Not leaving tail alone

[RemiBird]

So, Remi has this bad habit of not leaving his tail alone. He keeps messing with it, chewing it, and using tail feathers to scratch his head. As a result, his tail is a mess.
Any ideas what to do about that?
His tail was a mess when I bought him, but I thought that his tail feathers broke there because he was in a small cage.

 

[EllenD]

They often preen their tail feathers, but if he's actually sitting and "chewing on them" a lot of the time, then that's an indication that he might have something wrong, and he needs to see an Avian Vet ASAP. It could be the start of a Feather-Destructive Behavior, like Plucking/Barbering, or it could be because he's extremely itchy or painful in his vent area...

We have a senior member here, Kiwi, who has a Blue-Fronted Amazon, and he had started to chew the feathers around his vent and on his tail. She noticed it, though it wasn't something he did often at all, it was just odd for him to do when he did it...Otherwise he seemed completely normal (as they hide all signs/symptoms of pain and illness for as long as they possibly can)...But Kiwi didn't want to risk it, so she took him to her amazing Certified Avian Vet, who knew this could be a sign that something serious is wrong, so he did a full exam, ran Fecal Testing, Blood-Work, and actually took a regular X-Ray, which is unusual for any Vet to do with only chewing around the vent and tail as the symptoms, but he knew what might be going on...Turned out that he had a horrible Kidney infection that had developed weeks if not months prior and he was in so much pain and discomfort that he was chewing his feathers back around his vent and from his tail...The Kidney infection had gotten so bad that his right Kidney was like 3-4 times larger than it should have been, and it has been putting pressure on his Spine, and as a result the bone of his Spine had started to degenerate...Her bird is fine now, but only because she took him to her CAV on a whim, and because her CAV had the experience to know that an X-Ray was needed to rule-out a Kidney issue...

So yes, they do often damage their tail feathers if their cages are too small (apparently you've remedied that issue already), but it can be other issues too, either medical or behavioral. It could also be that it's Spring and it's time for a lot of birds to go through their big molt for the year, so maybe he's got new tail-feathers coming-in while he's losing the old ones...Have you looked to see if you can see any pin-feathers coming-in in his tail? That's the first thing you want to check for, because if you see a bunch of new pin-feathers growing-in among his tail-feathers then that's why he's picking/chewing on them...It also could be that the old, broken tail-feathers that he had when he came to you have failed to all fall-out to allow new ones to grow, and he's trying to get them out because they're itchy and bothering him...So you also need to check to see if he has a bunch of old, broken-off feather-shafts left behind, because in some cases an Avian Vet will need to actually pull the old, damaged feather remnants out to allow the new feathers to grow back-in.

So, bottom-line is that unless you check closely and you see a bunch of new pin-feathers coming in (which just indicates that he's molting and it's normal to be itchy, check the rest of his body for pin-feathers as well as a clue that this is the problem at his tail), then otherwise you need to get him to your Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet (NO Exotics Vets for this, you need someone who knows about Feather-Destructive Behaviors and about Avian Medicine/Viruses specifically to make sure it's not something serious)...And tell them the story about Kiwi, and tell your CAV that you want to take the diagnostic-testing as far as you want to go with it, whether it be a Fecal (he has to have a Fecal for this issue) or a Fecal and an X-Ray, or both of those and also routine Blood-Work...

***Just a note, if you haven't taken him for his annual Wellness-Exam this year yet, now would be an excellent time to do so, because you should be having a Fecal Smear and Blood-Work done during those anyway, so you can kill two birds with one stone right now...(well, you know what I mean, lol..no killing birds...)

 

[EllenD]

Just another quick question because I can't remember, but you said that his tail was a mess when you bought him, but how old was he when you bought him? I can't remember whether or not you brought him home as a young baby from a breeder or pet shop that had never had an owner before, or whether you bought him as an adult bird who was being "re-homed" by his first owner...

It's completely normal for a bird who has been living in a cage at a pet shop to have their tail-feathers be an absolute nightmare (as well as the rest of their feathers sometimes as well), either due to the cage being too small, or a lot of the time if they are housed with other birds and not by themselves, the other birds will often over-preen each other or even just be very aggressive with each other. So that would have been a completely normal situation...And it's very uncommon for a young, baby parrot to already have developed any type of Feather-Destructive Behaviors; it happens, but not very often...

What is extremely common however is for a bird who has been re-homed from their prior-owner (or multiple owners) or for an older bird who has been living in a pet shop for a long time or who was "surrendered" or simply given/sold to a pet shop and then who is being sold again by the shop to be displaying Feather-Destructive Behaviors...So that's why I was wondering about his age and past-history when you bought him, because it's possible that he was at the start-of or already exhibiting Feather-Destructive Behaviors when you bought him, such as Barbering. Many people actually re-home their parrots/birds strictly because they have started to exhibit Feather-Destructive Behaviors, and instead of trying to figure out WHY their bird is doing it and trying to make changes to their bird's environment, diet, amount of attention/interaction they get each day, out-of-cage-time they get each day, etc., they just say "Well this one is broken, let's sell it on Craigslist and get a new one that isn't defective"...That sounds absolutely horrible, but it happens every single day, everywhere. I see it every week at the Avian Rescue I work for...

