Well it looks like I might be in difficult waters already 
Kodie is my 6 month old CAG and she has been living with me about a month now.
When I had her from the pet store she was in almost perfect condition with minimal "fraying" to her outer flight feathers on both sides
Now she has a flight feather that has been bent to a 90 degree angle and some of her outer flight and her tail feathers have little 'snips' missing.
She does seem to preen herself a lot but I have watched her at length whilst she is doing it and I've not yet caught her doing this to her feathers.
She is very playful with some of her toys and often has what looks like a play fight with them and swings around in her cage off the chains supporting the toys. Is it possible this damage is from play? If so how likely is it?
I am so worried right now, feather plucking has been my one nightmare since the first moment I considered buying her
At present her cage, depending on the the time of day is about 1/4 in shade and 3/4's in sunlight.
She is on a diet of Zupreem Natural pellets, supplemented with some fresh fruit everyday.
Her toys include:
a large wooden play swing with beads, wheels and lots of rope strands,
a large mirror with attached bell,
a smaller suspended set of wooden beads and wheels,
a large blue plastic ball at the bottom with a small hole to try and manoeuvre treats out of (for dogs really and she hasn't shown much interest in it),
and a foraging wheel with a variety of goodies in it (some nuts and seeds).
There is also a chain in her cage from a toy she broke a few weeks back that we hang small pieces of cardboard off and she enjoys chewing/fighting this too.
I also have a replacement mop head that I am trying to find a way to deploy in her cage as well to encourage her to preen that instead.
In short, I suppose my question is whether feather damage is a common occurrence in companion birds as a result of playing, and in any event, does anybody have any suggestions to help me mitigate this?
Kodie is my 6 month old CAG and she has been living with me about a month now.
When I had her from the pet store she was in almost perfect condition with minimal "fraying" to her outer flight feathers on both sides
Now she has a flight feather that has been bent to a 90 degree angle and some of her outer flight and her tail feathers have little 'snips' missing.
She does seem to preen herself a lot but I have watched her at length whilst she is doing it and I've not yet caught her doing this to her feathers.
She is very playful with some of her toys and often has what looks like a play fight with them and swings around in her cage off the chains supporting the toys. Is it possible this damage is from play? If so how likely is it?
I am so worried right now, feather plucking has been my one nightmare since the first moment I considered buying her
At present her cage, depending on the the time of day is about 1/4 in shade and 3/4's in sunlight.
She is on a diet of Zupreem Natural pellets, supplemented with some fresh fruit everyday.
Her toys include:
a large wooden play swing with beads, wheels and lots of rope strands,
a large mirror with attached bell,
a smaller suspended set of wooden beads and wheels,
a large blue plastic ball at the bottom with a small hole to try and manoeuvre treats out of (for dogs really and she hasn't shown much interest in it),
and a foraging wheel with a variety of goodies in it (some nuts and seeds).
There is also a chain in her cage from a toy she broke a few weeks back that we hang small pieces of cardboard off and she enjoys chewing/fighting this too.
I also have a replacement mop head that I am trying to find a way to deploy in her cage as well to encourage her to preen that instead.
In short, I suppose my question is whether feather damage is a common occurrence in companion birds as a result of playing, and in any event, does anybody have any suggestions to help me mitigate this?
