African grey feather problem :(

[africangrey222333444555]

My African grey has been over preening and I find a lot of down like feathers on the floor (not big ones). Her feathers look droopy and she’s constantly itching herself and looks uncomfortable when itching. I think she may have mites as the vet said that she’s completely healthy. I doubt it’s a molt because her big feathers are pretty much the same she little to none big feathers have fell out. She has bald spots under her wings and behind her back deep in her plumage that are visible when she stretches that were never there before. She usually plucks behind her back and under her wings. I noticed today that when she was asleep she would randomly get up and itch or preen herself aggressively. I also noticed white dots on her back feathers but they didn’t seem to move. Any advice?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Full blood work up at the Certified AV's in the first instance and secondly go through her diet. Can you tick all the boxes in terms of nutrition, enough Vit A, calcium is a big thing with Greys but your AV should be able to help with this?

 

[noodles123]

I definitely agree that a full blood panel, swabs and possibly an x-ray (only with a physical exam) should be conducted-- a vitamin panel is not the same as a CBC, but both could be tested via blood (and then there are also separate tests for things like PDD etc). If your bird has a poor diet or isn't getting 10 hours of sleep a night, that can also contribute, as can too small a cage, too little interaction, and/ or hormones (access to shadowy spaces and/or petting places other than the head and neck). Furthermore, if you are using any standard cleaners in the house, or scented products like perfume.candles,diffusers/scented lotions/ air fresheners etc- stop. Humidity is also something to consider-shoot for 60 ish but do so with a safe humidifier (no ptfe/pfoa/pfc/teflon free) and use distilled h2o.

 

[Laurasea]

Your parrot would not suddenly get mites. How long have you had? How old is the bird? Diet? Other birds in the house? Does he spend time in an outdoor aviary, and that's why yiu are thinking mites?
Its probably dander, dust, normal parrot, especially grey parrot.

And I agree with all of the above posts. A health issue can lead to this so that has to be ruled about before feather destruction behavior issues.

Increase foraging, time out of the cage, change up toys and shredders stuff.
Are changes in the household leading to more stress.