So depending on his age and history when you brought him home, it's possible he might have already been suffering from a Feather-Destructive Behavior...However, if he was a young baby bird who had never been owned by anyone and who had just-weaned and was being sold by his breeder or in a pet shop, then a Feather-Destructive Behavior isn't likely, and instead you have to think Avian Viral Disease...Does he chew-on/Barber/Pluck or is he missing feathers on any other part of his body beside his tail? That's an important question, because if the answer is yes, and it's existed since you bought him from the breeder or pet shop, then it could be an Avian Viral Disease that effects the feathers; you always have to worry about Avian Viral Diseases being the underlying cause of feather and skin issues, especially if the bird is young when they first exhibit the feather-issues. And there are MANY different Avian Viral Diseases that can cause feather-issues, from the big scary ones we all hear about constantly and fear, to small ones that amount to nothing more than the bird having a bad Flu. So it all depends on the circumstances...

Is it possible for you to post some photos of Remi's tail-feathers for us to see? This would be extremely helpful in being able to tell what Remi is actually doing to his tail-feathers and what might be going on. There are a lot of members here who have daily experience with their own birds Barbering/Plucking etc., they see it every single day, and they can easily tell the difference between a bird actually Barbering or Plucking itself and any of the alternatives. Also, seeing his overall feather-condition on the rest of his body will add to the puzzle.

 

[RemiBird]

I got him from a pet store(not the best place, but I felt sorry for him) and his age was about two or two and a half, that is what the owner said. Also, the owner said that the poor bird was bought and returned a few times by the first owner, who apparently wanted "something else". (strange situation and sad for the bird, so I am not going to go into that further). So Remi was sitting in the pet store for months, cramped in a small, rusty cage, surrounded by all sorts of other birds, but I am sure he was missing his human.
I think your guess about feather destructive behavior is probably the most accurate.
He was cage aggressive and hand afraid when we got him about eight months ago. With time, love, and patience, he has made great improvements. He is pretty bonded to me, and likes sitting on my son's shoulder too. He gets daily showers with me, eats Harrison pellets and seed, loves fruit, has a big flight cage etc. I don't think he is sick because his vent looks great, feathers are not plucked, the wings and shoulders nice. He eats well and looks healthy.
It's just that he has this habit of chewing the tips of his tail feathers and using shafts as his scratch tools for head scritches.:25:
I give him head rubs and beak rubs when he wants to, and try to spend at least five hours a day with him. He is not locked in the cage all day at all.
So, we are working hard on making his life as good as possible, but the tail issue is frustrating.

 

[EllenD]

Awe, poor little guy. Thank you for making him a part of your family and giving him the life and love he deserves...Remi's situation is all too common with pet parrots, and no matter how many times I see it at the Rescue or hear about it on here, it still breaks my heart every time. I'm glad that Remi has found his forever-home and this has a happy ending. And for only having him for 8 months or so it sounds like he's made leaps and bounds...It is so difficult for them to trust after they go through the first years of their lives like Remi did, so it's wonderful that he is gradually opening up more and more...And your bond will only continue to get stronger and stronger...

I agree that based on his history, both with his former owner(s) and then also for his long stay at that pet shop, it's likely that Remi is exhibiting Feather-Destructive Behavior, especially since he was doing it while in the pet shop and long before you ever brought him home...However, because he spent so much time in that pet shop (honestly the time doesn't really matter, it could be a day, a week, a month, or a year in a pet shop, especially one that isn't quite up to par and where he had lots of contact with other birds), it is quite possible that he's been suffering from some type of infection ...

***In my own experience, what jumped out at me immediately after reading Remi's history is the great possibility of an external, topical Fungal/Yeast infection. It's extremely common and very contagious between birds, it can hide and grow quickly or grow extremely slowly over the span of months to years, it can be whole-body or just in one particular area, and the number one sign/symptom of it is chronic Barbering/Plucking/Scratching/Itching over an extended period of time...I cannot tell you how many parrots have been surrendered to the Rescue by their owners, solely because they had started exhibiting some type of Feather-Destructive Behavior and it had continued over the span of months to years, and the owners did everything they could possibly do correct it as far as their environment, diet, out-of-cage-time and direct attention time, etc., and even having taken them to a Vet who ran Fecal testing and sometimes even Blood-Work (a lot of the time these owners do everything BUT take their bird to a Vet), and since nothing was found and nothing they tried worked, they made the decision to surrender or re-home the bird...And then the first thing we do is take a basic skin-swab from the skin in the area or areas where the bird has been Barbering/Plucking etc, make a smear on a slide for the external skin-swab, and pop it under our microscope...And there is nothing but Yeast all over the slide. And you can then actually take another skin-swab from an area of the bird where they haven't been Barbering/Plucking etc. and look at it under the microscope, and you might see very few Yeast on the slide, and you might not see any Yeast on the slide!

