Could use some love for Tukki

[ziggybird]

Tukki, my 3 1/2 year old Meyers Parrot has begun feather picking. I have a vet appointment set up for her today.

She's usually an incredibly happy-go-lucky bird. We go on walks together outside every day, usually twice a day (been doing this for about a year now). She loves meeting new people and is great with pretty much everyone she meets (including kids!).

She is a spoiled bug with a nice big cage, plenty of toys, a good diet of veggies fruit and seeds, a GIANT bird tree (seriously this thing was made for a Macaw!) and tons of love and attention (I work 9-6, but will often stop home for lunch and walk her.)

One day I came home from work and noticed she had plucked part of one of her legs. I was hoping it was a reaction to having stayed the night with my boyfriend (he's only had this apartment for about 2 months, but she's been there before). So she's stayed home since then (since last friday night). I took her to The Perfect Parrot (the bird store I got her from, they are really great!) for advice and got an aloe spray from them.

Things were fine, feathers started growing back, then all of a sudden I came home from work on Monday, and she had completely plucked that leg again, and has started on the other.

The next day I didn't notice any new plucking, but then last night I came home and she started plucking all night long (pulling feathers from under her wing, her back, her butt, and more around her legs).

Today she's going to the vet, which now I of course realize I should have taken her to days ago (please no shaming, I feel awful enough).

I really don't know what this could be about.
I haven't noticed any other behavior change in her. She's eating, playing with toys, interacting with people, etc. It's just this now obsessive plucking!

It's so horrific to watch my little girl hurting herself.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[GreatBlue320]

I'm sorry I don't have any good advice to give you (I'm not as bird-experienced as many people here), but I just wanted to say that I will be thinking of you and Tukki and hope that you will be able to find an answer to her plucking problem.

Also, please try not to feel bad about waiting a bit before taking Tukki to see the vet. In a non-life threatening situation, I think many of us parronts like to wait before rushing to the vet to see if the situation will resolve itself.

Please let us know how the vet appointment goes.

 

[Allee]

Sending lots of love for Tukki and hugs for you. I'm sorry your girl is going through this. Please don't beat yourself up, even parrots in ideal homes can pluck, the possible reasons are numerous and sometimes obscure. I hope your vet can help pinpoint the cause for Tukki.

Here is a link you may find helpful.

http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

Please let us know how the vet visit goes.

 

[Aquila]

Is it possible she came into contact with anything while outside and picked up something? Have you bathed her to see if you can see anything on her skin? It could have been a reaction to a plant or a pesticide outside since it started at her leg, or it could be something like mites?

As long as she's still acting normal, eating, playing, etc, my first thought would have been something outside.

 

[ziggybird]

Thank you all for the love and support!

It is possible that it could be something from outside. She likes to chew on trees sometimes, so it's very possible that she might have gotten something from that.

I have given her baths, her skin to my eye looks normal. She will kinda bite at her legs a bit (maybe they itch?) but she isn't breaking the skin at all.

 

[ziggybird]

Update:

We went to the vet last night.

She did an overall observation and said everything appeared normal and healthy (skin, vent, belly, eyes, etc). She also watched her for a while, and said that her behavior was very normal was not only normal but my little girl was chipper and playing (even in a vet office office!).

She took a feather sample and a skin scrape sample, she said both looked good and normal (no parasites).

She didn't want to do any blood tests at this time, because she said she looked so healthy and her behavior was so normal.

She gave me recommendations for soothing skin sprays, and told me to keep her routine as normal as possible (meaning no more staying over at the bf's ), give her lots of attention (but only when she's not picking so we aren't rewarding that behavior), make sure she has plenty of toys and rotate them, and maybe even play videos of birds for her while I'm away at work. Hopefully she'll stop.

I wish I had an answer for what is going on... but I guess at this time all we can do is follow her advice and hope she stops.

She was hardly picking at all last night, and I didn't notice any this morning, so hopefully she'll be alright.

 

[Scott]

I hope you've turned the corner on Tukki's plucking, and wish her the best of feathered health!!

Perhaps the issue was a change of environment, but it was wise to take her to a vet to evaluate possible biologic cause. I am a bit surprised the vet did not perform a basic blood panel to establish a baseline or determine any unrelated malady.

Please keep us advised!

 

[ziggybird]

I was surprised too!