Mental stimulation.... causing plucking?

Owlet

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Oct 27, 2016
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Lincoln (Eclectus), Apollo (Cockatiel), Aster (GCC)
So, I’m at an in-pass with Lincoln and I’m not quiet sure what to do. If yall have any advice or any weigh ins, please feel free to.

So, lately I’ve noticed the more mental stimulation I give Lincoln, the more he mutilates his feathers and screams. When I was busy and couldn’t spend as much time with him as I would like, his feathers grew back and stayed around longer. Now that I’ve taught him a few new foragers and am regularly doing training sessions with him, he mutilates and screams constantly no matter how many “distractions” I give him. He seems to enjoy the mental stimulation as when he gets “tired” of it he just sits back and grinds his beak. He actively engages and regularly offers behaviors instead of being asked. So I don’t think it’s stressing him and that’s what causing the plucking. Now, what I am stuck on is do I just, continue providing the mental stimulation and let him mutilate his feathers? or do I let the feathers grow and let him chill on his own terms? Now, when he mutilates his feathers is relatively minor as far as the behavior goes. He barbers them and over preens but he doesn’t actually pluck them out or mutilate the skin.

I also don’t really believe it is hormonal. He isn’t expressing any other hormonal behavior like trying to hump my hand, biting, and regurgitating which are all things that he does do when hormonal.
 

𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆

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So, I’m at an in-pass with Lincoln and I’m not quiet sure what to do. If yall have any advice or any weigh ins, please feel free to.

So, lately I’ve noticed the more mental stimulation I give Lincoln, the more he mutilates his feathers and screams. When I was busy and couldn’t spend as much time with him as I would like, his feathers grew back and stayed around longer. Now that I’ve taught him a few new foragers and am regularly doing training sessions with him, he mutilates and screams constantly no matter how many “distractions” I give him. He seems to enjoy the mental stimulation as when he gets “tired” of it he just sits back and grinds his beak. He actively engages and regularly offers behaviors instead of being asked. So I don’t think it’s stressing him and that’s what causing the plucking. Now, what I am stuck on is do I just, continue providing the mental stimulation and let him mutilate his feathers? or do I let the feathers grow and let him chill on his own terms? Now, when he mutilates his feathers is relatively minor as far as the behavior goes. He barbers them and over preens but he doesn’t actually pluck them out or mutilate the skin.

I also don’t really believe it is hormonal. He isn’t expressing any other hormonal behavior like trying to hump my hand, biting, and regurgitating which are all things that he does do when hormonal.
Wow, I'm really sorry, that seems tough. I would suggest re-arranging his stuff daily, but that can be hard. I wonder if desensitization to the toys would help, he seems overexcited. Just introducing the toys to him calmly before actually letting him do anything with them.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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Part of the problem with pluckers is their inability to deal with change/stress
And fun and challenges are kind of a "fun stress" if you know what I mean..
I think mental stimulation is good.
Confidence building, food security, and increase self choice and self directed Behavior is what I've read helps with dealing with stress.
So I don't know if making enrichment supper easy would help?
Some other Confidence building I've read is providing extremely easy stuff to chew up. This is supposed to make them feel they can have an impact on their environment. I'm not sure what other stuff builds their confidence.
Self directed Behavior stuff is making a bath available every day and they choose if and when, giving them connected perches or bridges that span large areas down to floor and up to hanging ones helps them with freedom of movement especially if not flighted . Permission based training, a large selection and choice of food.

I find ekkie endlessly fascinating they are so unique. I have no experience with them other than reading. But I have read some really prefer a calm and quieter environment. I always try and search out as much as I can on species and how they behave in their natural environment. To help me think about their behaviors. its frustrating how little there is on any species though...
So reading this would make me wonder " if I had an ekkie " if raising cage height would increase security. And if providing more visual screening would help, like hanging a cargo net infront of a favorite perch.
And if you had been doing training on the floor I might move to using a table top.

" Habitat​

Eclectus parrots are known to reside in densely populated forests, often near water or coastal areas. They are commonly observed in regions that have tropical climates and tall trees. They nest anywhere from 14 to 22 meters above the ground, typically away from the forest interior. The nests tend to have an entrance that is 25-30 cm in length and anywhere from 60 cm to 300 cm deep. Their habitat elevation ranges from 14 meters to 1,000 meters. Eclectus parrots are often seen in flocks, or occasionally alone or in pairs. (Forshaw, 2010; Marsden and Fielding, 1999)

 
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Icca

Well-known member
Feb 1, 2022
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My 2 cents might only be worth 2 cents but if he wants to chill and not work (Foraging and training) I would say let him have some time off. Then start up 1 thing maybe training just 1 skill for a short session. Possibly just once a week. Then in time add another skill OR another work day OR foraging. And just build really slow slower than you would think necessary. Maybe training and foraging is just to much work.
 

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