My bird keeps licking damaging his feathers

sezza4ever

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Oct 1, 2015
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Hi hoping someone might be able to help me.
I have a black capped lory who has a bad habit in licking/chewing his feathers. His already damaged all his wing feathers and tail now starting at his back of his neck area. I have tried everything I can think of to stop him from buying new toys like puzzle toys,foottoys, hanging toys, natural tree branches etc, enrichments with hiding food in homemade toys , new treats, I take him to work with me every day to try and keep him active and busy but he just goes at it again.I thought it might of been out of boredom or lonelyness but his still licking and chewing his feathers he now even has to chew and rip out my own hair and lick my face and my sisters and brothers hair. I've tried using sprays like stop pick spray, king's cage pluck no more but he doesn't mind the taste of it and continues with it. He has got liver disease and his been treated with milk thistle and pain relief which has been helping a lot. But just this licking/chewing of the feathers I'm really concerned about its been going on for 2 years now and I keep adding new things to his environment to keep him busy but his just not interested it's like his lacking something in his diet or something? his doing alot of damage when new feathers come in he just destroys them. Im not sure if anyone could help or advise me of anything else I could try that may work?all the help would be so much appreciated Thank you so much
 

charmedbyekkie

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May 24, 2018
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There could be a wide variety of factors contributing to his habit. But first, have you checked with an avian vet? Sometimes blood tests show deficiencies (or too much of something else). If you haven't recently, I'd suggest that first before we start looking at other triggers (anything from cage size, outside time, boredom, weather, etc).
 

ChristaNL

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Yup...back tot he vet do more bloodanalysis plze.
I know, this problem SO suckest.
Bird could be trying desperately to get some much needed nourishment or just be completely fixated on licking and preening.
Liver-issues and itchyness are a famous combination - unfortunately-, but that would not explain the licking and plucking of other beings ...
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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I 3rd the vet check thing.
Otherwise, my over-preener really likes to twiddle around these little colorful, plastic c-links (it is a decent replacement behavior and she usually will take them from me if she is chewing and they are offered).
Also check humidity and diet.

I have also noticed that mine doesn't get the same thrill out of preening wet feathers, so if she has been sprayed lightly, she tends to do other things during that time....don't do it as a punishment, but just something I have noticed.
I even tried making preening toys from my bird's own sterilized feathers (shoved into drinking straws and tied off with cut drinking straws to prevent them from coming out--I hung them up or attached them to other toys (tied on)...She doesn't care about my invention much, but it might work for you.


Has your vet discussed the possibility of lactulose mixed in with the milk thistle? If too much ammonia accumulates in the blood stream, a bird with a liver problem can develop brain swelling and have seizures. My bird had a liver issues and I had to give 1/2 ml of a mixture of milk thistle and lactulose (NOT LACTOSE!!). This worked for her, but it was prescription and it had to be kept in the fridge. Mine also suggested that I limt protein and obviously fats/seeds etc. Cockatoo came to me with this problem but it is fixed now.
 
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EllenD

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Yeah, I'm going to echo the same, he needs to go back to the vet, HOWEVER I might be looking for a different Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet (I don't know if your current Vet is an Avian Vet or simply an "Exotic's Vet", but if an Exotic's Vet you need to move onto an Avian Specialist asap)...You specifically want to search for a CAV or Avian Specialist who not only treats ONLY birds and not any other "exotic" species, but also one who has lots of experience in treating Feather-Destructive and Self-Mutilation behaviors, as you need an Avian Vet who know exactly what specific blood tests, cultures/swabs, etc. need to be run. And the only Vets who are going to know these things are ones who are very experienced in treating these behaviors on a regular basis.

From your description I'm quite certain that your Lori's Feather-Destructive behavior is due to either a health/medical issue, or an environmental issue. I don't know how long ago your Lori was diagnosed with "Liver Disease" or how she was diagnosed with it (blood work, x-ray, etc.), but first of all, what type of "Liver Disease" has she been diagnosed with? Fatty Liver Disease? I'm asking because Fatty Liver Disease is not common in Lorikeets, mostly due to their unique diets that don't include fatty seed-mixes and the like...Besides the Milk Thistle, which is a very good treatment for any and all types of liver issues, have you discussed her diet with your Vet? What is her regular, daily diet? Treats? What behaviors or symptoms was she displaying that lead to you taking her to the Vet and resulted in the diagnosis of Liver Disease? You mentioned that since she was put on "pain medication" (what pain meds is she on?) things have improved a lot. Do you mean that her plucking has improved since she was put on the pain meds? Is she on any other medications besides the pain meds?

