Salty is in trouble with plucking

[DonnaBudgie]

A lot of people are against giving Haldol to parrots. I wouldn't take what those people say too seriously. I think it should be used IF plucking is a serious problem AND all else fails. I realize it's not natural to drug parrots, but keeping parrots in captivity isn't natural, and parrots in the wild don't pluck. If Haldol can break the anxiety cycle, allow a parrot to grow back his feathers, and avoid repeated rehomings or euthanazia it can be a good thing.

 

[Shades of Grey]

A lot of people are against giving Haldol to parrots. I wouldn't take what those people say too seriously. I think it should be used IF plucking is a serious problem AND all else fails. I realize it's not natural to drug parrots, but keeping parrots in captivity isn't natural, and parrots in the wild don't pluck. If Haldol can break the anxiety cycle, allow a parrot to grow back his feathers, and avoid repeated rehomings or euthanazia it can be a good thing.

I agree! Very little about our birds' lives are natural, and smart, sensitive greys especially seem like they suffer from suboptimal caretaking. This girl in particular probably would have been removed from her first home if she were a human child, and maybe her second too. She has some definite anxieties and fears that are easy to trigger, even in her fourth (and last) home with me.

If a light dose of meds helps her learn to move more calmly through the world - on my hand, because she's chewed off almost all of her primary and secondary wing feathers - then I'm all for that. Ultimately we're all just trying to do our best for our feathered/semi-feathered friends, however we do it.

 

[rheashard2]

Your vet seems attentive. That's a major plus. I am cautious about using behavior altering meds in man or beast. My concern is the quiet and often unnoticed side effects. You are aware of your parrot baseline. Your vet is in the loop. Those are the biggest factors. Take it one step at a time. I think your bird is a cutie. But I am basically a Grey fanatic. There's a avain trainer who has(had) a YouTube video series. One of her stars was a severely plucking CAG she rescued. I don't remember anything else. I was looking for training techniques. I do that periodically. Consider keeping a journal; Med times, dose, behavior before and after. General activity around bird and house. It will aid you and vet with dosages. You'll be able to answer a basic question. Is this a one time or recurring problem? That question is very important for human or animal medicine decisions. It will eliminate a common response; I don't know but....