Two conures and one is plucking the other please help :(

[KikaMoran]

I have two conures a brown throat named Charlie and a pine apple green cheek named kiwi. We've had Charlie first since April of 2015 the lady at the local pet store said some lady brought charlie in because she didn't want the bird anymore and that Charlie was three or four years old he's about 6 or 7 now and we got kiwi a few months later and the people from pet smart told us she wasn't even a year old yet that she was only a few months old so she is 2 now. At first they didn't get a long and fought and we had to keep them in seperate cages and watch them when they were put together. It was mostly charlie not liking kiwi but charlie eventually came around and they became best friends with kiwi liking to pick on Charlie from time to time trying to pick a fight and I would break them apart or charlie would fly away but they become so close that all they do is cuddle and preen each other and sleep together so we got them a bigger cage but they use it as more of a play stand And are free in the bathroom because the door connects to my bedroom and I always leave it open and I dont work so I'm always home watching them my birds are my babies. They love to preen and preen each other but kiwi has always had a mean streak in her and pulled out some of Charlie's feathers from time to time. Sometimes charlie will snap at kiwi when she is giving him to much love or annoying him a little. Me and my husband recently started noticing a spot on his head with a little less feathers and this morning his feather spot had a lot less feathers but still wasn't bald and a few hours later my husband noticed a red spot on Charlie's head and she plucked a lot of the feathers of and it looks raw I felt so bad and started crying because she has never done that to him before and I don't want to start keeping them apart because they love each other and spend every mi use of the day together. I didn't know she would start doing that to him but for now we put kiwi in the cage and have charlie out with us. It's giving me anxiety and I'm not sure what to do or what caused her to start doing this and I hate having to keep them apart. I recently switched them from zupreem to roudy bush pellets in the last week or two and they are not to happy with the switch I'm not sure if that has something to do with it.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wow, that is sad.
Maybe separate them temporarily until you get some good ideas to try? The ideal thing, for now, might be side-by-side cages or get them one of those breeding cages that have an nternal ivider? That way they could be together all the time, and when you're around to supervise, you could pull the divider out?
I hope somebody else has some better ideas...

 

[itzjbean]

Birds sometimes just pluck each other. Bonded pairs are even known to do this, one often times plucks/over-preens the other. I had two cockatiels that did this, both females, bonded. It wasn't excessive, but one would pull out the crest feathers of the other ones, and it just had a very small crest.

My advice is to keep them in separate cages right next to each other. That way they can still interact but both will be able to eat and sleep in complete safety. If not separated, it will only get worse. Always supervise outside of cage time and their interactions. Encourage chewing with the addition of fun new toys and be sure to offer fresh fruits and veggies to both.

 

[KikaMoran]

Thank you for the help I really didn't want to keep them apart but I'm going to have to because I don't want her plucking him any more

 

[LordTriggs]

it's a shame but yes keeping them apart is the only real way to deal with it. Being Kiwi is 2 and is only recently started doing it I'm going to point my blame at hormones. Hopefully she'll calm down in a couple weeks and return to being a nice bird

 

[KikaMoran]

UPDATE: Charlie's bald spots have filled in and all his feathers are back. Him and kiwi are back together and doing good and I'm checking to be sure kiwi doesn't start over plucking Charlie again. Keeping them apart for a while ended up working thanks so much for the device

 

[itzjbean]

Glad to hear of the progress made! Be sure to keep an eye out for any more signs of plucking, but maybe the separation helped one realize if I keep doing this then I won't see my friend.