Here's pics of Mac

He's still over-preening his feathers, but I think he's also going through a molt. He's 4 years old, so it may be a major molt.

Hi Mac! He is a pretty boy!

Ive never seen what it looked like when a bird over preened like that. Scarlet does it but just on one side and just a couple wing feathers and just the very end of the feathers. I got her to quit for the most part but putting a half roll of toilet paper in her cage so it can spin and she loves tearing that up enough to stop over preening. Im sure you have tried just about everything but ya never know .


Can we get some more pics? I would also like to see his living quarters just to see how its set up. I just recently changed Scarlet's home a little bit to allow for more " vigorous" climbing considering she climbs all over like crazy.

I've tried just about everything, the problem that I have is, I'm Mac's favorite toy. If he isn't with me, he's walking about the house looking for me. He doesn't care much for toys in general especially shreadable toys. The only toys that I have gotten him to interact with are the foraging toys like the wheel, which broke after a month. Now he's got the four drawer forager, which he likes.

He has just started chewing his perch on his playstand, which is incouraging. He had pretty much stopped barbering or over-preening earlier this year and allowed his tail feathers to start coming out beautifully. But when I moved my office to another part of the house and moved our Senegal into the same room with Mac, he started up again. So now I have seperated them to see if that will help.

His wing feathers are so chewed up that my mobile bird groomer will not even trim his wings because she said they are like lace and can see right through them so he wouldn't be able to fly well anyway.

Mac's previous owners didn't clip his wings and even were in the process of training him to fly around their screened in patio and call "HOME MAC" in which Mac would return to his owners outstretched arm. So I'm thinking, maybe he misses flying and is frustrated which is causing the feather chewing. I know he was really attached to his previous owner who died earlier last year.

My wife is at her wits end and has tried everything to get him to stop over-preening, from spraying Mac with aloe juice, chasing him around the house putting straight aloe on his feathers, made numerous shreading toys, tried to make a neck collar, which lasted all of about two seconds. She was looking at spraying him with apple cider vinegar, but I put a stop to that quick fast and in a hurry.

I had him to the vet a few months ago, who ran tests on him and bllod work and said he was in fine health.

I've been trying everything for years to get Dixie the LSC too to quit barbering like that and nothing seem to work but she isn't as bad as she used to be which is a good thing. And she isn't doing that as bad as Mac is.

MikeyTN said:

I've been trying everything for years to get Dixie the LSC too to quit barbering like that and nothing seem to work but she isn't as bad as she used to be which is a good thing. And she isn't doing that as bad as Mac is.

Click to expand...

He's been with us now for over a year. I was sooooo hoping that he would have stopped this by now. But nope. He keeps trying to mate with my wife's hand. So I'm not sure, it could just be sexual frustration. I'm beginning to question whether Mac is truely happy being here. I've been thinking lately of possibly trying to find someone local who would be interested in fostering Mac for a few months to see how he would be with someone else because he's actually gotten worse.

Here is Mac's setup as far as his cage goes. About the only time he's really in his cage is at night or when we have to leave for a few hours. You can see where Mac has a busy night last night with the feathers on the bottom of his cage directly under where he usually sits. We have been covering him up at night since we got him because this is what his previous owners did. We also do not have a light on in the room such as a night light. We are going to try leaving him uncovered for a few nights and see how it goes without a night light. Then we will try it uncovered with a night light on and see how it goes.

My my.....he's really destroying those feathers.... if I was closer I would of try to foster him to see how he does.

Oh Mike I feel for you . Do you honestly feel that he's not happy with you? Because by the sounds of it he absolutely loves you, he's just frustrated by something.

I'm sure you'll work it out and in all honesty, is it really that bad if he's chewing his feathers? Is it to the point where it's causing him discomfort?

I know Sue's senegal chews her feathers, especially during the winter time. Could it be similar to that in that it's 'that time of the year' for him to get worse? I know you've only had him a year so maybe that's something to think about.

I have been reading about Mac and it is surprising what similar dispositions Chico and Mac have except for the barbering. Maybe more foraging toys would help? Chico, like Mac, is not a chewer and does not like playing with toys much but he loves to shred wine corks and egg cartons. You could try this but I doubt it is the solution. Have you tried 'Pluck No More'? I have read about positive results with this medication. Look it up on Amazon and read the reviews.

Good luck :41:

I think Mac is going through puberty. He is not sexually mature yet. My 4 yr old female has a barbering/plucking issue that is moderate in severity, not really that bad. But, I am 99% sure it is due to hormonal and sexual frustration, and not something else. I am curious to see how she will be once she reaches sexual maturity and is through the puberty phase. Since Mac is only three, and I believe it takes males longer to become sexually mature, so this could likely be the issue. Maybe you should try to stick it out. I know its easy to feel responsible or feel that the bird just isn't doing well here. I know I've thought about rehoming Chikoo, feeling that she just doesn't like it here and is plucking because of that. As long as he isn't getting scabs, I would say to try to stick it out.