My african grey plucking

Hello everyone. I bought a baby african grey Cleo about 2 months ago. He was 4 months old. I weaned him off formula. Everything seemed fine. I had booked a vacation before getting him, I was very nervous leaving him but had no choice. I boarded him for a week. When I got him he went to me and seemed happy to be back home. He is now almost 6 months. He's been home 3 weeks after vacation. 5 days ago I noticed he started plucking his chest. I took him to the vet yesterday. He took blood work and said its most likely stress related. From me leaving him. Said I should leave him alone when he's plucking. Not to give him attention, it's killing me to watch him pluck. I changed few things around like putting him to sleep early cause he wasn't getting enough sleep. Bough a humidifier because ever since the heat is on its hot and dry, I spray him twice daily. The dr called today said his WBC is high. Otherwise everything is fine. Said to start on antibiotics for a week. Please I'm fairly new to owning a parrot. I'm trying to do everything right. No chemicals in the house no perfume. Special pans, how can I change his behavior of plucking? Any experiences tips. He's so pretty and now he plucked so much I don't want him to get worse. Thank you so much.

Yes, ignoring his behavior is one of the ways to help discourage feather picking. Even going up to him to see if he's okay is giving him attention so he's learning that that's the way to get his owner to notice him.

What type of food is he being fed at the moment? Was he introduced to the humidifier at a more slow pace? How much time is he receiving outside his cage?

The first step is, of course, to increase the amount of toys he has. Preferably something that can be destroyed where he can "pluck" that instead. Another good option would be puzzles where he has to try solve it for treats. That's a great distraction toy.

Since Grey's are obviously smart, teaching him tricks are a great way to distract him when you see him plucking out of his cage. A simple "turn around" could prevent even just some feathers from being pulled out. Ideally, he should be taught a bunch of different tricks to keep his mind agile and less concentrated on plucking.

Hello and welcome! I'm sorry you're going through this so soon after bringing home your new bird. You've already taken a huge step in the right direction by taking him to the vet. Often underlying medical issues are the stressor that causes birds to pluck. After your vet ruled out illness, the most obvious cause was stress and being boarded could have easily been the biggest factor. Some species are more prone to plucking than others, greys are on the list. The good news is, your bird is only six months old and you have pinpointed the cause. More than likely, now that your bird is back home and feels safe again, he will stop plucking. It may not stop right away, and the vet is giving you good advice, it's better to ignore, no drama, no placating, no comments. More sleep should help. Frequent showers or baths, humidity level, as you mentioned. Diet is important too, you might consider organics and foods with no coloring, I have no research to back that up, but my Av Vet suggested it for my plucker and she no longer plucks. When your bird isn't plucking, give him foraging toys, favorite treats, interact with him, in other words, find positive ways to keep him busy and distracted.

I know how scary it is, and how hard to watch. Best of luck to you.

This could be cause by many triggers, seeing that you have started to address the problem by taking him to the vet. He could be stressing and scared because he feels that you might "disappear" again and be placed in a strange environment.

There is the possibility that he is suffering from boredom. I would try giving him lots of foraging, puzzle toys and trust and bond building sessions. I agree with Allee, you need to keep him busy and take the focus off plucking.

Thank you so much everyone. I did buy toys he has a lot. I'm putting paper in cage so he can tear it up. Which he does. Also toys he tears up and chews. But just for a little then goes back to plucking. Maybe I'll make more foraging toys. Vet also said no seeds at all. So he's just on pellets. I'm not sure which ones. But I got it from the lady where he was boarded. It's all natural no colors. She has a lot of birds and has them on that food. Said its one of the best. And he does like it. I give him pellet berries as treats now instead of seeds. I give plenty of attention. He's out of the cage a lot. I have foot toys that he takes apart. I see from the forums a lot of people go through this with parrots. Also wanted to ask. Vet said antibiotic for one week. Then he wants to repeat it to see if the numbers went down, do you think it's necessary to repeat. Just don't want to put him through stress again,

I would follow the vet's advice on the antibiotics.

There is a theory that if you let them learn to fly they will not pluck. So every time his wings grow out let him fly around the house for 2 weeks then clip him. This gives them a realization that they need their feathers and they are not useless.

Not sure if it is true or not. I have had over 10 large birds and not one of them has ever been a plucker.

Will a bird that plucks it self ever regain its feathers ? I feel so bad for some that are just totally bald. Heart breaking

Just an update. Cleo finished his antibiotics. Seemed to stop plucking as much. Still few feathers daily. There were days where no plucking at all. He seems very itchy. Im not sure if that's normal. I mist him daily. How long does it usually take for the feathers to grow back? Im not clipping his wings for awhile. He doesn't fly much thou. Seems scared, But hes still a baby maybe that's why. I just wish he would completely stop plucking.