Pulling out tail feathers

[jculver]

Hi,

I have recently introduced a ringneck. After a 30 day quarantine and complete vet check up I slowly introduced him to my other birds. He has bonded with one of my other male ringnecks. Everyone has their own cages but they are out to play together for 5-6 hours a day on play stands & baskets. The problem I have is that all of my others are handraised and very sweet. This one is on the wild side compared to them. Since he is a rescued bird I have no idea about his background. He will step up for me without biting although it has taken 6 months to achieve this he now seems to trust me and he will let other family members pick him up on a stick. He does get very angry when placed back in his cage but is also making improvements on that. He has pulled out the longest tail feather on my three other birds an Alexandrine and two other ringnecks. My other birds are wise to this now and try not to turn their back on him. All tail feathers are growing back but I have caught him trying to pull their tails again and when he does this I give him a time out and place him back in his cage. Not sure if this means anything to him or not? Any other ideas on how to stop/discourage tail pulling? Is this agression or playing? Do you think this will change? I estimate the age of this bird at 3 yrs but he could be older.

Thanks

[jimmyjack]

i think its an aggressive thing - one of mine always tries at the others tail when irritated. possibly because its an easy target. you're not alone but unfortunately i cant offer anything more than that - would love to hear some possible details from someone with experience about this behaviour./

[Melika]

Ours did this too. The solution was, as you have experienced, just letting them figure out not to let their tails be near beaks. Hane even had a curly tail from a crimp his brother put in it.