Green cheek plucking

Hi everyone, I have a green cheek named Charlie that I adopted from a gentleman who was not giving him great care. His cage was extremely dirty (never cleaned), ate only pellets, and had only one small toy. He now has a large (clean) cage, lots of toys to chew and climb on, is starting to eat veg, and is on a better pellet diet. He's very friendly and curious and has really made his way into our hearts.

Anyways, I noticed yesterday that its looking like he's pulling feathers from just above his leg. He chews his tail feathers a bit and has had a horrible wing clip. He likes to scratch his head with his own tail feathers and one of his signals to ask for a head scratch is to hold his tail in his beak, and his head in his foot (super cute!). But he'll kind of chew on the tail while he's doing this so its getting kind of ratty. Yesterday I found some feathers on the floor of his cage and it seems he has a patch of just down feathers by one of his legs I don't know if he had this habit before due to boredom and now it has progressed since he moved and got sick (about three weeks after I picked him up we rushed him to the vet where he spent the night and both days). I don't want this to progress and am hoping for suggestions before we head back to the vet. Thanks from me and Charlie.

Well it could very well be the start of a molt but there's no real way to tell right now. I'd say just keep giving him as much attention as you can and distracting him with toys, foraging items, etc. Did the vet notice any bald spots or sores where he'd been picking at himself during his visit? Try not to worry overly much - these things tend to iron themselves out eventually once they get better acclimated to a good home. Just do what you are/can - good foods, attention, clean environment, and medical help - and love him for who he is. Even if he picks himself bald he'll still likely want scritches.

Thanks Lady Eclectic. He is definitely plucking as there is not an even molt - just feathers gone from one area and you can see that the feathers are being chomped off - the little end is still in him and not on the lost feather. But it makes me feel better to just keep going forward and doing what I'm doing and hopefully he'll keep getting more settled (he's finished him meds so that will be less stress!). I'm picking up some more toys today and am starting to create foraging areas in his cage for him. I can't be home all the time although we've been home quite a bit this past month so I hope he does OK when I go back to work next week. He definitely gets spoiled with attention and head scratches whenever he wants! We love him lots, even my partner who doesn't particularly like birds really likes Charlie and Charlie has marked him as his favorite too! Thanks again for the reassurance.

There can be several causes for plugging and it is a very serious issue that needs to be dealt with before it becomes a habit. I would give him another couple of days to settle in but if he is still doing it then you will have to go to the vet again.

I was in and out of vets for over a month and saw a lot of plugged birds. Almost all of them had the same story, plugging left for too long and the habit are almost impossible to break.

I wish you both all the best.

Well, Charlie has only plucked the one time that I have noticed since we have had him and he has not done it for over three days now (including today when I was very worried since I went back to work after the holidays). We are setting up little foraging adventures for him and putting in paper things that he only gets to chew when we are away. He also has a better view out the window so hopefully these things are helping or it was just a one time incident that won't be repeated. His feathers have stress markings on them I imagine from the poor home he was at before me so I am looking forward to his first molt with me to see if feathers in better condition will confirm the end of any issues. He is also eating veggies for the first time in his life (finally!) so I imagine that that will help him out too. Go Charlie! (here he is getting a head scratch in his favorite fashion - foot on his head, tail in his mouth. Go figure )

Sadly he's started plucking again the last few days (10 or so feathers each day for the last two days) and has a all down leg with a bare patch a little further up his leg. He is going to the vet tomorrow to try and solve this issue or get some suggestions/rule out medical. Send good conure wishes to Charlie tomorrow!

I just thought I would update about Charlie (I figure these threads make good archives and someone might appreciate it). And its always nice to share good news! The vet thinks Charlie is in good health which is great and that the plucking might just be hormonal. And Charlie might be a she (which isn't a surprise - we didn't know for sure). No more towel games as that triggers nesting, same with climbing in our shirts. We are only to give head scratches - no petting or cuddling in our hands We are also switching to Harrison's pellets to give him the best possible food and are to continue to try and get him to eat more veggies (every week he tries new things so he is doing very well with this!). I am going to try baby food too which I hadn't thought of but I'm sure many of you use on occasion. But no more fruits other than berries twice per week. Today he hasn't clipped off any feathers (he doesn't pluck - he clips them off or chews off bits of down feathers) and has been playing in his cage and trying veggies (now he's dozing on my hand forcing me to type one-handed. ha ha!). The goal is to have him looking the same in six weeks as they won't grow back until he molts. So I am relieved and hope that these changes will help and will signal the end of feather problems and we can enjoy him as the great parrot that he is and I won't be consumed with anxiety about his health! We are lucky to have such a great avian vet clinic here. Hope everyone else and their lovely parrot friends are having a great weekend!

Charlie's very cute scratching his head, and holding his tail!!! LOL! So glad you have the problem under control!!!