by Pajarita » Thu May 26, 2022 10:27 am
Welcome to the forum, Lola and her human, and I am sorry Lola is plucking. Unfortunately, grays are prone to plucking and they usually start between 8 and 10 years of age. Now, vets do not check everything. I am not criticizing them or recommending that you do not take your birds to the vet but a bird can have physical problems that do not show on any normal blood work - like too high sexual hormones, for example, a very common cause of plucking- or depression, anxiety, etc. Unless the vet is testing for hormones, none of these problems show in a CBC or even a chem panel. People usually calls these problems 'behavioral' but only the symptoms are behavioral, the problems are all hormonal in one way or another. So, if I were you, I would re-evaluate her diet, her light schedule, out-of-cage and one-on-one time and how busy the household is because grays do NOT like busy ones, they like peace and quiet and routines that never change. Sometimes, a drastic change in their routines, like what happened when you had to leave her to care for you mother and daughter, brings up all the things that might be just a bit off and cause extreme anxiety which makes them start plucking and, unfortunately, in most cases, when they start to pluck, they just do not stop. Personally, I have had mixed results... some stop completely, some do it seasonally and some never stop. And I don't know what makes the difference but I think it's the bird's own personality. The same way that there are people that get terribly depressed or super anxious to the point of having a panic attack when something happens to them, some birds cannot 'cope' while there are people and parrots that go through terrible experiences and bounce back.
I do not believe that collars work in the sense that it is just a deterrent and not a cure so, if you take it off, the bird will start plucking again and, in truth, I would not make one of my birds wear such an uncomfortable thing for them (it prevents them from preening). They don't care what they look like so, as long as the bird is healthy and seems content with its life, I am happy. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer they did not but I don't obsess over it. I have two birds that pluck and one (a fairly recent addition) that must have plucked at one time because her plumage is a MESS but, although it appears she is no longer doing it, she hasn't grown any new feathers either (she is still in a very bad shape, got a little bit better here but it will take a looooong time for her to even move normally). And, in all honesty, Lola only plucks a teeny tiny bit -you can hardly tell- so, if she was my bird, I would make sure her diet, light schedule, flight time and time with me was good (my gray practically lives on my shoulder now that she does not live in a cage and has the run of the house) and hope for the best without actually thinking much about it.