Why
do our pet parrots pick their feathers?
How
often do you see outside birds with picked feathers?
You may see feathers looking ruffled or dirty, but are they picking feathers?
This thought raises several
questions, some unanswered, as to why our pet parrots do pluck their feathers.
Is it their environment, disease, insecurity, depression, or lack of attention
that brings them to pick some or all feathers?
All species may pluck their
feathers, but the African Greys and Cockatoos seem to be the worse offenders.
Possible
reasons for feather picking:
Illness
First and most importantly is
to have your parrot checked completely by a reputable avian vet!!
This will no doubt include blood tests to rule out any serious disease
or infections.
Parrots and birds in general
are excellent at hiding their illnesses until they are just to weak to
continue. If you think your parrot is ill by all means have them
checked out immediately! Don't panic!! Sometimes a quick
call to an avian vet can reassure you if the problem is not serious or
alert you if immediate medical treatment is required. Normally the
vet will suggest making an appointment to dismiss any problems and to satisfy
your peace of mind. A telephone call is NOT an alternative
to seeing the vet it is only a precaution in case immediate emergency treatment
is needed.
I
am assuming your parrot is hand raised and tame/not wild
Not all
veterinarians are trained to handle or care for birds/parrots.
And not all avian vets make good choices. The key is
watching how confident they are when holding your parrot, including trimming
nails, feathers and beak. If the vet is nervous
or uneasy with the bird/parrot chances
are this is NOT going to be a good choice for your pet.
You don't want to put your parrot under any more stress than it is already
experiencing. A vet who is confident with cockatiels may not
be with a cockatoo or other larger parrots.
If your parrot is healthy
and there is no apparent medical reason for feather picking then start
one by one on ruling out the problem.
I feel healthy parrots should
receive at least one medical checkup a year.
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Improper
Diet
A good diet is not only a required
element to good health it is also your obligation. A well rounded
diet will help guard against illness and also help to promote good feather
formation. You are their caretaker and they *depend* on you for their
needs.
Parrots should receive fresh
fruits and veggies along with a good pellet diet daily. Some
parrots almost refuse to switch from seed to pellets, but I feel
(this is my opinion) a pellet diet is far better than seed.
I've noticed, with our parrots, their all around health and feather
formation has changed, for the better, since luring them over to pellets.
When changing from seed to
pellets, or any other diet, do it slowly. Don't expect
your parrot to accept it just because it is offered.
We made the change from seed to pellets slowly by adding a couple of pellets
to the seed dish to acquaint them to the new addition.
Once we saw they were actually
eating the pellets, not just playing with them, we started
adding more pellets with less seed. Soon they were receiving
only pellets and we were receiving no complaints with the switch.
Of course, they could
not verbally tell us our decision to switch made them happy, but the amount
of pellets being consumed and the lack of pellets on the cage bottom and
surrounding floor certainly did. They were now *totally* converted
to pellets without any signs of unhappiness.
Some suggest birds get bored
with the small green squares staring at them everyday and in some cases
this may be true if they are not fed other nutritious
foods. No matter what food you feed your birds they can get bored.
That is why it is very important to add several choices along with pellets.
Our parrots are fed Harrison's
Adult Lifetime Coarse, Lafeber's Macaw and Cockatoo Pellets, Lafeber's
Nutri-Berries and Lafeber's Avi-Cakes along with fresh fruits and veggies.
As a treat they receive a couple of peanuts....what parrot doesn't like
a peanut! Although peanuts are fattening and if
given the choice they would eat the peanuts rather than their food, I feel
there is no harm in a couple of peanuts, as a treat, if they are eating
their other foods. Charlie loves her peanuts and looks
forward to them! (Some parrots require assorted nuts
in their diet)
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Boredom
Please don't put a bird in a
cage with only food and water and not expect them to get bored.
Parrots are extremely intelligent creatures requiring toys and activity
for stimulation on a daily basis. On the other hand don't
load down their cage with so many toys they can not move!
In the wild, parrots
are constantly on the go. To put them in a cage, without
toys (or to many) and without a play area (outside their cage) is cruel
punishment. No matter how *large* the cage, if they *never*
get out it is abuse to keep them there! This is why it is very
important to keep your parrot socialized.
If your parrot if afraid
of being handled chances are it is going to bite you. And lets face
it no one wants to be bitten on a daily basis. So what does that
mean for your parrot? It means spending more time in its cage,
being ignored, quickly becoming bored, depressed and an easy candidate
for disease and /or feather picking. If you are going to have a parrot
it is extremely important to take time holding them each day. This
is time well spent for both of you. back
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Excessive
Dry Conditions
Before I discuss dry conditions
let me approach excessive oil. Especially in the parrot owner's
hands. Our son who held our goffin cockatoo hours a day had
this problem. Even though he washed his hands thoroughly Fluffy
continued to pick her feathers. When Jacob began working he was unable
to spend as much time with Fluffy. This is when we first noticed
the change.
