Shocking reason for Senegal feather barbering!

[JaydeParrot]

My male sennie hide has had trouble with his stomach and wing fathers for a while the stomach seemed plucked and the wings seemed barbered. I've given him more things to do, changed his diet to give him more veggies and less fruit, tried to expose him to the sun when possible and basically tried to keep him busy. It seemed to have worked, feathers galore are currently regrowing on each wing and his stomach for a while did seem to be recovering.

I figured he must be very proud of himself, unfortunately his mate isn't and since around the weekend has spent her time trying to chew his wing feathers and pluck the feathers from his neck, stomach and some of his head. For a while I tried to keep them in the same cage but found that cain (his mate) wouldn't stop attacking his feathers.

It's weird as she's not doing it aggressively she just gently walks over places her head under his neck or wing and slowly plucks/damages his feathers. He definetly doesn't enjoy it as he tries to move away and will climb away from cain who will just calmly follow him around until he stops again.

Last time I left them together (barely a minute or so) I came back to find one of his wing feathers pointed at an odd angle (I had checked his wings earlier and knew that it hadn't been like that before), I took him away from cain and looked at the feather, I gave it a gentle tug to see how strong it was and it snapped off (cain had chewed it till it had frayed and barely hung on).

It's frustrating as I can't keep them in the same cage anymore as cain will barber him, I can't get her to stop and I can't understand why she's doing it. If this continues, I'll have to get a second cage and keep them next to each other but seperate at the same time.

Meanwhile they bicker over the cage if I put hide in the cage and leave the cain outside, she will fly to the top and call loudly and hide will climb underneath her (from inside the cage) and start nipping her toes.

Does anyone know anything about couples therapy for parrots?

[Chantilly]

Hi, very intresting and shocking! I cerntainly wasnt expecting that to be the problem as I read this...
I think the best thing for you to do is spexactly what you have done, separate them... Best luck with your babies

[Wolf]

Might I ask the size of the cage?

[JaydeParrot]

Externally the montana style cage (curved top that opens) is 5 and a half feet tall, internally the cage is one meter tall 33 inches wide and 22 inches deep. I personally think it's quite a nice size for them?

I was going to invest in having a custom made cage both of them that would have been 6 feet long 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall and 2 foot deep but with the way they're acting I'm beginning to think of buying a cheapish montana cage to put next to the original so they can see each other but hide can keep all his feathers.

[Wolf]

That cage is a pretty standard size for a single parrot the size of a Senegal, although The World Parrot Trust recommends either a walk in aviary that is a minimum of 7 feet long or an indoor cage that is a minimum of 6 feet long.

I generally go by the size of the bird in that a Senegal averages 9 inches in length, which means a wingspan of twice that or 18 inches. This allows the bird to fully open its wings if it is in the center of the cage, so I double this to get the minimum size of cage for a single bird which for a Senegal is 36 inches or 3 feet minimum for a single bird. For two birds it should be at least twice this size.

Too small of a cage size is a major cause of many of the problems that we have with our birds and I would guess that this is probably the main cause of this situation as well.

[Pajarita]

Have you tried giving them a nest? Mine have been chewing like maniacs and they only do it during breeding season because they don't touch anything the rest of the year...

[Wolf]

Thanks, Pajarita, I did not even get to the point where I was considering that part of the circumstances but it is also a strong possibility.