Health & WellbeingI was recently given a pair of lovebirds and one has a severe plucking problem. They both eat the same food and the other one looks perfectly healthy. The one that has the plucking problem also appears to have a lot of anxiety, he is very skittish an
Poor Elvis! A good first step is to bring him into your vet just to make sure there isn't an underlying health issue causing the initial plucking such as mites, a skin infection, etc. If he checks out healthy, the next step is to help with his anxiety and stress. Making sure he has access to his food and water without the other bird bothering him or controlling it, plenty of perches and resting spots, and toys that he can chew on or preen can help redirect his anxiety and behavior toward appropriate objects. Making sure he's in a calm, quiet area can also help reduce his anxiety. In some cases, plucking also becomes a learned behavior, and breaking his ability to do it by using an Elizabethan (cone) collar can help prevent him from plucking while he settles in. Googling how to make a bird-sized one can give you several tutorials on how to make an E-collar at home.
Updated on August 12th, 2025
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