Have you ever gone over your home environment to try to rule-out any type of environmental factor in your house or in your bird's own, personal space that could be influencing her Feather-Destructive behavior? Does anyone who is close to your Lori on a regular basis wear perfume/cologne? Do you use any cleaners that are not natural or that contain chemicals/scents? Do you burn candles, incense, use any type of Febreeze, Plug-Ins, or any other type of scents in your home? Do you or does anyone else in the home smoke cigarettes/cigars, or is there anything else that you can thin of that may be causing smoke/scents/fumes etc.? What type of heat does your house have? Any gas used for heat or cooking? Do you use any type of non-stick pots and pans, or any ceramic space heaters that might contain Teflon? Any issues with insects or rodents in your home?

Most importantly, has your Lori had blood-work, a Fecal Culture, and an x-ray done done recently? Has she ever had any of these tests run? I'm really focusing on what you said about the "pain meds helping", because if you did mean that the pain meds have helped stop the plucking/feather destructive behavior, then this is a HUGE clue as to what is going on with her....
 
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sezza4ever

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Thank you everyone for all your help and support it means the world to me and my little boy.
His been like this from the very first day I brought him home but didn't realise it was bad until I noticed all the damage he has done to himself. Yes agree will have to definitely go back to the vet but yes maybe go find an Avarian vet instead of exotic vet. I've spend like 3,000 dollars on the vet I'm with now and they just don't seem to know much about lories his had fecal testing done that's when they noticed something was high in the adbomal area then did blood tests for all the nasty dieases, but I'm not to sure if they actually did a nutritional to see if his lacking anything in his diet or not but I am thinking his lacking something for sure in his diet as he just keeps licking everytbing his also had 2 x-rays and first they thought he had a mass in his kidney so needed another x-ray and they they said that it looks like this deadly disease and said that there is nothing they can do to treat him but I said I wanted a blood test to prove that he has that or not. It came back negative and that's when they found in the bloods that his liver was raised abit. So they said to have a biopsy to find out what is the cause to the liver being raised. He had the biopsy and results came back all good but just said he has liver disease and the liver is adnormal in Color and is enlarge but no signs of fatty liver diease. They just have him milk thistle and Gabapentin ( which they said helps with his moods and feather regrowth) then just left it as that. I asked the vet what else could we do for his feather destruction problems but they just said to keep an eye on it. But I'm not happy as like I said previously his damaged all his wing,tail and now the inner wing behind his neck area so he can't fly any more. His also licking everything his cage,bowels,toys etc. But yes I think I will definitely find another bird vet that knows more about lories. His in great shape otherwise a very happy, talkive boy and just loves to play with all the shredding toys but just this issue with the licking hopefully soon we will get an answer to why this is happening I am so very thankful for all your help means alot that people care ��
 

ChristaNL

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Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
Hmmm, weird vet -
I will ask one of my friends about lorie-specific problems when I see him again.


Nor sure if it is recommended for lories but does he have a mineral-block?
With all the licking etc he should get something from that at least (I mean a real one, not just cement for beaksharpening -> unfortunately also called mineralblocks....)
 
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sezza4ever

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Thank you heaps that would be great.

I've tried to give him an iodine block but he didn't take to much care of it, I still add them to his cage today but hasn't touched them but not to sure if lories need them or not also but yeah he seems like he is lacking something in his diet or is it still to do with the liver diease? I am going to be looking up Avarian vets today also who know more about lories. It's fustrating as you just want your pets better and you know something is not right but the vet doesn't understand and take it seriously.
 

Laurasea

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In addition to all the above good advice, i would add sunlight! Unfiltered no windows, outside. In a very secure travel cage and you stay with bird at all times. I was recommended to spend 15 minutes to a half hour daily walking in the sun and sitting in the shade, as possible. I haven't managed daily but I do 3 times a week. I can't express how much difference I see in my birds feathers enough. In one month I have seen a huge difference. So as you follow up with a new vet, and diet, household toxins ect. Please try this, there are a lot if health benefits, and parrots actually need sunlight, it could really support your other efforts. My rescue has mild liver disease, and mild feather picking, it has really helped her. As for my other perfectly healthy parrots I also saw a huge difference in feathers, and I thought they were great before!
 
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noodles123

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Be careful with added drugs---they can damage the liver. When I first got my bird, she was on Amitriptyline (sp?) for over-preening, but when they found out she had a pre-existing liver issue, we had to wean her off of that, as it only taxed the liver further. She still over-preens (although she has improved), but it's a cost-benefit evaluation.

Again, look into LACTULOSE...(NOT LACTOSE)....Ask your vet about it, as bird in liver failure are prone to develop brain-swelling (and resultant seizures) due to their inability to eliminate ammonia from the blood properly.
 
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