CAG Plucking

[Janet]

I am heartsick. My CAG (Mr. T) is 9 months old and has never plucked ... until now. I’m visiting my daughter’s family (out of state) for Thanksgiving and boarding my birds at the pet store where I got them (hand fed and bonded with before bringing them home). Mr. T and the others were boarded there in July with no problems. But this evening I received a call that Mr. T has plucked out all his tail feathers and working on his body now. They said they were going to put something on him that tastes awful to see if he’ll stop. Mr T and I are very close and it’s breaking my heart to think he might be feeling abandoned or misses me so much that he started plucking.
Questions: Do I need to be concerned that this will be the beginning of a new habit? When I pick him up on Sunday, is he going to be mad at me and reject me? If it stops when I bring him home, will all his feathers grow back as before (he hasn’t molted yet). Any suggestions on how to handle future out of town trips?
I’m having a hard time going to sleep, and thought I’d reach out for thoughts, reassurance, ideas, etc.
Thank you, from a very concerned new mommy of a CAG that I adore!

 

[LeaKP]

Oh I’m so sorry to hear this! Before jumping to conclusions have him checked when you get home. There are some medical conditions that can bring on plucking. My heart hurts for you!


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[Janet]

Thank you! He has a wonderful avian vet. The timing of the plucking would appear to be stress related, but will definitely have him checked.

 

[DRB]

Don't panic, you can resolve this. Once you rule out any health issues my opinion is that simple attention, mental stimuli and talking to your FID will solve the problem.

Perjo has never plucked but she did chew some flight feathers for a few months, I added a few more items to her cage and made sure I gave her more freedoms when I am home and talked to her more from everywhere in my home, she stopped chewing and regained her ability to fly.

 

[Laurasea]

Tail featheres are an odd place to start plucking, definitely have vet check. Don't let the pet store put stuff in his feathers to make him stop plucking don't think that is a good idea. It must be hard to be away from him right now.

 

[ChristaNL]

I agree with Laurasea - the tail is a really weird place to start plucking- so get him to a CAV. Plucking can be just stress of course (he is a displaced baby) but it could also be picking at a irritation/hurt deeper in the body.

Are they sure he is plucking or is he being plucked?
(if the cages are close together or birds are moving freely - they is always a chance at a beaky neighbour/ visitor.)

 

[Janet]

Thank you both for that information. The cages are close to each other but I don’t think close enough that other birds would be able to pluck his tail feathers — nor can I see him tolerating it. I trust the people at this place as I have acquired four birds from them, and will definitely ask about this (tail plucking) when checking in with them in the morning. Yes, it has been extremely difficult being away from my baby knowing he’s so stressed

 

[bigfellasdad]

Oh no, if Mr T is stressed to be apat from you, can you ask the shop to set up a video call between you two, maybe this will reassure him.



Enzo has only plucked once, around her tummy when she was about to lay eggs for the first time. She's never done it since.


fingers crossed for you.

 

[MySweetJess]

Take heart, we who have had CAGs know what you're going through. I would spray daily a few times, since they probably won't pluck damp feathers. I've always read to use the light you can buy for parrots, forget the name. On Dr. K's Exotic Animals, the TV show, a CAG who was plucking was treated with Halloperidol, which is an anti-psychotic, believe it or not, yes I heard her, and was tested and positive for a yeast infection, which can cause itching of the skin, treated with an anti-fungal. In greys I also read they can get liver damage from meds like Itraconazole, but I'm sure vets now know what to give them to prevent that. Also don't react to the feather plucking, even though we want to shout to the heavens, why me????

 

[Scott]

In many cases, plucking has no obviously defined cause. Mr. T may have begun under stressful conditions, hopefully it has not become a habit pattern to be continued.

One of the most comprehensive threads concerning plucking is here: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

 

[EllenD]

Any update on how Mr. T is doing? I'm sure he was taken to the CAV, so I hope he's doing alright now that Janet is home with him...

Since he's only 9 months old and is closely bonded to Janet, of course you automatically think that this is due to him being separated from her, but I agree that a bird starting out plucking out all of their tail-feathers is not typical. It may be that Mr. T has a GI infection or Renal infection of some kind and the stress of being separated from Janet prompted the plucking overall, with the reason he started with his tail-feathers being due to the discomfort in that area...I hope for everyone's sake that this is just a freak, one-time thing that will not start a pattern of Feather-Destructive Behavior for this little boy...

My mom's/family's CAG only ever plucked himself during one period of time, when I finally moved-out of the house during my Junior year of college (I commuted the first two years and then moved into an apartment my Junior year)...My mom brought Jagger home when I was 9, and he's definitely bonded closely with my mom while he's "my brother" (I'm an only-child but I always tell people I have a younger brother named Jagger whenever they ask, he's now 32 and still "my brother")...

Though I have always been close with Jagger (it was only me and my mom in the house) he's always been my mom's bird, which is why he's never lived with me and doesn't live with me now...So I didn't quite understand why he started plucking himself when I moved out of the house, as he spent most all of his time with my mom, except when she wasn't home and I was babysitting him...Our CAV at the time told my mom that it was probably just the overall change of me suddenly not being there one day that caused his anxiety and stress, as he'd been in the house with me since he was a baby and for what, 10 or 11 years until I moved out. So the sudden change of me being gone, my room suddenly being turned into my mom's "den" (she wasted no time converting my bedroom, lol), and also my Budgie moved-out with me to my apartment, so the only other "pet" bird in the house was also suddenly gone, and believe it or not, Jagger got along very well with little Keety, my Budgie, and was actually quite protective of Keety...So all of that sudden change just caused him stress and anxiety, and he expressed it by plucking his chest...

I don't believe my mom put Jagger on any medication or used anything on his feathers/skin, I don't think she did anything except to make sure that she spent as much time with him as possible after I moved-out, and as time went on his anxiety/stress lessened and he stopped plucking...I don't know if we got lucky with that result or if that's typical, I don't have much of this kind of experience with plucking birds, only the birds at the Rescue I work at, and that's an entirely different situation all together...So hopefully the same thing will happen with Mr. T, that as time goes by his anxiety and stress that was caused by Janet boarding him will fade, and he'll allow his feathers to grow back in...