Help with plucking! New member with an important question.

Hi everyone,

I have a 9 month old Indian Ringneck named Zazo. Anyway, he's very spoiled and loving and until last week has been a breeze to care for. He is on a great diet, pellets-harrisons, lots of vegetables, fruit and protein (eggs and chicken).

He gets 4+hours a day of out of cage time-he has a big 36X34 cage filled with toys, etc.

My question is this. He has always been a bird that loves to shred. Shredding toys with paper, paper towels, paper, etc. Its never been an issue until last Thursday when he started shredding his feathers. He has been molting for the last month, but turned on his chest feathers, under wings, and now some of his back. Took him to a great avian vet today who gave him a clean bill of health.

The vet did mention that in his opinion giving him shredding toys, etc is reenforcing the feather picking/plucking. He says everytime he shreds it's too similar to feather picking and I should not give him anything to shred, or toys related to shredding.

This has always been his personality, he's loved to incesently shred since he was a baby. Am I fighting nature on this one or is the dr on to something?

Please help! It's only been going on for 5 days and I'm desperate to stop it.

Thank you in advance!!!!

In my opinion, birds know the difference between their feathers and other objects. Would your vet think a bird outside should not peel the bark off a tree branch because it's too similar to stripping feathers? I'm not trying to be a smart alec, I just don't understand the science behind what your vet said.

Now possibly there is something irritating him that is on his feathers and your vet doesn't know about this. Did you spray him with anything at all besides water?

Or has he been nearby something that might have coated his feathers even just a little bit? Think about anything that has been used near his cage that could have irritated him. Even new furniture could bother him.

I would start by giving him a couple cool showers a day for a week. When I've acquired older plucked or barbered birds I've found that bathing them daily is the best thing I can do for them to help them alleviate the behavior.

You need to try really hard to think of ANYTHING that changed in his world within a couple week period before this behavior started.

Thanks! I agree with what you are saying. I was sitting in his office and zazo was shredding a kleenex instead of plucking and he said that letting him do that was reenforcing the plucking.

Can't think of anything, anything at all that has changed. The only thing that has been going on was his molt. The only thing that I have done is let him take a shower in my sink with the sprayer on shower...I was trying to get him used to it because he only likes to bathe in his water bowl.

*sigh* This is the most frustrating thing I've encountered. I always thought if I was a *good*, responsible parrot owner I would probably not encounter this issue. It's so hard to watch him do this to himself.

I also want to add he will pluck right in front of me. He plucked right in front of the vet while sitting on the scale. He acts like it's no big deal-no hiding it, nothing. He looks like he's enjoying himself a ton while he's doing it.

Thoughts?

Okay, let's talk about some other possibilities. I have 3 pluckers, one who can no longer grow feathers on most of her body, so I understand your concern. Two of mine seem to have the most difficult time during the winter months when the days are short. Seasonal pluckers. I obtained these birds long after they started plucking so don't know when or why they started. Two of them pluck very little now.

With Eclectus we know that over time their bodies can become overloaded when eating a lot of fortified and enriched foods. I know nothing about Ringnecks but I would at least consider that. *Some*Eclectus supposedly react to spirulina and Harrisons does use spriulina in their pellets. I rather doubt this is the problem, but just thought I'd mention it.

Do you think he would eat enough for you if you put him on a fresh food only diet for a couple weeks just to give his body a break? I don't want you to starve him so if he is a picky eater on everything except pellets then don't do it. If he will eat most fruits and vegetables then I'd give it a go. Also sprouts of course, especially garbanzos and lentils and mung beans since they sprout quickly.

Another question. What kinds of things will Ringnecks chew? Not shred, chew. Are they chewers? For instance my Eclectus love big open pinecones. I doubt their ancestors had pine trees in Indonesia but they really love to go to town chewing on pinecones. It keeps them busy and works their beaks. Maybe you could come up with something he could chew.

Don't get discouraged. He's young and his feathers will all regrow. It takes many years of plucking to damage the follicles.

What do you think about trying the fresh food diet for a couple weeks?

Fresh foods & daily showers have worked for me in the past. I never heard of anyone discouraging shredding papers, etc. I have a Lovebird, male, who'll shred any & every thing, constantly. But, thank goodness, not his feathers. Try to keep him distracted. This might be from having heat on in your house. That dries the humidity out of the air, which dries their skin, and makes them itchy. Hopefully, this is a temporary thing.

Thanks guys! The fresh food diet is an idea and yes, he loves everything so he'd probably be ok on it. I'm in Florida so we haven't had the heat on much, but we did have the house closed up the last few days before this started so it's a possibility. I think I'm going to get him some of the shredding toys today that are his favorite and go from there. I also love the pine cone idea since I have 100s laying around my yard. He won't really "chew", mostly shred-he will chew plastic, however.

I think he's just the kind of bird that needs to be constantly doing something. He is my first bird (grew up with cockateils) and had no idea how "busy" he needed to stay-even when he's out of the cage. For some reason I thought hanging out with me out of the cage would be enough to make him happy...

So I added 2 foraging toys to his cage. I'm starting to think hiding the majority of his food might not be a bad idea. So I'm thinking that maybe I didn't keep him engaged enough.

My mom died 7 weeks ago and I've been really in my own world and to be honest, as spoiled as he was, maybe I haven't replaced his shredding toys promptly enough so it's my fault. I hope it's not too late to break the habit.

OMG I am so sorry for your loss. Please except my condolences on the loss of your mother

Sorry for the loss of your mom. Birds are very psychic, and in tuned to their guardians. Maybe your bird senses your loss & grief, and is turning the emotions on himself. It may not know what else to do, or how to console you, it's "mate & flock leader". Have patience, and focus on trying to find peace in both of your lives.

BillsBirds said:

Sorry for the loss of your mom. Birds are very psychic, and in tuned to their guardians. Maybe your bird senses your loss & grief, and is turning the emotions on himself. It may not know what else to do, or how to console you, it's "mate & flock leader". Have patience, and focus on trying to find peace in both of your lives.

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Definitely agree. So very sorry for the loss of your mother.

As SodaKat said, they know the difference between their feathers and other "chewing" things like toys and wood. It's like you ripping up a piece of paper compared to ripping out your hair. It hurts them to rip out their feathers, and from my understanding, it is typically recommended to give pluckers more things to chew to distract them and teach them a more appropriate way to satiate their desire to chew. That brings me to my next question, just how experienced with parrots is this vet? If I were you, I would seek a second opinion from an experienced and reputable avian vet. The fact this bird has lots of toys and is well cared for paired with the fact the feather chewing started with a molt makes me think this is not necessarily a behavioral issue. Parrots can begin plucking/chewing their feathers for other reasons beyond behavioral or obvious skin infections. Things you may overlook like low humidity in the house and not enough fresh produce in their diet (which can lead to itchy skin, which they can react to by chewing/plucking). Another point to consider is new feathers grow in with little "tips" on them, and they have a lot of new feathers after a molt. This can be very irritating to some birds, and younger single birds (who do not have a buddy to preen them) may not know how to properly remove them. It's pretty much impossible to identify what the issue is online, but I strongly recommend you consult another vet and see what he/she has to say.