Desperate for HELP!!!!

[hussey]

Someone please help me.
I have a 3 yr old IRN, he has been a great bird for these 3 years and all of a sudden he has started pulling out his feathers, and I mean pull them out over & over again. His back is bald, his legs and most of his chest, he has also pulled out most of his tail feathers. I have had him to the vet and he said he couldn't find anything on him (parasites etc) that might be causing this. He gave me liquid prozac for him. I did not give him the prozac right away because i was hoping he would stop - he didn't. I did get sick for a week and was not able to take him out of his cage (he usually has freedom most of the day with my 2 dogs that he loves and follows everywhere.) I realize that this might have started this but it hasn't stopped. He also has stopped enjoying his spritz water bath that he gets about 3 times a week. I am heartbroken at the state he is in and can't imagine he feels very good. Could anybody give me some advise.
Thank you so much

[dog_glenn123]

Hi Hussey,

If the vet cant find a medical reason for the feather pulling it is most likley a mental problem.

He maybe frustrated with you not getting him out of the cage but thats unlikley.
It could be he is not happy with the diet you have given him.

Try and use the spray that stops picking i think its sitranella (sorry about the spelling) it tastes bad.

From what i found with one of my birds that had the dame problem was at 3 he is sexually mature and could be sexualy frustrated, The problem is if you get him a mate in the state his in the hen would try and kill him so you need to stop the feather pulling first. once you stop the plucking it will take time before he grows them back as they will only grow back after a mult. You may also need to find out what is likley to happen with him if you get a mate for him as i guess he is hand tame and i am not sure if that would change if he has a mate.

And other people on here have said that they can go threw a really big mult where they loose heaps of feathers.

Good luck with every thing.
Glenn

[hussey]

Thank you Glenn for taking the time to answer my post.
I'm hoping he can live without a girl because I'm not in the position to get another bird. One more question have you ever heard about giving a bird Prozac, I can't find anything about it on the board, I just started giving it to him don't see a difference yet but Vet said it would take a couple weeks.

Hussey

[mickpmc]

There are a million reasons why birds start plucking(self mutilating) themselves. If you haven't made any major changes then I can tell you the things I do to stop plucking at my Rescue Facility. Give him a bath ever day if possible this will ease the irritation. When new feathers grow back the itch so the birds tend to pull them out and pick at themselves to try and stop the itching so the best relief I have found is to use pure Aloe Vera. You can get it in a liquid form from the health store and some drug stores, put this in a spray bottle and spray the affected areas at least 3 time per day and more if he seems like the area is bothering him. Just make sure it is pure Aloe and not the stuff with other stuff in it for sunburns.

"Once medical issues have been ruled out it is again time to play detective. Make certain that your Indian Ringneck’s environment and diet are ideal, rule out stress, boredom, and other behavioral issues and spend time training your parakeet each and every day.

Behavior problems with the Indian Ringneck are generally resolved through ensuring proper care and nutrition and careful and patient training."
It could be an allergy to something he is eating or something in the environment, birds get allergies just as we do, and can come on suddenly. It could be nutritional or could be hormonal as well. Best bet is to take him to a good avian vet who can do a well bird check and rule out any problems of this nature first - and then help you determine what is the best course of treatment. Sometimes you just need to get "plucker" toys when they go through a molt to give them something else to pick on, as a distraction. Plucker toys are usually balls of knotted cords, etc. something fuzzy that looks good to pick apart.


Regards

Mike

[hussey]

Thanks Mike for the info - I will go get some Aloe tomorrow and try that. The one thing I have noticed is he is not enjoying his spray bath anymore. I have a little platform that he gets on for his bath he usually runs right to it when I get it out but he wants nothing to do with it. I have been chasing him down and trying to get a couple squirts in but he is not happy about it. I feel so bad for him and will try anything to get him more comfortable. Still not sure about this prozac thing have you ever heard of that before? I don't want to do him anymore harm.
Thanks

[mickpmc]

Thanks Mike for the info - I will go get some Aloe tomorrow and try that. The one thing I have noticed is he is not enjoying his spray bath anymore. I have a little platform that he gets on for his bath he usually runs right to it when I get it out but he wants nothing to do with it. I have been chasing him down and trying to get a couple squirts in but he is not happy about it. I feel so bad for him and will try anything to get him more comfortable. Still not sure about this prozac thing have you ever heard of that before? I don't want to do him anymore harm.
Thanks

No, I havn't heard of prozac before. Don't worry, it's not hurting the
bird. It's only for it's own good . How old is it? It may be going through a molt.

Regards

Mike