Monster and His Plucking

[riddick07]

Some of you will remember when Monster first started plucking and me trying to figure out what could be causing it. Tried aloe spray, herbs, diet change, more toys, less toys, different setups, with and without Monkey....for awhile I thought it was certain peppers but it didn’t make much difference cutting them out.

So everyone probably knows by now I have a lot of snakes. Most needing very high humidity and this winter I bought a humidifier for the room that has both my birds and snakes in it. Months later monster is fully feathered again and not plucking or even overpreening. He hasn’t been fully feathered since I gave up trying to stop him years ago. The room stays between 40-50% humidity and this has been working for him very well. It makes sense that not all the birds can handle our low humidity levels when they are from the same areas as my high humidity snakes haha. The room was getting down to 20% humidity without a humidifier in it.

Monster fully feathered

And some of Monkey just because...

Also, I have found out that Monster will die shortly after Monkey if she goes first. When I separated them for a short period because he was causing Monkey to lay too many eggs he almost dropped dead from eating very little and being depressed. Monkey didn’t even care a little about being separated though lol

 

[GaleriaGila]

This is so interesting...
My world-class avian vet (I love you, Dr. Lindstrom) says that he strongly believes that humidity and lots of bathing is key. When the Rb started to barber a year or so ago, Dr. L. made numerous recommendations, among them --- bathing at least several times a week, and if the Rb wasn't interested, mist him. I made that change (in addition to others, so I can't say much about which, or which combo of stuff made a difference) --- barbering gone, for a year now.

 

[SailBoat]

I get a lot of push back about Humidity, especially in the Winter.

Happy you have found a setting that everyone is happy with!!!

Congratulations!

Monster Rules!

 

[Squeekmouse]

Good to know!! Our house is very dry, looks like we should get ourselves a humidifier also. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sunnyclover]

Yay! That's amazing and I will take this nugget of knowledge with me on my birding journey.

 

[riddick07]

This is so interesting...
My world-class avian vet (I love you, Dr. Lindstrom) says that he strongly believes that humidity and lots of bathing is key. When the Rb started to barber a year or so ago, Dr. L. made numerous recommendations, among them --- bathing at least several times a week, and if the Rb wasn't interested, mist him. I made that change (in addition to others, so I can't say much about which, or which combo of stuff made a difference) --- barbering gone, for a year now.

The thing about misting/bathing is that it’s a temporary thing and then they are are in dry humidity again. I tried misting before and it wasn’t making a difference. The humidity is a 24/7 thing and seems to help a lot more. The conures also give themselves baths occasionally. Seems to be less now that they have the humidifier in the room. For me the humidifier is the only thing that is different around here!

I get a lot of push back about Humidity, especially in the Winter.

Happy you have found a setting that everyone is happy with!!!

Congratulations!

Monster Rules!

Yeah the green cheeks are from the same areas as my boas. And my boa minimum humidity is 60-80%. 20% humidity is very very low compared to what the green cheeks were built to endure in the wild when you think about it. In part of the gcc natural ranges the lowest average humidity over the last year was in December at 56%.

Good to know!! Our house is very dry, looks like we should get ourselves a humidifier also. Thanks for sharing!

I also love it for me too. My bed is in the same room as all the snakes and birds...and I breathe much easier with the higher humidity.

This is the one I use. It also pulls a lot of dust out of the air.
https://www.amazon.com/MA1201-Whole...=1524862389&sr=8-19&keywords=Large+Humidifier

 

[GaleriaGila]

riddick... very, very good point... misting *IS* temporary, although still useful, I would guess.
I should have added that we have a humidifier.
Again, good point for folks to consider.

 

[AkridChaos]

Hmmm. Maybe I should consider a humidifier for my birds. Maybe it will stop Lily and her plucking. I’m open to everything and anything for that little monster. If it has a chance to stop her, I’ll do it. I know my house is very dry. I wake up with a dried bloody nose every morning. I mean Lily was plucking before coming to my house, but still. I can’t help but wonder if it will help. Any specific brand humidifiers I should be looking at? I don’t know much about them and what’s ok for a bird.

