MTG
Member
Hello
This may be a bit of a long post, and a bit all over the place. But I feel like I just need to unload/vent, and this seems a safe and supportive place to do so.
Please feel free to give advice where you can.
So.... about a month ago I noticed that my beloved African grey, Zelda, had plucked a handful of feathers around her crop. I immediately booked her in for a vet check, and she is perfectly healthy, good news! the plucking seemed to have been a one-time thing at this point as she hadn't continued, and maybe lost a few more feathers in the next week or so.
I started researching, I think I have read every resource on the web about plucking at this point! after reading the most common causes I did some self-analysis.
From my analysis of her behaviour, it seemed to me that she would pluck mostly when she was in her cage and I was not in the room, maybe a separation anxiety issue or hormonal behaviour. I have started working on getting to be more independent either way.
At this moment in time, she has a lot of pin feathers that are almost fully grown in, which is good. She has, however, started to pull some of the pin feathers out when she is preening, which I imagine is painful. It also seems that her plucking is becoming more casual, today I saw her pluck when she was out of the cage, not something I had seen before.
I have read mixed views regarding supplements and sprays eg. pluck no more, featheriffic etc. I am holding off on trying these as I am not entirely convinced on their safety and efficacy.
I am struggling with this issue myself, I have days where I feel immense guilt that she feels she needs to pluck and that it must be something I am doing/not doing. Other days I feel positive that we will get this sorted and she will stop. Other days I am beside myself, not knowing how to help her and it all feels a bit overwhelming.
I feel I am trying all that I can to try and help her resolve this issue, and sometimes I feel like we have made progress and other times I feel like we've made none.
All I want is for her to be happy, I am trying my best to give her everything that she needs both physically and mentally. I love her so so much and hate the thought of her being unhappy to the point of plucking.
I feel a bit lost in this whole situation, I can't find a definite cause or trigger for it, and the things I have implemented to help haven't proved effective yet.
I would love to hear anyone words of wisdom or advice.
Thank you for listening.
Mitch
This may be a bit of a long post, and a bit all over the place. But I feel like I just need to unload/vent, and this seems a safe and supportive place to do so.
Please feel free to give advice where you can.
So.... about a month ago I noticed that my beloved African grey, Zelda, had plucked a handful of feathers around her crop. I immediately booked her in for a vet check, and she is perfectly healthy, good news! the plucking seemed to have been a one-time thing at this point as she hadn't continued, and maybe lost a few more feathers in the next week or so.
I started researching, I think I have read every resource on the web about plucking at this point! after reading the most common causes I did some self-analysis.
- She is 2.5 yrs old
- There have been no changes in her environment or routine.
- She has a wide variety of toys, foraging, shredding, chewing, etc. these get changed and rotated regularly. She spends a lot of time with me. We also do a fair amount of trick training. I believe her to be a well-stimulated parrot, and I don't think boredom to be an issue
- She is on a diet of main pellets with a "no sunflower no peanut" seed mix as a bonus, with fruits and veggies added here and there. I don't believe diet to be an issue.
- Her cage is on the smaller end of what is considered a good size cage for a grey. So I have bought a new big cage with lots of room for toys and fun. She shares a room with my quaker parrot called Yoshi, (only one bird is out of their cage at a time) so maybe jealousy could be an issue when one is out of the cage and the other isn't. I plan to move them both to their own room so that when one of the birds is with me the other can still be out of their cage and not witness me "cheating" on them with another bird! I am slowly introducing her to the new cage and new room so as not to overwhelm her.
- I have also started bathing at least once a day. sometimes will aloe juice is added to the spray water.
From my analysis of her behaviour, it seemed to me that she would pluck mostly when she was in her cage and I was not in the room, maybe a separation anxiety issue or hormonal behaviour. I have started working on getting to be more independent either way.
At this moment in time, she has a lot of pin feathers that are almost fully grown in, which is good. She has, however, started to pull some of the pin feathers out when she is preening, which I imagine is painful. It also seems that her plucking is becoming more casual, today I saw her pluck when she was out of the cage, not something I had seen before.
I have read mixed views regarding supplements and sprays eg. pluck no more, featheriffic etc. I am holding off on trying these as I am not entirely convinced on their safety and efficacy.
I am struggling with this issue myself, I have days where I feel immense guilt that she feels she needs to pluck and that it must be something I am doing/not doing. Other days I feel positive that we will get this sorted and she will stop. Other days I am beside myself, not knowing how to help her and it all feels a bit overwhelming.
I feel I am trying all that I can to try and help her resolve this issue, and sometimes I feel like we have made progress and other times I feel like we've made none.
All I want is for her to be happy, I am trying my best to give her everything that she needs both physically and mentally. I love her so so much and hate the thought of her being unhappy to the point of plucking.
I feel a bit lost in this whole situation, I can't find a definite cause or trigger for it, and the things I have implemented to help haven't proved effective yet.
I would love to hear anyone words of wisdom or advice.
Thank you for listening.
Mitch