You have to keep in-mind that the last thing you want to tell yourself or to say is that "I don't think my bird is "sick" or has any type of infection or illness as the underlying-cause to his Feather-Destructive Behavior because he's not acting sick, he's eating normally, he's not lethargic or sleeping all the time, his only issue is the Feather-Destructive Behavior, and that has been going on for months and months, so he can't be sick"...While you can rightfully come to the conclusion that any other type of pet isn't sick with an infection, illness, disease, etc. as the underlying-cause of a Compulsive-Behavior that involves their skin/fur/hair etc., you just cannot EVER come to that conclusion with any type of bird because they all naturally possess the ability to hide any and all outward signs of illness, pain, injury, etc. for extremely long periods of time, and they all will do this for as long as they can. You also have to realize that one of the much more difficult signs/symptoms of illness for a bird to hide is itchiness; it's much easier to hide all signs of pain, nauseousness, headache, breathing issues, etc. than it is to hide severe itchiness. So while Remi isn't picking at the feathers around his vent area, which is good, that certainly does not in any way mean he hasn't been suffering from either a GI Tract infection (either fungal or bacterial, or even parasitic based on the pet shop he was in for a long period of time) or an external, topical infection of the skin/feather-follicles in certain areas of his body, which can be either bacterial, fungal, or parasitic. Most of the time it's absolutely fungal (yeast), and it's external/topical instead of in the GI Tract, especially when it has been going on for such a long period of time without any other sign/symptoms such as diarrhea/runny stools, vomiting, lack of appetite, etc.

***Anyone here who has experience with Feather-Destructive Behaviors will tell you that the very first step to diagnosing them and eventually stopping them is taking the bird to a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet and ruling-out an underlying-cause that is medical/health-related. You can't move forward in treating a Feather-Destructive Behavior until you rule-out a medical cause, which would actually be a very good thing, as when Feather-Destructive Behavior has an underlying medical cause, it's so much easier to stop. I highly suggest that you take Remi to either a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet and you have at the very least a Fecal Culture and Microscopy done, as well as asking them to take a culture/swab of the external skin/feather-follicles in the area as well as from other areas of his body and look at them under a Microscope to rule-out a topical and/or systemic Yeast Infection. They'll be able to see this right away if it's the cause. He should have routine Blood-Work done once yearly anyway so that you can not only check for infection, Anemia, etc., but even more important with birds is to have their nutritional-levels checked and their Liver and Kidney health and function checked once yearly. But in addressing this feather-issue, you absolutely need to have both Fecal-testing and an external, topical swab microscopy done to rule-out a fungal and/or bacterial infection....And if either of these do end-up being the cause, then a course of Anti-Fungals is the remedy, that's it...Also, you need to think about Remi here, because if it does happen to be a fungal, bacterial, or parasitic infection that is causing his Feather-Destructive Behavior, then the #1 immediate issue is that Remi is going crazy from the itchiness over all these months or longer, because he probably acquired any infections in that pet shop...And Yeast infections, no matter where they are located, are incredibly itchy and eventually painful, which is why birds have a tough time hiding them...So you definitely want to rule any underlying medical problems out soon, if for no other reason than to know that Remi isn't dealing with constant itchiness, and if he is to stop it with the proper medication ASAP...

 

[RemiBird]

Thank you for all that information! I do need to look into finding an avian vet and have a wellness exam - it seems like a good idea.
Remi is really coming out of his shell though. He plays more and bites less.
We are happy to have him.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wellllllll, for what it's worth, the Rb had tail-abuse issues (recklessness, over-grooming, backing into corners and rumpling the barbs, etc.), but he just stopped it... I do THINK he was around 5-6 years old. Maybe time will yet work a miracle.

 

[RemiBird]

He definitely messes with the tail when he doesn't get attention, I noticed that. If he is getting attention and being carried around etc. he is not doing it.
So, that leads me to believe it's a behavioral issue.

 

[Laurasea]

It may be, but you're still getting an avain vet exam though right? Please do, it's the only way to be safe, and save yourself from heartbreak. Keep us posted.

 

[EllenD]

Laura is absolutely correct, you still need to take him to your CAV for Fecal Testing and a Skin Swab at the least to rule-out an infection...What you need to remember is that most Feather-Destructive Behaviors like Plucking, Barbering, Mutilation, etc. actually start-out as a response to a physical itch, pain, etc., and then they keep doing the behaviors because they literally get addicted to the endorphin-rush that plucking a feather out brings them. And if he does have either a bacterial or fungal infection then not only will it only get worse and worse and more and more difficult to treat, but the plucking/barbering behavior also isn't going to stop because of how itchy and uncomfortable he might really be. And the last thing you want is something as small as a topical or GI Yeast Infection to turn into a systemic infection...

 

[RemiBird]

It is in my plans to take him for a wellness exam in the next month. I just have to find a place and see what they charge etc. I do want him healthy and comfortable.