The Plucking Parrot

Good luck, Nikki! Is Richard Jones at Avian Veterinary Services in Cheshire too far from you? He is very good and performed an endoscopy on Ollie my Orange-winged Amazon.

http://avianveterinaryservices.co.uk/
Oh thank you! I have been looking and ive emailed a couple. He's really going at his new growth feathers now, I'm gutted. I feel very guilty. Poor boy. He's been moved around quite a bit from what i can gather. I'm hoping time will teach him hes ok here, hes safe and hes staying. Wouldnt you think a talking pet could tell you what the problem is?!
 
Only wish they can tell us of there problems. but all we can do is go by the advice of the vet and do our best in our knowledge to improve the birds life and hopefully gain its trust and love back.
 
A great post Sam


I have three pluckers (rescues)


Rosie came t me a plucker and a mutilator, in the first weekend of getting her she cost me in excess of £500, she had so many tests done and we found out she had airsaculitus and liver problems, she had the treatment, nebuliser used daily etc, back and fourth to the vets and us now clear, she stopped mutilating and for the most part has even stopped plucking, however she does pluck when she gets hormonal or stressed.


Charlee girl is another rescue that came to me as a plucker and mutilator, again all the tests have been done, again liver problems and other deficiencies were found, all down to bad diet, bad house keeping etc. The mutilating has stopped but she still plucks, she's on all the supplements needed as advised by my vet, she has annual vet visits,sometimes mire often if I'm worried etc. she's back next week for her annual health and bloods, but I have a feeling her results will now come back clear again yet she still plucks, which makes me wonder if she now plucks out of habit and because she can't fly.


Max is another rescue that came to me as a plucker, again he went to my vets when he came, we noticed his eyes just were not right, pupils were just not right and he could not see us if we were at a distance. He underwent all the tests, poor liver etc. from bad, fatty diet and he had a very bad eye infection, treatment of eye drops and supplements were given. His eye sight is now much better and he can now see pretty well (he went back and fourth to my vets due to his eyes etc.) and he can fly and land confidently. His pupils will never be "right" as he's had pupil trauma and he's stopped plucking, but where he plucked himself badly,mine feathers have never come back and he has a fair amount of red feathers due to follicle damage.


I would like to add that all three if the above birds had been clipped and couldn't fly, the clipping was done by their previous owners and all of them can now fly very well apart from Charlee girl, her clip was horrendous and her wing was damaged!!


Also all of the birds had all this treatment, funded by me even though I didn't have any intention on keeping them, I rescue/ re home birds personally, I don't charge etc. but I do take them to the vets to make sure they're in good health, the real poorly birds don't move to a forever family, they stay here with me as I wouldn't want somebody else to have the expense of their treatment as I always wonder if they would get it in another home as parrots are costly anyway without the added costs of illness etc.


Julie
Was interested in this post as my cockatiel has just started plucking. She is free flying, has company of other teals and a mate. They live with me indoors. I have bought the special lamp, she has all veggies etc and seems happy in herself. I took her to the vet who said it was hormones as she had been egg laying. She is now plucking more and she goes into the vets for bloods next Wednesday. She is 3 yrs old and I’ve had her from young. I was worried about the anaesthetic as my friend took his African bird in and it died under it. If you have any advise for Me I would be grateful. Thanks
 
Thanks Michael. The vets are getting back to me today. I said it did not want her anaesthetising, as my friend African grey died under this. They are getting back to me later as the vet is operating at the min on other things. I will let you know the response. It was a shock to me this morning when she had started pulling them out from under the wing line as well. She is sitting under the lamp at the min. I can’t shut her in the cage as she gets gets frights and has already stripped her wing back to the bone twice with this problem in the cage so now she is not caged and this problem has stopped. She puts herself under the lamp which is good. In herself she is eating well and seems happy enough. It’s such a worry though and I did not want my other tiels getting it if it’s anything infectious. But they all seem fine, this has been going on for about 3 weeks now. I will send pictures when I get her but at the min she is sleeping under the lamp and it stresses her me keep looking. Thanks again
 
I do not class being concerned as paranoid, you know your bird better than any one else and that includes any vet whom will only see her for a few minutes. birds that stress and trying to relax them, one of the best ways I have found especially for pluckers and mutilators is by using a nebulizer with them. If you search for the post "National geographic" and click on the link and read through you will see me using one with a ringneck that was a mutilator and plucker.
 
Hi michael. This is barney and what her underwings look like. She is overpreening constantly. She has worn her little self out and is now sleeping on my knee. Aww. The vet cannot do the blood tests without putting her under. He says it’s too stressful for the bird otherwise. He has sedated her before when she took all her wing feathers out to the bone in the cage with a night fright. But it’s worrying. What do they have to do to take blood. Thanks Angie
 

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Does she have plenty to do - toys etc. Also calcium sprinkled onto her food - it's just a thought.
Do you spray her regularly with warm water.
 
She is a free bird, has veggies and all sorts to eat. She has home made toys. I made some more today but at the min not interested. She has a mate but they don’t no how to mate with each other and do it against a wall. He adores her. She has laid one clutch of eggs and sat on them till she got bored. She then started laying again but I stopped it as she started plucking and I didn’t want her body to cope with egg laying and plucking. She has been doing this for 3 weeks now.thankyou for replying
 
Great post and informative. We've got a full time nudist (damaged follicles) macaw (her back, under wings and sides mainly). Hers is ultimately down to mental issues (ocd included) rather than physical. It does get very tiresome when 'non-bird' people tell me that it's "just because she's stressed and bored":nono:. I used to try and justify the reasons. Now I can't be bothered explaining unless they're genuinely interested rather than being judgy! :nut:
 
there are two main ways of taking bloods, for a cockatiel the best method is by cutting a toe nail just at the point of the blood flow, this causes very little stress to the bird and any bleeding is easily stopped once samples have been taken. it should not need any anesthetic and no need for your bird to be put to sleep. Its a method I and many breeders have used and one your vet should be able to do.
 
None of my flock have ever been put to sleep whilst being microchipped, I have held each one during the procedure, out of over fifty birds that I have had micro chipped only one showed a slight sign of concern, that was my Peter a golden mantled rosella, these birds hate being touched any way. I had a very good avian vet.
 
Thanks Michael. How do you stop the flow of blood from the bird once they have cut the nail out of curiosity.
 
I use stop bleed it can be used with dogs, cats , as well. most pet shops will have that or a similar product.. having every thing clean and disinfected is important.
 
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