweater once they get used to it, as it's not as annoying or intrusive as a collar/cone is...

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MonicaMc said:

Has the vet ran any tests to determine the cause of the mutilation?

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katiea said:

MonicaMc said:

Has the vet ran any tests to determine the cause of the mutilation?

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She had a checkup when I got her and that was just a basic physical, and this time it was just cleaning her wounds so no

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EllenD said:

katiea said:

MonicaMc said:

Has the vet ran any tests to determine the cause of the mutilation?

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She had a checkup when I got her and that was just a basic physical, and this time it was just cleaning her wounds so no

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Monica makes an extremely good point...If your vet is not a Certified Avian Vet (maybe an "exotics" vet), or if they are a CAV but they have no self-mutilation/feather-destructive behavior experience, then you really do need to find a CAV who is very experienced in diagnosing and treating them, as there is often times a physical problem that is causing the mutilation and/or plucking...And sometimes the physical problem is caused by an environmental issue, a food issue, etc., or in other words an "allergy"...Most CAV's with experience in this field who are seeing a bird who is self-mutilating for the first time will make taking blood their number one priority, as sometimes a routine blood-panel will tell them exactly what is going on; and if the routine blood-panel doesn't give them a diagnosis, then that's when the difference between an experienced CAV and other vets really makes a huge difference, as they know exactly what specific, individual blood tests also need to be run in addition to the routine CBC, metabolic panels, etc. They typically run tests for allergies (antibody tests), and then some very specific metabolic blood tests to test for any type of food-allergies. They also usually pluck some feathers and do skin-scrapings to do microscopy and even cytology on. And if all of this comes back as being normal, that's when they start looking into both possible environmental issues as well as the psychological issues, such as anxiety...

If you have a lovebird that also plucks then you really would benefit from finding a CAV who specializes in self-mutilation. And if your lovebird plucks his chest/belly then yes, definitely try a sweater for him, as every single bird I've seen wearing a sweater has had great success with them. They definitely accept them much more easily than the cones/collars, and they protect the damaged areas so well that their feathers in those areas are able to grow-back very quickly, and in a lot of cases once the feathers are completely grown back-in and we end-up re=homing the bird to a great home where they are getting a lot of attention, love, a good diet, mental stimulation, etc., then they stop plucking completely....

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MonicaMc said:

My AV isn't CAV either, in fact, there isn't one single CAV in my entire freakin state! Like you, I would also have to travel some hours to get to one - including out of state. That said, we still do tests!

I also have a cockatiel right now that's picking at herself, but it's only a small area on her back. Well, she's not mine, she's a foster. First visit so far, and she's sick. You'd never guess it looking at her! So she's getting treated for infections. All we've done so far is a gram stain. She's getting antibiotic, antifungal and pain meds. Still picking. I'd also like to get an X-Ray and perhaps a skin scraping to see what's going on. I'm sure that this will also include blood work sooner or later!

I'm not willing to adopt her out until we've at least tried to figure out why she's picking in the first place.


I'm using CareCredit for any charges over $200 which gives me time to pay it off slowly.

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MonicaMc said:

Would your vet be willing to do the blood work? And be able to understand the results or consult with a specialist? I don't see any point in traveling *if you don't need to*. However, if the CAV would be a better option, then it may be a good idea to see them anyway.

I've put up two links in this thread which can potentially help to locate other avian vets, some certified, some not.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/76589-avian-vet-vs-certified-avian-vet.html

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smbrds said:

If there is a case with tiels plucking/mutilating - which they can do as well - then this is it! Poor girl must had been through a lot to start this. You are taking wonderful care of her! From the above posts, it seems like it could also be something underlying. Would be interesting to determine the cause via a vet. But it's good that she is taking to the collar and in familiar surroundings.

This does or doesn't have much to in relation to her condition, but do you by any chance know her age?

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