plucking all his feathers please help..

[Janus]

Hi All

we'had our IRN for about 5 weeks now. He's almost 5 mnths old and has setled in well. However over the last 2/3 weeks his been plucking his feathers to the point where he has only two tail feathers left and also has patches o his chest. I'm trying to insert an image so you can see how bad the proble is but don't know how to. I've taken him to the vets but he's had an all clear as he has no mites. He has toys in his cage and we spend on average about 2/3 hours each day with him. I'm really concerened that he'll have no feathers left at this rate. Can I do anything o get him to stop? Will his feathers grow back? What about his tail?

If you can advise me on any solutions to get him to stop.

Kind regards

Jamie

[shabir]

not to sure how to stop it as im new to these bird but they should grow back when the first molt comes at 6 months. my irn lost all his tail feathers from my other bird pulling them off when i first introduced them when i got the irn, his tail is know back and looks beautiful.

[ellieelectrons]

There are a few threads about how to stop feather plucking... unfortunately this can be a hard behaviour to stop.

Imran - perhaps we should have a sticky thread on what to do about plucking (if there isn't one already)?

I suggest you do a search on this forum about plucking.

Good luck & best wishes.

Ellie.

[Melika]

My Hane has also begun plucking. For him I know how it began (lack of fresh foods and attention while I was in school) but now it is behavioral and might never change.

I am trying to change his routine up, move his cage, switch out his toys more often and provide new interactions to keep him occupied. Along with making sure I take time to prepare his fresh foods. I made some foraging toys out of cardboard and paper as well to hide seed treats in and that also helps keep his beak occupied while in his cage. I am also keeping shredable toys, more than one, in his cage at all times. He lets a few feathers grow in sometimes. Sometimes he plucks them back out. Progress has been extremely slow, but I am still hopeful as he seems to be confining his plucking to areas already plucked.

The foraging toys seem to work really well. At first I could only partially hide a treat, he had to be able to see it to know it was there. But now I can fully hide them and he will go looking (I do let him see me put them all around his cage). I really like using Lafeber's Nutri-Berries for his foraging. It isn't really a treat (can be considered part of his diet) plus not only does he spend time getting to it but must take time while eating it. It's great for those hours I'm at work.

I also try to keep a kabob. I used to hang these things where it would be easy for him to get to the foods, but now I try to make them challenging.