Hi from Domino

Hello everyone,

My name is Christine and I am the proud owner of Domino. Domino is my 5 1/2 year CAG and I just love him. At this moment we are having some difficulties and I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Domino is plucking all his feathers out from around his neck and is now working on his chest. I think that this is stressing me out more then him. He is such a beautiful bird and I don't want to see him hurt himself. This happened once before, about 4 years ago, we were separated for 6 weeks due to a move (Domino was with my husband) and he went through separation anxiety. Everything got better when we got back together.

Over the summer Domino once again started to pluck his feathers. We have taken him to the vet and ran a bunch of tests. Everything came back fine. We have changed his diet to an organic pellet with an even bigger quantity of fruits, vegetables, added tofu, cottage cheese etc. Attempted to bath him more often, the vet said we don't have to do it every day because he hates the shower and will not use a bowl with warm water. Purchased more toys in case he was bored with what he had. Gave him his space when he needs it and have not moved his cage or added any other animals to the house. Just when we think he isn't going to pluck, the feathers are almost grown back, we wake up in the morning and they are all gone! Nothing is working and he is still plucking. Does anyone have any suggestions for me.

Thanks
Christine

Welcome to the Parrot Forums Christine.

You have made some great changes for Domino. I would experiment with the showers, see how Domino prefers it. I know my Amazon hated showers but I would change the temperature of the water and turns out she loves showers when the water is really hot.

Check out the DVD called Captive Foraging, it really helps with birds plucking so I've heard. Basically you will "hide" the food so Domino has to use his brain and work for it.

Hope this helps and keep us updated on how your doing.