Senegal biting himself whilst going through a molt.

[smithy]

Ozzy is now three years old.He had been with me from being three months old.
For the past three weeks he has been molting and I have noticed him biting himself whilst preening,to the point of making himself a little bit sore in places..
He is fed Tropical parrot mix /tidy mix plus fruit and veg.
His coat shines,he is playful and eating.Just like to hear any thoughts on this,its a long drive to the avian vets.Thankyou

[Eric&Rebecca]

You need to rule out skin conditions and under skin mites. Any problem like this will require a trip to the avian vet. I appreciate its a long drive but that shouldn't really matter too much as its very important to get anything like this checked. This will require skin swab or biopsy, feather biopsy, blood and dropping samples- you need to rule out medical causes before you go down the psychological route.

A few background checks:

Does he bathe or have a mist bath frequently?
Do you use any form of sprays to bathe him that have anything other than water in?
How often do you deep clean the cage?
Are the droppings normal?
How long has the moult been going on for?

[smithy]

Thank you for your repl.y
I have been misting him twice a day since I saw him itchy,he usually throws water over him self from his drinking bowl.
I just use warm water,nothing else has been in the spray.
He has two cages a large one in the dining room,and a normal sized parrot cage in the conservatory.
His cages are kept really clean,they are cleaned every morning.
He started to molt in April.
You can't really see any damage to his skin unless you really,really watch him when he is in his cage.
His droppings are normal,I only noticed really small patches that looked red when he stretched out.
He doesn't bite himself all the time whilst grooming,just some times.
He also comes out to play three or four times a day and has lots of toys in his cage
.Yes! he is a spoilt brat lol and he is loved to bits.

[Pajarita]

Well, for one thing, you should never use anything but cold water for their bath. If the room is cold (which it should never be), you can use room temperature water but warm is a no-no because it strips the natural oils from his feathers and skin.

Now, I know that everybody says that you should always rule out medical reasons (and you should!)for plucking and/or mutilation (I've done a lot of research about it and even wrote a paper on Feather Destructive Behavior) but, in truth, 99.99% of the time is emotional or environmental and nothing else. I don't think there has ever been a documented case of a pet parrot plucking because of parasites (it happens in the wild though, as a matter of fact, I think it's the only reason why birds pluck in the wild) but, in my personal experience, pluckers, barberers and self-mutilators always do it because of environmental or emotional causes. In many cases, it's because the bird is sexually frustrated (do you keep him to a strict solar schedule or is he on a human light schedule?) but they also do it when they are depressed (does he spend hours and hours on his own? Is he flighted or clipped? Sennies love to fly and often do it just for the fun of it). Sennies are birds that need closeness and they suffer without it. I have a male sennie that plucks and he is the only bird that started under my watch. He is now 17 years old and he only started last year when his second mate (the first one had died) started going down (it was a Nanday and she was 28 years old) and, when she died, he did it in earnest. He is now getting a little better but he is still plucking his chest so I guess I am going to have to see if I can get him another mate he can fall in love with...

So, if I were you, I would take the bird to the vet but I would also re-evaluate my husbandry to see if there is anything I can improve.

[smithy]

My goodness,what you read on some parrot sites! I have read that you should use warm water.
I will not use warm water again.
He is on human light,as we are retired he never spends a lot of time on his own,he does get a lot of attention and he does talk.He is flighted and plays out three times a day.In the summer he goes outside in his cage,with a cover on the top and I am always outside in the garden watching him.
Thanks very much for your reply.I shall stick to this forum for advice in the future.

[Pajarita]

Try to keep him to a solar schedule (up with sunrise and to bed with sunset) so his endocrine system can revert to been attuned with the seasons but he needs to be fully exposed to twilight for this to work properly because it's the change in solar spectrum that sets on or off his pineal gland (which, in turn, sets off the other glands). This is because birds are photoperiodic (meaning they set their 'internal clock' by the quantity and quality of light) and, when the days are long (artificial light after sunset), they produce sexual hormones. The problem with keeping parrots to a human schedule is that they produce sexual hormones all year round, year after year and this becomes not only emotionally but also physically uncomfortable for the bird, Birds only produce sexual hormones during the breeding season which makes their gonads (sexual organs) become enlarged and start producing hormones and go dormant (becoming small and inactive) the rest of the year but, when you keep them to a human schedule, they keep on producing hormones all year round. This makes their gonads very large and they can actually displace or squash other organs. I know of a male sennie that had blood in his urine because of over-large gonads. Aside from the physical discomfort, there is the constant and never relieved arousal which frustrates them terribly.

Also, during the day, he should have a good quality full spectrum light (CRI more than 94 and Ktemp as closest as 5500 as you can find it but, if anything, a little lower is better than a little higher because blue light -high Ktemp- puts them in breeding condition) and, in the winter, there should also be a humidifier in the room where he is kept (this is not only for his plumage but also for his respiratory system).

And yes, there are all kinds of misinformation in birdsites (people even dry blow their birds' feathers after a bath!!!), that's why I always tell people "Don't listen to ANYBODY (and that includes me), do your own research from field biologists and scientists that have observed and studied the species you have in the wild and draw your own conclusions. And, when in doubt, go to what nature does and imitate it as close as possible". But the bath water is an easy one because there is no warm water in nature -LOL.

[smithy]

You have given me lots to think about ! thank you ,by the way,the water in my garden bird bath does get warm in summer! lol
Its very difficult to keep to ( up with sunrise and bed and sunset) when he lives in the house.( actually in the room we use most of the time. Don't know how to get round that one.
The biting isn't all that bad really, since he went into his cage after his tea time play out,he hasn't been preening or biting at all.Its just that they are so little and I must admit I do watch him a lot .First bird I have kept,used to keep dogs/cats/horse/goats..........never worried about them like I do himI
So what in your opinion is a good diet for a sennie. How many times a week should he get fruit and veg....etc.............parrot mix or harrisons? only asking because you appear to know what you are talking about......there are so many pools of thought.

[Pajarita]

Well, when it comes to diet, I am a bit of a maverick and have been for a long time now. I don't feed pellets because I don't consider them the healthiest option. I feed all my birds (from budgies to cockatoo now but I've had macaws, too) a dish made of cooked whole grains, beans and chopped veggies and that's what my sennies eat (I only have two now but had four) for breakfast accompanied by a raw veggie, a raw fruit and a leafy green or a cruciform (they all get a low protein seed mix for dinner). My male is a great eater of raw produce because he has been with me for 6 years but my female is not (I've only had her for less than a year -all my birds are rescues or rehomes), she only eats certain fruits and almost no greens at all so this dish gives me peace of mind.

And yes, I know exactly what you mean. I have dogs and cats as well as birds (canaries, finches and parrots) and I don't worry at all about the dogs and cats but I am always worried to the point of obsession about the birds. People think that birds are low maintenance but it's exactly the opposite! It's almost impossible to keep them healthy and happy for anybody with a normal lifestyle... thankfully for mine, I am not what you would call 'normal'

[smithy]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I am so pleased to report that Ozzy has stopped biting himself,I think it could be that he was itchy going through a molt,I have been misting him once a day and it seems to have stopped him biting himself.I did not want to have him messed about by vets If It wasn't really needed.
Now you have me thinking about diet! he does get fruit and raw veg every day along with Tidy mix,Tropical parrot food,and I have bought him some Harrison's
Thanks again for trying to help.x