Nobody likes a bald bird. Feather plucking can be a major problem for pet birds and parrots. The best thing to do if you notice that your bird has started to pluck its feathers is to immediately take your bird to a qualified avian veterinarian. After your vet has ruled out any medical causes for the feather plucking, you are left with environmental causes or psychological causes.
There are many different chemical treatments for feather plucking on the market. Most of them are expensive and should only be used under the supervision of a veterinarian. There are also several different parrot collars on the market. The collars prevent your bird from reaching its feathers. The bird will not be able to pluck its feathers, but it will not be able to preen them either, which can lead to other serious medical issues.
Before resorting to either of these extreme measures, there are some simple and noninvasive things that you can change in your parrot’s environment to help reduce or completely cure the feather plucking.
Using a Humidifier
Many pet parrots and birds are originally from a tropical climate. These birds spent millions of years evolving and adapting to a hot and humid climate. These parrots actually prefer the hot sticky climate of the rainforest. We on the other hand prefer to keep our homes dry and relatively cool.
Our dry environment can affect our parrots and pet birds in a negative way, causing them to suffer from dry skin. Just like we get itchy when our skin is dry, so to do birds. Irritated skin can lead a bird to start feather plucking in an effort to alleviate the itch. Setting up a simple cool mist humidifier in the area of your parrot’s cage can help relieve your bird’s dry skin and in turn lessen the urge to pluck.
Eliminating the Dye
Just like us, parrots and pet birds can have allergies. When a bird comes in contact with something that it is allergic to, it basically gets hives. The hives irritate its skin and cause it to become itchy, and just like with dry skin, the itch leads to plucking.
The main allergen that a pet bird comes in contact with is dye. Many foods and most parrot toys contain vegetable dye. To find out if your bird is suffering from a dye allergy, simply eliminate the dye from their environment. Most brands of parrot and pet bird food make a dye free version of their product and, with a little searching, you can find a variety of dye free toys too.
It may take several weeks or even months before a bird suffering from a dye allergy can fully flush the dye from its system, so don’t get discouraged too quickly. It takes some parrots a year or more to start re-growing their feathers after they stop plucking.
Curing the Boredom
In addition to the environmental causes of plucking, like dry skin or dye, there are psychological causes as well. Parrots are extremely intelligent and can get bored easily. Without ample toys to keep a bird busy, they can turn to their feathers as a source of entertainment.
Birds need several toys in their cages at a time, and they should be replaced every month or so with a different toy. It also helps to move the placement of toys around in the parrot’s cage so that it looks new and interesting.
Poor Feather Shine
If a parrot or pet bird is indoors, as most of them are, they may not be receiving the proper amount of UVA and UVB rays from direct sunlight. A lack of UV can lead a bird to vitamin deficiencies, which can cause their feathers to look dull. A bird with dull feathers will often times obsessively preen them and, ultimately, pluck them out.
Normal household light bulbs do not emit UV and household window glass filters UV rays out of the sunlight passing through them. In order to provide your bird with a healthy dose of UV they need a full spectrum avian light. The light should be close to their cage, without being too close that the bird can peck the bulb or chew the electrical cord.
Feather plucking is almost always a symptom of something greater, so before starting any new treatment for parrot, talk with your avian veterinarian. Your vet can help you monitor your bird’s progress a help guide you in the treatment decisions that you make for your bird.
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