Minor feather plucking caused my wood-stove heat?

[hnhobu]

My lovie is the happiest bird I know. He spend most of his time on either me or my husband, and is always tail wagging and fluffing. Considering that we've only had him for a month, he's bonded to not only myself and my husband, but our cats very well. To me, he seems like a very happy, healthy bird aside from a weight problem that we are currently working on. BUT, I have recently noticed some feathers missing on the upper part of his wings, around where his shoulder would be. It is nothing sever, as my husband can barely even notice it (this is his first parrot, so he doesn't really know what's up). We give him baths whenever we shower, and if we don't he always takes a dive in his water bowl.

For the past week we have been staying at my in-laws house for a mini-vacation. We still always have Cassette (my lovie) with us, and he is still in the same routine. The only major difference between our place and my in laws is that my in laws have a wood burning stove, and the heat is very dry. I was wondering if you guys thought that this was the issue? And if so, how can I make my little guy feel better for the next few days? I don't want this plucking to become a habit.

And of course, if you have any other advice feel free to share!

Cassette eats a diet of mainly seeds and vegetables, as I have read that when it comes to lovebirds specifically, a seed based diet is better than a pellet based diet. I am slowly introducing more food.

[marie83]

Right I will make it clear that I have never known anyone with a wood burning stove so am not familiar with the ins and outs of them other than I assume they are set up in a way that directs the fumes/smoke elsewhere and that they do what they say on the tin.

I would never trust anything like that not to leech smoke into the room or fumes which are invisable to us. Birds lungs are made up differently and are much more sensitive than our. If this situation has coincided with being around the stove then I would automatically assume they were related and see a vet to make sure his lungs are not damaged or there is no toxicity going on.

Of course it could be humidity or any number of other things including stress from being in an unfamilar enviornment or something and nothing but they wouldn't be the first things I would check out.

[hnhobu]

Right I will make it clear that I have never known anyone with a wood burning stove so am not familiar with the ins and outs of them other than I assume they are set up in a way that directs the fumes/smoke elsewhere and that they do what they say on the tin.

I would never trust anything like that not to leech smoke into the room or fumes which are invisable to us. Birds lungs are made up differently and are much more sensitive than our. If this situation has coincided with being around the stove then I would automatically assume they were related and see a vet to make sure his lungs are not damaged or there is no toxicity going on.

Of course it could be humidity or any number of other things including stress from being in an unfamilar enviornment or something and nothing but they wouldn't be the first things I would check out.

The smoke from wood stoves go directly up the chimney and out of the house, but I understand what you're saying about leeching. The thing is, I can't get to a vet right now and really don't think that is the problem as there have been other birds brought to this house that have been just fine. Not only that but the wood stove is two stories below us and no where near Cassette.

[friend2parrots]

welcome to the forum!

unfortunately, wood-burning stoves pose hazards to both humans and birds. I found a number of articles on the internet after entering the terms " wood burning stoves hazards". please read the first three or four, esp. this one:

http://copd.about.com/od/livingwithcop1 ... stoves.htm

The respiratory systems of birds are far more delicate than that of humans.

As far as the plucking is concerned, birds sometimes pluck when the environment is new, but I wouldn't be surprised if the dryness, as well as some of the chemicals released from the wood-burning stove, may have deposited on the birds feathers, and have created a new "taste" for him when he preens, something that he may now be trying to clean off.

i am not sure how many rooms your in-laws house has, but I would suggest you bathe your lovie, and place him for the entire duration of the vacation in a room inaccessible to the heat from the wood-burning stove. other forum members who have experience with space heaters may be able to suggest a good brand of space heater to buy. when i was looking into space heaters for my birds some years back i do remember reading that some are safer than others. i'd suggets an internet search through forums with the terms "birds space heaters safe".

couple of other thoughts that i had reading your post:

your lovie does sound like a friendly little guy. however, i noticed that your bird is clipped in your profile. i am not sure if allowing a friendship between a clipped bird and a cat is a good idea. cats are the natural predators of birds, and their predatory instincts are very much with them. your clipped bird has no means of escape if your cat gets into a mood, or if the bird gets into a mood and provokes him. one swipe of a cats claws can kill the bird. also, there is a particular chemical in cats saliva which is toxic to birds. in my opinion, i would not allow interaction between the cat
and bird, even if it were fully flighted. you never know when the creatures can get themselves into moods and provoke each other, with tragic results. just yesterday, i heard on the forum about a lovebird being killed by a housecat companion.

in any case, all the best to you and your lovebird

[friend2parrots]

as i went to hit the submit button i noticed that marie had already responded, with a reply from you. i decided to post the above post anyway, as i agree with what marie is saying in her post.

[hnhobu]

Well thank you for the replies!

I would like to clarify (just for my own sake) that my lovie and my cats are never left alone in any way shape or form, as I know of the dangers of letting this two animals mingle alone. No matter how friendly they are, there are still instincts and I want to prevent any 'accidents' from happening. Your replies have made me think about it further though, and I will be limiting their interactions even further. I would also like to state that I would prefer to have my lovie be free-flighted, but because we live in a apartment and are not home 24/7, it doesn't seem piratical.

As far as putting him in a room that isn't heated, I'm unsure if that is possible. The house is very large and house three floors. We are on the top floor, farthest from the wood stove (it is on the front right-hand corner of the house on the basement floor, we are on the back left-hand corner of the house on the top floor). I will keep watching and bathing him, and I will look into the hazards of wood-stoves.

Thank you for all of your help and advice!

[hnhobu]

I just want to let everyone know that Cassette hasn't plucked anything today!

We've given him two baths and he seems much perkier. Perhaps it really just was the dry heat driving his skin nuts. I did notice that he was preening a lot more than usual. Not only himself but us to!

[kittyhazelton]

I have heated my house with a wood stove for YEARS with birds & any other small animal you can think of (I even have Chameleons, and those are more sensitive than birds IMO)
Yes, wood heat is VERY dry heat. I compensate for this by running humidifies & if your stove will allow it I put a pot of water on top of it: the surface isn't hot enough to boil water, but it does evaporate slowly which helps with the humidity.

I would suspect the dry air is irritating your bird. Mist, bath, get a good humidifier: whatever you can do to help with the humidity. I had a big humidifier set up next to Chica's cage during winter months and she is in perfect feather.

[independentminded]

As a bird owner and an apartment dweller, I would never, ever use anything such as a wood stove or any other appliance that leeches smoke and/or fumes into the air like that. It's too risky, imho. I have a self-cleaning oven, but I have never, ever cleaned my oven with birds in the house and never will. So, my oven gets a cleaning once a year, when I go on vacation and board my bird. That's how it's always been.