Parrotlet overplucking

[ribbonbird]

Hello, I have an 11 year old Parrotlet who began overplucking her feathers around November of 2023, and its only gotten worse since. The top reasons we saw when we looked it up were stress or malnutrition, so we put her mainly on pellets and only gave her seed every two days or so. She lived with my at my parents house for the first 9 years of her life, but she now lives with me in my other house in my room only. We brought her back to my parent's house over Christmas break to see if she would be happier and less stressed, but despite her always seeming content and talkative she continues to pluck. It started off as just one spot on her neck, but now since there's no feathers left on her chest to pluck she's moved onto her back. We have to keep her in a separate room set at 85 degrees as anything lower makes her hypothermic. I booked an appointment with the only aviary vet in our city, but they don't have an opening until April, so I was hoping someone here may have experience with this/any recommendations on what more to do. We changed her pellets to Harrison's in case she might've developed an allergy to her old pellets, she always gets 12 hours of sleep at night and I hold her at least 4-5 hours a day.
Here are some pics of her now, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[LaManuka]

Hello, I have an 11 year old Parrotlet who began overplucking her feathers around November of 2023, and its only gotten worse since. The top reasons we saw when we looked it up were stress or malnutrition, so we put her mainly on pellets and only gave her seed every two days or so. She lived with my at my parents house for the first 9 years of her life, but she now lives with me in my other house in my room only. We brought her back to my parent's house over Christmas break to see if she would be happier and less stressed, but despite her always seeming content and talkative she continues to pluck. It started off as just one spot on her neck, but now since there's no feathers left on her chest to pluck she's moved onto her back. We have to keep her in a separate room set at 85 degrees as anything lower makes her hypothermic. I booked an appointment with the only aviary vet in our city, but they don't have an opening until April, so I was hoping someone here may have experience with this/any recommendations on what more to do. We changed her pellets to Harrison's in case she might've developed an allergy to her old pellets, she always gets 12 hours of sleep at night and I hold her at least 4-5 hours a day.
Here are some pics of her now, any advice would be greatly appreciated!
View attachment 57737View attachment 57738

Welcome to the forums @ribbonbird, but I'm very sorry for the circumstances that brought you here. I'm glad you've managed to get into a vet and hopefully they have you on a waitlist in case an earlier appointment date becomes available I wish I could offer you some advice but I've never had a plucker myself, so I can only imagine the heartache that seeing your little one doing this to herself must cause you. I'm hoping another of our members with more direct experience may see your thread, but in the meantime the links below may give you a few insights ...

Plucking: A Search For Answers

If you've spent very much time with parrots you've probably heard the term or seen the results of plucking. Plucking is disturbing and complex, in many cases the reasons are difficult to pinpoint. There are no easy answers or explanations. It's a terrifying event to discover a pile of feathers...

www.parrotforums.com

https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk491/files/inline-files/Feather-picking_in_Birds.pdf

Plucking can indeed be a very complex problem to solve, so I hope another of our membership might weigh in with some more help for you soon Oh and please don't forget to tell us her name will you? She looks very sweet!

 

[ribbonbird]

Thank you for your kindness! Her name is Ribbon, and is such a sweetheart <3 I'm also hoping for an opening at the vet, as sleeping in 85 degrees is getting a bit difficult. I will check out the thread you sent!

 

[LaManuka]

Awwwwwwwwww, Ribbon is a great name!! And you're most welcome, I hope someone or something here can help both you and her

 

[Bird Mann]

Hello, I have an 11 year old Parrotlet who began overplucking her feathers around November of 2023, and its only gotten worse since. The top reasons we saw when we looked it up were stress or malnutrition, so we put her mainly on pellets and only gave her seed every two days or so. She lived with my at my parents house for the first 9 years of her life, but she now lives with me in my other house in my room only. We brought her back to my parent's house over Christmas break to see if she would be happier and less stressed, but despite her always seeming content and talkative she continues to pluck. It started off as just one spot on her neck, but now since there's no feathers left on her chest to pluck she's moved onto her back. We have to keep her in a separate room set at 85 degrees as anything lower makes her hypothermic. I booked an appointment with the only aviary vet in our city, but they don't have an opening until April, so I was hoping someone here may have experience with this/any recommendations on what more to do. We changed her pellets to Harrison's in case she might've developed an allergy to her old pellets, she always gets 12 hours of sleep at night and I hold her at least 4-5 hours a day.
Here are some pics of her now, any advice would be greatly appreciated!
View attachment 57737View attachment 57738

What a sweetie there are cage heaters and heated perches available on Amazon she might like that option. I have one I use during the cooler months and my guys just love it.
Best,
Laurie

 

[kme3388]

I do have a parrot that feather plucks. There are so many different reasons why that can occur. It will vary upon the parrot. I did learn fairly early on after I adopted a parrot who feather plucks that the longer they do it for the harder it is to break. It becomes more habitual at that point. Diet, sleep, environment, and things are what we can change as parrot owners. When my parrot who is a habitual plucker starts feather plucking… I go in his cage, and move all of his toys around, or give new ones. I give him the opportunity to have a bath daily. I tried a humidifier to see if my parrots skin was just dry. I start to do little things like this to see if something will help.