# feather plucking blue gold macaw



## Guest (Mar 10, 2009)

My macaw is plucking. Seen regular vet, and tried everything behavorial, seems to do go on eating and screaming binges for about a week then feathers start to come in. Then goes through another phase. Anybody dealt with actual health problems, thyroid, hormone etc. other than environment etc. thanks


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

ummm
I dont have a parrot but I do have friends that do
from what they have told me what you are going through can be caused by you not spending enough time with the bird
my buddies parrot was plucking his feathers out and that was why
they said that parrots are like small children and need to have A LOT of time spent with them 
chatting, playing, giving them treats and so on
I might be totally wrong but I figured I would share what I have learned from my friends that have parrots


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

Many of these birds that become veteran self-puckers have been doing it on and off for years and need medications to break the habit. Drugs that have been used successfully for this problem include the hormone Depopovera (medroxyprogesterone acetate injection of 5-25mg/kg every 3 months) which alters mood and mood-altering medications that work directly on the brain, such as Elavil (amitryptyline1-2mg/kg twice a day) and drugs that decrease obsessive-compulsive behaviors such as Clomacalm (chlomipramine HCl 0.5-1mg/kg once or twice a day orally). I have had the most success using a preparation of strawberry syrup and chlomipramine. 

I found that on the following website
http://www.2ndchance.info/selfpluck.htm


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

here is another site that has some steps you might be able to take to stop your bird from plucking its fathers out
http://www.birdtricks.com/feather-plucking.htm


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

and here is a forum dedicated to parrots
http://www.parrotforum.net/forum/parrot-care/449-feather-plucking-some-causes-cures.html


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

everything ston3d said. and diet, should read about harrison's bird foods.
http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/about/index.html


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

vintagepony said:


> My macaw is plucking. Seen regular vet, and tried everything behavorial, seems to do go on eating and screaming binges for about a week then feathers start to come in. Then goes through another phase. Anybody dealt with actual health problems, thyroid, hormone etc. other than environment etc. thanks


Are you doing anything differently since he started this behavior?? Have you changed anything?


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

I'm not an expert about exotic birds but what I was told is when the bird is bored they do pluck their feathers...They actually need some toys in the cage or maybe a larger room to raom around...Do you actually seen the bird pulling its feathers? I like to see some pics so I can ask around, maybe someone might have experienced this case...


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

What a shame. I had an African Gray that was a plucker and that's how I happened to get him.
Nothing you can do about this but, nature just didn't intend for these birds to be kept in a cage. They are incredibly intelligent and need to be kept busy. They are also very relationship orientated and need the constant love, attention and devotion of a mate which in this case would be you.
Provide as much intellectual stimulation as you can...toys...TV on...large enough cage and as much together time as you can possible give. This is a life long commitment.
The plucking, once it begins, is usually hard to break...kind of like us biting finger nails.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Sounds like they got you covered on this, but was wondering how old is the Macaw? Dave


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

I asked those people I talked to about their exotic birds and some of them say they tend to pull everything until they get feather-naked...I'm not sure if that's how you put it but I haven't seen a bird that made a habit of plucking its feathers until everything is gone...


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Very good replies from everyone! Often feather plucking is a complicated combination of things that include lack of stimulation (toys, interaction with the human), lack of time out of the cage, improper diet, parasites, illness that would require some extensive tests and vet diagnosis, environmental issues (chemicals, stress from excessive noise, children or others "tormenting" the bird, fear of dogs/cats, etc.)

Not an easy situation to deal with, and I am blessed that none of my parrots are pluckers .. they ARE destructive .. just not to themselves 

You might want to e-mail the folks at the Lily Sanctuary and ask .. they have lots of experience and are personal friends of mine .. don't expect a real quick answer as they usually are handling about 60+ large parrots with a whole range of problems. http://www.lilysanctuary.org and here's their contact us page: http://www.lilysanctuary.org/contact us.htm

Terry


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## justin4pcd (Sep 7, 2008)

Im having the same problem with a cockatiel i 'adopted' after a lady failed to take proper care. Ive had it for about a week and it is a very happy little bird, but when it comes time to preen itself thats when she starts pulling out the new feathers that are growing. Ive read that it will sometimes never stop this habbit.. :[


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*Maybe Giardiasis*

*First thing your bird could be suffering from GIARDIA this is a one-celled protozoal parasite that inhabits the first part of the small intestines and can cause weight loss,loose stool,enteritis and interestingly,itchinness and feather picking. I would take the bird to a good AVIAN VETERINARIAN and get a good diagnoses. I also recomand that you subscribe to the magazine BIRD TALK. www.birdtalkmagazine.com *GEORGE


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

i had a green cheek conure and he started to pluck, i had to really think about what had changed with him.
it was during the baby season and i hadn't been giving him his big bowl of water to bathe in everyday, only every few days.
i went back to everyday tubbies and he stopped.
most plucking issues are not that easy to solve, i was just lucky.
it can be so many different things, you should have a full check up including blood work with the vet done first and foremost to rule out any health issues.
if everything checks out okay, you have to look into his environment and diet.
is he getting lots of healthy foods everyday, fresh veggies and fruit, pasta, rice. is he on a good pelleted diet, with a small amount of seeds and nuts with very very minumul sunflower seeds and peanuts?
does he have enough toys, do you change his cage toys around at least every couple of weeks, take some out and put new in, is he getting enough baths.
is he getting enough attention from you?? are there people or animals in the house that stress him out??
did you bring something new into the area where his cage is, birds are nuts sometimes it could be somthing stupid like a mop, a dust bunny or a new plant,lol

i have another good website for you, theperch.net, the people on there have years of experience and everyone is so kind and helpful, i have learned so much from them, and if i ever had questions or needed support they were there for me


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