Molting or plucking?

[Lwalker]

Just wondering if anyone who has viewed the picture I posted has any thoughts (?). Going to the Vet on Tuesday so will let you know what he says.

[Wolf]

While I wish there were also a picture showing more of him than just this little area, it looks to me like over preening, which would normally be considered to be the beginnings of plucking. Still this does need to be examined by the vet and I would consider that this could be the result of a food allergy, especially if there is soy or soy products in his diet. In the matter of plucking you must always rule out the possibility of a medical reason for it first thing.

[Lwalker]

Just checked and he is on Tropican Lifetime Formula and soy bean meal is the second ingredients listed. It seems to be what stores around me carry so I will have to do some research on where to get other products . Thanks again.

[Pajarita]

Hmm, I don't see that as overpreening but as plucking. The disagreement could be a matter of what our individual definitions of the word are or a matter of what we see in the picture itself. To me, overpreening is when the feathers appear ragged as a result of their 'worrying' them way too much and too often. The plumage overall look is one of disarray... you don't see any downy patches because no contour is actually missing but you don't see the feathers all 'sticking' together evenly throughout the entire body giving the bird a 'neat' look because the individual feathers have lost part of their integrity through excessive preening.

Does your bird spend three to four hours on you? Is it clipped? The reason I ask is that GCCs are very needy birds that require an inordinate amount of time spent ON their humans and, when they are fully flighted, they fly to your shoulder as soon as you open the cage (something the bird cannot do if it's clipped).

[Lwalker]

He spends four to five hours out of his cage, climbing all over it and sitting on perches or a tree stand and half an hour to an hour actually on me getting scratches and cuddles. He doesnt seem to want to be on me as much as near me.

He is clipped and the issue with being on me is that I have other animals. The two cats are actually no bother at all...not interested in him as they were raised with a cockateil but my dog is too interested (and very jealous)

As the weather gets nicer the dog will be outside more but I am trying to get him settle around Cricket.

Because he is in the living room he gets about 8 or 9 hours sleep and reading the posts here I am thinking of putting him in his spare cage at night in the back room so that he gets 10 hours. I am just worries a new room and different cage will be frightening at first but I guess better in the long run (?)

We go to the avian vet tomorrow to hopefully rule out any serious health problems.

[seagoatdeb]

Glad you are going to the vet, hard to tell from that pic and its definately worth a vet check. Let us know how it goes.

[Lwalker]

So Cricket is definitely plucking and has chewed up three of his tail feathers...right in front of me. The Vet says it is behavioural. He is perfectly healthy, no skin problems, eats great, and is very well socialized, he has just learned some bad behaviors at a young age. He likes to use his tail feather to scratch his head, if you can imagine that.

If I see him doing it and snap my fingers loudly without giving him any direct attention, I can distract him and he stops the behaviour. I will be looking for more preening and destruction toys and bought a foraging ball to keep him more occupied but the vet seemed to think I am doing right by him on the whole. If it continues he suggested a companion bird so I had Cricket sexed (I only assume he is a he) and will find out in a few days. Not sure I want to go that route but will if needed. My only worry would be if the two don't get along later, after puberty hits. He suggested another GCC.

[Lwalker]

I forgot, he also said not to clip his wings as he is not agressive and very tame and might benefit from the exercise and ability to more fully preen his natural wings and come to me when he wants. That makes me a bit nervous with the other animals but we are going to try (and I will remain very vigilant)

[Pajarita]

Yep, I had no doubts that it was plucking. Now, regardless of what the vet told you (they don't really study behavior or diet, they are doctors, not behaviorists or biologists), you do need to make changes or he/she will continue to pluck because although one could say that plucking is a behavioral problem, in reality, the 'problem' has physical 'roots' to it. Parrots pluck out of anxiety and/or frustration. GCCs are opportunistic breeders that require low protein, high moisture, high fiber and low fat in their diet, lots of hours out of cage for exercise (which your bird cannot do because he is clipped) and lots of hours of one-on-one. Free-feeding protein food is a no-no for them as it's keeping them at a human light schedule and, if you add to this the fact that he is not getting enough one-on-one or exercise (flying is the only activity that dissipates sexual hormones from their bloodstream), you have a very frustrated and anxious little bird.

Now, I have dogs, cats and birds and I have never, ever had a single incident where any of my birds had a problem with a cat or a dog so it can be done, you just need to work on a schedule and might need to tweak infrastructure. For example, when I first get up (at 6 am this time of the year), I let my dogs out and feed my cats in their room (they all come willingly because they are hungry for their breakfast) where they remain locked up (they don't mind this at all because they have their litter boxes, condos, beds and toys in there as well as food and water -they just eat and then go to sleep) until the parrots go back into their cages. As to the parrots, I uncover their cages and open their doors at around 6:15 am this time of the year (but I do not turn on the artificial lights until 8 am) and are out flying about or riding me until 12 or 12:30 pm when they are put in their cages, the cats are let out of their room and the dogs (which have been confined to the kitchen by a baby gate) go back outside. In the summer, when the days are longer, the parrots come back out for another couple of hours in the pm through the same process: dogs in the kitchen, cats in their room.

Now, I urge you to re-evaluate his diet (very important!), light schedule and routines because once they start plucking, if you don't change the conditions that made them start in the first place, they not only never stop, they get worse.