moonsurfer
New member
- Jul 28, 2022
- 6
- 36
- Parrots
- Ducorps Cockatoo
Hello! I am new to the forum and would like to ask for urgent advice!
Our family Ducorp, who has been with us for over 10 years now has developed this new habit
of biting her feet until it bleeds.
I'm assuming the reason is the itchiness, which is why she stomps occasionally when she sleeps.
We think it becomes worse at night, because she stomps her feet at least twice as much when she goes to sleep at night.(video attached)
The onset of the biting is quite recent, I think less than a month.
However, the feet stomping we have already seen previously. We didn't consider it serious because
she always stopped at nibbling, and never went further to biting until bleeding.
Can't name an exact date for the stomping, but it was there for at least half a year, if not longer.
She has always been a mild plucker, which is why she has her silly collar around her neck most of the time she is alone but we take it off when she is with somebody and she has gotten used to it (so much so that she still plucks some of her feathers with the neck collar on).
We take her out every day for a stroll and spend time with her whenever we are home, and understand each other pretty well, so she knows to call for us whenever she needs assistance/attention, when she's hungry, plays with us, and expresses herself very well generally.
Sadly our previous experiences with avian vets in Korea was poor, as not too many people keep birds as a pet in the country, so I turn to the forum hoping to clarify the reason for her habit.
(We will try to find one anyhow, but we do not expect too much.)
As of now we have made a new, wider neck collar so she won't be able to touch the whole feet, but she still manages to bite off the scale and skin underneath of the frontmost toe of her feet. After it bleeds, we compress and wipe off the wound with an alcoholic wipe and apply something that would correspond to a Neosporin in Korea.
Widening the neck collar further impairs her ability to move around the house too much, so we are also looking for another option to prevent further self-infliction.
I'm terribly worried that repeated wounds to her feet could eventually lead to a complication like a serious infection that would result in partial amputation, which would tear my heart out.
If anyone could provide some pointers, we would be grateful.
Our family Ducorp, who has been with us for over 10 years now has developed this new habit
of biting her feet until it bleeds.
I'm assuming the reason is the itchiness, which is why she stomps occasionally when she sleeps.
We think it becomes worse at night, because she stomps her feet at least twice as much when she goes to sleep at night.(video attached)
The onset of the biting is quite recent, I think less than a month.
However, the feet stomping we have already seen previously. We didn't consider it serious because
she always stopped at nibbling, and never went further to biting until bleeding.
Can't name an exact date for the stomping, but it was there for at least half a year, if not longer.
She has always been a mild plucker, which is why she has her silly collar around her neck most of the time she is alone but we take it off when she is with somebody and she has gotten used to it (so much so that she still plucks some of her feathers with the neck collar on).
We take her out every day for a stroll and spend time with her whenever we are home, and understand each other pretty well, so she knows to call for us whenever she needs assistance/attention, when she's hungry, plays with us, and expresses herself very well generally.
Sadly our previous experiences with avian vets in Korea was poor, as not too many people keep birds as a pet in the country, so I turn to the forum hoping to clarify the reason for her habit.
(We will try to find one anyhow, but we do not expect too much.)
As of now we have made a new, wider neck collar so she won't be able to touch the whole feet, but she still manages to bite off the scale and skin underneath of the frontmost toe of her feet. After it bleeds, we compress and wipe off the wound with an alcoholic wipe and apply something that would correspond to a Neosporin in Korea.
Widening the neck collar further impairs her ability to move around the house too much, so we are also looking for another option to prevent further self-infliction.
I'm terribly worried that repeated wounds to her feet could eventually lead to a complication like a serious infection that would result in partial amputation, which would tear my heart out.
If anyone could provide some pointers, we would be grateful.
