keeping parrots (merged)

Maz

Thanks everybody for your advice and comments. From what you've all said, it sounds to me as if Jack is pining.

I'll pass all this info on and hopefully, it can be sorted out.

feather_2

Btw, having the television on all the time might be a bit much. Maybe try leaving the radio on instead - at low volume - changing the station to add variety.

smartypantz

Hi there my sisters african grey used to do that and she bought stuff called bitter beak from local pet shop it works a treat. It doesnt harm the bird, i think it just leaves horrible taste all you do is spray it on the bird and it deters it from pulling out its feathers. Hope this helps

Fran

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snowman2_2

Feather plucking in Greys is common and there are many different causes. We see a lot of these and it can be very frustrating to get to the bottom of it. You need to be going to see an avian vet, there are plenty throughout the country, who will probably spend a good 30 mins or more going over a variety of things that are a potential cause. Blood samples, xrays etc may be needed but you need to see a vet who is used to feather plucking parrots

UKTigerlily

I know very little about parrots except they have a partner for life & need to be with others, think I saw that on a parrot rescue programme. I'd also suggest a vet with experience of exotics. Sorry I can't help

Reets

My African grey is 15 had him since he was 5 months old, has never plucked a feather and spends his life out of the cage only goes in it to bed most of the feather pluckers are bored. my grey has the tv on allday has loads of toys and human companionship. As for the vet would look for a proper avarian vet.

saffiedale_2

when my brother died of a tragic accident, there was a awful lot going on in moms house, the bird saw so much heart ache and crying. he plucked himself bald. when we took him to the vets he asked if he had been through any upset, which of course he had. the vet said i understand its hard but if you want to cry or get upset. please leave the room and dont let him know you are crying. it took time and jacks feathers came back.

Maz

smartypantz wrote: »

Hi there my sisters african grey used to do that and she bought stuff called bitter beak from local pet shop it works a treat. It doesnt harm the bird, i think it just leaves horrible taste all you do is spray it on the bird and it deters it from pulling out its feathers. Hope this helps

This sounds like a possible solution, great, thanks!

Many thanks to everyone who replied, I've passed on all the suggestions to my friend. He'll probably try them all!

upferret

Hi, we took in an african grey who plucks and I have found a product called "stress control 911" to be very helpful. I got it from america, its the same ingredients as a very expensive product called pluck-no-more made by the same company but labelled differently, the one I got was $18 for four bottles. you put a few drops in the water for up to 3 months and you can also dilute it and spray it on your bird. There are about 150 reasons why greys pluck so pin pointing the cause might be difficult! but this will help if your parrot is stressed. you can just put it down to boredom but it can be a factor. We got our parrot because the old owners had just had a baby and jack was pulling all his feathers out.Our parrot (also a jack) now only plucks when his new feathers are coming in- now he isnt bored and or stressed so we know its because it irritates him at this point and he will pull all the old ferathers out from his chest in about 3 days. after this the new feathers come and he will grow fully feathered and look great, never plucking again til his next lot of feathers start coming through. He certainly isnt bored, he is allowed out most of the day and has tonnes of destrucatble toys to play with, an has lots of human interaction as well as living next to two cockatiels. We have found the trick with him to distract him with new toys when his new feathers are coming through and keep him busy, as well as daily "showers" with cool water from a water spray. you have to really soak them down to the skin at least once a week otherwise they get dry skin, misting is not enough. Another thing we did was make sure he had a varied diet with not very many sunflowers in as these arent very good at all in large quantities, and lots of fruit. I would suggesting taking him to an avian vet for tests to see if it is any thing medical such as mites, after that it could take a lot of detective work!