Is my green cheek Conure starting to develop plucking tendencies?

[jeeby_greencheekconure]

Recently my green cheek Conure has been preening more than usual and I figured she is just molting as she has lots of pin feathers. I saw this area on her wings and it almost looks like she’s chewed those feathers. The vet previously said a few weeks ago she did have hormonal behaviors so I’m trying to figure out how to combat that as well.
Looking for advice and tips!

 

[wrench13]

No touching except for head and neck
Low to no sugar bearing fruits and veggies, like corn
12 solid hours of sleep
Lots of showers and baths

 

[onamom]

Welcome to the forums! Looks like a little feather chewing but not too bad. Does she have a variety of toys to chew on in her cage?

 

[Minor_Arcana]

Welcome and thanks for reaching out!

It definitely looks like barbering to me. What does your cage setup look like? Are there enough toys that she actually plays with? What does her diet look like? Her routine?

It's important to minimize hormonal behavior. Just as Wrench said, having a good sleep schedule is a start. Proper nutrition and enrichment are so so so important. Stress reduction is vital to prevent plucking, especially if you're already having difficulties with her hormones. Most barbering issues can be fixed with simply getting on a good routine with a good diet, good sleep, and good enrichment. To put it simply, you need to have toys that she actually breaks up and plays with, and it's also just as important to be taking her out of the cage and interacting with her.

Good luck!

 

[LoveMyFids]

If it's hormonal, like your vet says (which is very possible, because this IS an area of plucking when it's hormones), the best thing you can do is: absolutely NO papers on the bottom or access to any shreddable toys & things, 12 hrs. sleep MINIMUM-some birds who are hormonal actually need 13-14. Put her to bed as soon as the sun goes down for sure. NO high fat foods (ie. nuts, lots of seeds, carb foods like potatos, corn & pasta). No sugary foods (bananas, mangos, apricots & other high sugar fruits). No eggs. No estrogenic foods such as soy, cauliflower, green beans, all legumes). You can google estrogenic veggies online & see which are the highest. Bathe, or spray 1-2x's daily. No petting except on the head ONLY. No shoulder bird, no caves or boxes or hutches to stimulate nesting behaviors. Usually, if you do these things consistently, you will see improvement in around 3 wks. If you see no improvement or it gets worse, the vet can give her an anti-hormone shot (I've personally not ever had to do that, but it can be done). Good luck! This is hormonal season for some birds (I'm going through it too), so it's a thing.

 

[jeeby_greencheekconure]

Hi everyone! Thank you so so much for all of your tips and advice I truly appreciate it! I’m going to start putting her to bed earlier for sure and giving her less sugary foods. She has lots of toys around her room but I’ll get her some more just in case. She seems to be doing better already with the small steps I’ve taken. ❤️

 

[jeeby_greencheekconure]

She is also with me almost the entire day except for when I work in the evenings. And she is out of the cage all day other than when I put her to bed.

 

[LoveMyFids]

Hi everyone! Thank you so so much for all of your tips and advice I truly appreciate it! I’m going to start putting her to bed earlier for sure and giving her less sugary foods. She has lots of toys around her room but I’ll get her some more just in case. She seems to be doing better already with the small steps I’ve taken. ❤️

That's great news! Hope she continues to mellow out.