The feather picking did continue
but her feathers were looking much better. Over a period of
time her feathers started growing back. This makes me believe the
excessive oils in his hands was causing her stress to the point of over
preening to compensate. Except for a very small patch on her
breast, she is now in full feather.
Dry conditions are easily
handled by misting your parrot on a daily basis. Depending on how
dry it is you may want to mist more often during the day.
I don't believe you should mist parrots at night before bedtime.
During this time they could catch a chill causing them to become ill.
There are also misting products that contain aloe to soothe and possibly
stop feather picking. Read directions completely before using any
new product on your pet.
Never mist if the room is
cool or drafty. Always use common sense when misting
a bird/parrot in the winter time, if you live in an area where it becomes
quite cold, extra precautions are needed. Never
have your bird or parrot in a room with an open window in the winter or
on cool days. You may feel comfortable but a draft can
be a death sentence to a parrot!
Sometimes it is better to
blow dry, especially during the winter. Hold the dryer at arms
length, away from the parrot, set the temperature on low or
medium heat then move in a slow circular motion. Once your
parrot is dried (or partially dried) they usually sit and preen before
taking a nap. Preening is a natural instinct, feather
picking is not! back to top
Over
Stimulation
This occurs, more often,
as the parrot matures. If they are constantly held and petted in
areas of stimulation they will become frustrated and soon begin to take
those frustrations out on themselves, or you. Petting a parrot
constantly on its back or under its back feathers can cause over stimulation.
This can lead to masturbation or excessive frustration if your parrot
does not have a mate.
We all kiss and love on our
parrots, as they well deserve, but please do not over stimulate them because
this is not fair to them. It can cause them to become aggressive
resulting in biting the hand who feeds them and in turn landing them extra
time in its cage through no fault of its own. back
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Depression
Depression comes after experiencing
any or all of the above situations. I've heard of parrots
becoming so depressed because a favorite toy was lost that they refused
to eat. Or a picture that was hung on a wall, within viewing distance,
was moved to the opposite wall making it impossible for the pet to see
it!
Don't let your parrot become
a prisoner of monotony! By keeping things the same parrots
don't adapt well to change. Rotating toys of different colors and
shapes helps to stimulate their interests. Rotating their food
choices and moving their cage or play stand will also help them adapt
to change. If these are practiced when the parrot is young
they will be more secure when/or if changes appear in their environment
as they mature.
If your lifestyle changes
and you can no longer spend as much of a one on one holding time, don't
ignore your parrot. Allow it to be out of its cage, when you are
home. Talk to it each time you pass by its cage or play area.
If nothing more than "Hi how are you doing?"
In other words acknowledge
its presence don't ignore it! Our goffin cockatoo, Fluffy,
will carry on a conversation with me, as I'm preparing dinner with nothing
more than "Hi". As long as I continue to respond (in
a soft voice) to her "Hi" she will sit quietly and chat. But
if I ignore her presence she will make sure her presence is known with
loud screams that could curl your toes!!
Respect and kindness goes
a long way with any pet and parrots are no exception. Don't ignore
them. Don't keep them locked up in a cage. Don't over stimulate
them. Don't ignore their needs for a proper diet. Don't deprive
them of a good avian vet. back to top
Too Many
Parrots
Don't accumulate parrots
just because they are available or you have more love than you have time,
room, or money to care for them properly.
Parrots are beautiful and
playful, with a loving nature (when socialized) and require a good
loving home to keep them that way. But please don't burden your established
family (human and feathered) with a chance of depression and feather
plucking by adding too many to the flock.
We must also take into consideration
our spouse and family members. Is another addition going to be accepted
by all? Parrots can be noisy and they take up extra
space. Additional time is required for socializing and cleaning,
all of which may effect other family members. Adding a parrot should
be thoroughly thought out and discussed with family members before making
any decision.
Lets face it, parrots
live long lives sometimes up to 100 years and as we age we also need to
take this into consideration. Chances are that our bodies
and stamina are not going to hold up for as long as our parrots will need
us. To not recognize this or ignore it is selfish abuse on our part.
If you have read my do's
and don'ts you know, I feel, if it takes you longer to clean up and
prepare (proper) food for your parrots than it does to spend quality time
with them you have too many. All pets deserve a loving
home with a loving caretaker who is not overworked or stressed out themselves
from taking care of their pets.
Parrots pick up on this stress
causing them to bite, stop eating, become ill, and pluck their feathers.
So for the question "Why do parrots pluck their feathers?"
I don't feel there is only one situation, but several in conjunction with
or on their own that contribute to feather picking.
As with humans I feel stress
is the number one cause of illness and after reading you can see stress
is caused in many ways including our own stress being transferred to our
pets.
If you are already caring
for too many parrots, the next time you see one who needs a good loving
home, please call a friend who may take care of it. You will
be doing a special favor for all of you. back
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