 

[riddick07]

riddick... very, very good point... misting *IS* temporary, although still useful, I would guess.
I should have added that we have a humidifier.
Again, good point for folks to consider.

I agree baths definitely help to some degree. I mean it rains and there’s water in the wild for them to flap around in! I don’t have tendency myself to give many baths to my conures since they use/fit in the water bowls.

 

[riddick07]

Hmmm. Maybe I should consider a humidifier for my birds. Maybe it will stop Lily and her plucking. I’m open to everything and anything for that little monster. If it has a chance to stop her, I’ll do it. I know my house is very dry. I wake up with a dried bloody nose every morning. I mean Lily was plucking before coming to my house, but still. I can’t help but wonder if it will help. Any specific brand humidifiers I should be looking at? I don’t know much about them and what’s ok for a bird.

There’s plenty of possible reasons for plucking of course but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to give it a try! I just did a quick search for one of the places in Ecuador where one of the species of parrotlets (pacific) can be found and average humidity for the year was 78%. Not sure which Parrotlet you have but I’m guessing they won’t be too different from each other.

Don’t try to bump up your humidity too high though. A cold environment with unusually high humidity wouldn’t be healthy for them and the chances of mold forming if you go too high in your house is there. I wouldn’t go higher than 40-50%. My room is also at 72-73F at all times. You can go lower for the temps (60s) and be fine I just keep my room fairly warm.

I like the humidifiers with a filter (the ones that use evaporation) that capture a lot of disgusting crap if you look at one of my dirty filters. You can use GSE or vinegar to help keep it clean. Mine cycles through so fast the water doesn’t have time to sit too long and get disgusting.

 

[AkridChaos]

Hmmm. Maybe I should consider a humidifier for my birds. Maybe it will stop Lily and her plucking. I’m open to everything and anything for that little monster. If it has a chance to stop her, I’ll do it. I know my house is very dry. I wake up with a dried bloody nose every morning. I mean Lily was plucking before coming to my house, but still. I can’t help but wonder if it will help. Any specific brand humidifiers I should be looking at? I don’t know much about them and what’s ok for a bird.

There’s plenty of possible reasons for plucking of course but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to give it a try! I just did a quick search for one of the places in Ecuador where one of the species of parrotlets (pacific) can be found and average humidity for the year was 78%. Not sure which Parrotlet you have but I’m guessing they won’t be too different from each other.

Don’t try to bump up your humidity too high though. A cold environment with unusually high humidity wouldn’t be healthy for them and the chances of mold forming if you go too high in your house is there. I wouldn’t go higher than 40-50%. My room is also at 72-73F at all times. You can go lower for the temps (60s) and be fine I just keep my room fairly warm.

I like the humidifiers with a filter (the ones that use evaporation) that capture a lot of disgusting crap if you look at one of my dirty filters. You can use GSE or vinegar to help keep it clean. Mine cycles through so fast the water doesn’t have time to sit too long and get disgusting.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I know it’s not guaranteed to help her, but at least it can make it more comfortable of an environment for her. I don’t plan on going to crazy with it, because like you said, mold. Just enough humidity to make it not so dry at least in their room. 40-50% seems like a really high number range lol. I may try 20 or 30% for starters, possibly no higher as I don’t like the idea of mold growing. But first, time to look at a few and purchase one.

 

[riddick07]

The ideal range for people is actually right around 40%. And if I remember the number right viruses like the flu don’t surive well around 40-45% humidity, so keeping up the humidity range helps people too. Mold/fungus also doesn’t grow well in low humidity ranges of 40-50%. High humidity levels, above 60%, are more ideal for them. 30-50% is the recommended humidity range for most home situations. In winter below 40% but you will find if you live in a cold area that keeping humidity levels up can be a PITA even with a decent humidifier. Generally my humidity in the coldest parts of winter was only at 35-38%.

I would guess 20% humidity isnt going to make a difference in anything. Aim for at least 30% if you want a lower range number. Depending on where you live this number might not even require a humidifier for the warmer months.