IndianRingNeck.com

Hi ive had my rigneck for a few months now. he is only 4 months old, really playfull and a bit of a naughty boy most of the time. he has a good diet and has lots of toys to keep him entertained. he comes out at least once a day. he has started chewing his feathers recently. what could be the cause of this? could he have caught flees from the cat. the cat has recently turned up and clearly has flees. we are sorting that out but it look sas though my parrot may have caught them from him. is this possible.

Cheers.

Jon

ps great message board

It is possible, look at the bird for fleas.

Boredom doesnt seem to be the problem. Only being out once a day, however, maybe unless by 'out' you mean a few hours a day. These babys need ALOT of hands on attention or they pout and self-destruct. But, lets make sure. Sounds like it is time to rotate his toys. Meaning, take out all of the toys in there now, except for his MOST favorite and replace them with all different toys. They need 10-20 toys, whatever you can afford but only 3 to 5 at a time. And we rotate.

We all have to do this, they bore very easily.

yeah i often rotate his toys to keep him busy while im not about. If it is a flee problem, what is the best way to get them off him? ive given the cat some medication to stop him getting anymore but is there something similar for parrots

Assuming he is tame, the best way is to look for them and pick them off. Drop the fleas into a glass of water with detergent in it.

There is no topical or ingested flea chemical for birds. They are too sensitive to the stuff.

There are a few bird shampoos though, one made by King's Cages (www.kingscages.com). Google "Bird Shampoo"

Your best bet is too look for and pick off the fleas, as Mikaela said. And drop them in soapy water, it's the soap that kills them.

Here's a great article on feather destruction.
http://www.landofvos.com/articles/feathers.html