Nao
New member
- Aug 26, 2023
- 5
- 19
- Parrots
- Quaker parrot called Limón
Born around July 2021
Hi! I'm new here in the forum, because I have a rescued quaker parrot, and I'm having some trouble with her.
She's been with me for two years now, and I've noticed every late spring-summer so far she starts to bite and cut bits off her wings and tail. I took her to the only vet in town that treats this kind of exotic birds, and they said it must be a stress factor because in winter, my quaker doesn't behave this way.
My family and I have been thinking about what could it be, but we don't really know.
During the school year, I go to college and both my parents work, so we can't spend as much time with her. Now I'm with her almost all day, so we don't think that's the issue... We've also thought it could be the temperature? It's quite hot here where we live, or the fact it's also nesting season, and she could be frustrated...
I've attached pictures where you can see the difference in her feathers in winter and this past month. By the way, we treat her as a "she" but we don't know her sex, so we don't know if it's a female or male quaker parrot.
We're not sure what we can do… It's very painful seeing her like this, and the vet, even though they are specialized in this kind of birds, they're not very common here, they're not offering very helpful answers. If you've also heard of this or anything similar, tips, any comment would be very appreciated.
Thank you so much in advance.
She's been with me for two years now, and I've noticed every late spring-summer so far she starts to bite and cut bits off her wings and tail. I took her to the only vet in town that treats this kind of exotic birds, and they said it must be a stress factor because in winter, my quaker doesn't behave this way.
My family and I have been thinking about what could it be, but we don't really know.
During the school year, I go to college and both my parents work, so we can't spend as much time with her. Now I'm with her almost all day, so we don't think that's the issue... We've also thought it could be the temperature? It's quite hot here where we live, or the fact it's also nesting season, and she could be frustrated...
I've attached pictures where you can see the difference in her feathers in winter and this past month. By the way, we treat her as a "she" but we don't know her sex, so we don't know if it's a female or male quaker parrot.
We're not sure what we can do… It's very painful seeing her like this, and the vet, even though they are specialized in this kind of birds, they're not very common here, they're not offering very helpful answers. If you've also heard of this or anything similar, tips, any comment would be very appreciated.
Thank you so much in advance.
I'm sorry that I can't help you determine exactly what the cause of her feather picking might be - it could be anything from something irritating her skin to sexual frustration or boredom. Bearing in mind that parrots in the wild spend vast amounts of time searching for food and mates and avoiding predators, sometimes when they live very comfortable lives in our homes with plenty of food readily available they can develop undesirable habits to occupy their time. I'm sorry your vet has not been able to get to the bottom of it, it can be a VERY frustrating condition that can sometimes defeat even the most experienced avian health professionals. The article linked below might give you a few ideas of what can cause feather destructive behaviours ...
