My African Grey is plucking feathers and shaking head. What to do?

If you are sure she is not actually pulling them out then here are some reasons why the feathers could just be falling out. 1. Dermatitis: skin infections a. bacterial, fungal or viral b. chemical (e.g., nicotine absorbed from the caretaker's fingers) c. allergic (unproven at this time). 2. Folliculitis: inflammation of the feather follicles 3. Malnutrition: nutritional imbalances are a common cause of illness in our pet birds. Seeds should compose less than 20% of the diet. A balanced pelleted diet like the Harrison's you are feeding should be fed as well. Hard boiled egg yolk, pancakes and cornbread, the tops of fresh greens, dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, fresh fruits such as apples, pears, melon, kiwi, and berries, vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, beets, asparagus, cabbage, sweet potato, and squash, and even tiny pieces of meat should be offered. 4. Environmental conditions: extremes of humidity, aerosol contamination and cigarette smoke. 5. Underlying medical problem: liver pathology, osteomyelitis (bone infection), pancreatic disease, renal disease, neoplasia (cancer), underlying abscesses 6. Reproductive activity/inactivity 7. Parasites: mites and lice 8. Stress I strongly recommend you get her to an avian veterinarian for an exam and some testing. At her age I would be worried about an underlying health issue (#5 above). You vet will need a thorough history which should focus heavily on the bird's interaction with its environment and the people and other animals around it. My guess is that some diagnostics will be needed in the form of blood and urine tests and whole body X-rays. Skin biopsy may also be recommended. Be sure to use a vet that is well-versed in treating birds. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Feather picking can be due to infection (bacterial, fungal, viral or parasites), stress or boredom. Ideally, Coco should be physically examined by your veterinarian or an experienced avian veterinarian to diagnose any medical causes. In the meantime, clean and sanitize the cage, bowls, toys and perches. Discard anything that cannot be sanitized. Provide a variety of toys and accessories to keep him distracted. Increase playtime and time outside the cage if possible. A small e-collar (cone) may be necessary to prevent further picking.

Your veterinarian or an experienced avian veterinarian can examine and diagnose mites or infection (bacterial or fungal). Once medical causes have been ruled out, you can focus on behavioral causes such as boredom or anxiety. A warm bath or misting can promote healthy plumage. Rearranging her cage and play top can provide welcome changes. Keep a variety of toys and rotate them to keep her engaged and interested.

Ouch! Those areas look pretty irritated. A good first step is to bring your bird into a local avian vet so they can check for issues such as parasites, illness or infection, or even nutritional issues that could be causing the feather loss and dull coloration. Getting him on treatment can help improve his health. If he checks out healthy, looking for behavioral causes is a good next step. Boredom or stress can cause excessive feather plucking, so making sure he's kept in a stress-free area can help as well as adding in some enrichment to his environment. Toys that are interactable, time outside the cage bonding with you or on a playpen, and fun food and puzzle treats can help keep him interested. An Elizabethan (cone) collar can also be made to help with excessive feather plucking or scratching while the area heals.

I'm sorry to hear about Alex! It sounds like he has had a lot of stress, and parasites as well as just the stress from surgery and vet trips can certainly lead to feather plucking. A good first step would be to make sure Alex's enclosure is cleaned daily to prevent any food or other items from attracting parasites such as flies. If he has any surgical wounds or sutures, keeping the area clean and dry will also prevent parasites from infecting the wound. You can also use an Elizabethan (cone) collar (Google has tutorials on how to make bird sized ones) to help keep Alex from plucking his feathers and allow the area to heal and rest. This can help reduce irritation and also reduce stress-related behavioral plucking. Making sure to distract Alex with things he can chew on, such as toys, will also help. If more parasites appear, or any wounds or surgical sites look infected, bringing Alex to the vet again for additional care is best.

Thanks for reaching out about Bangaram and including a photo. Psittacine Feather Destructive Behavior is common in parrots, but the difficulty is acquiring a cause. Stress/behavior is common a nd can consist of breeding, nutritional or environmental stressors. Diseases can also lead to pulling feathers including infectious diseases (viral, bacterial), metabolic disorders (liver, renal), skin diseases and others. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and try to determine a cause. Diet and husbandry practices need to be reviewed with a veterinarian experienced with birds. Some diagnostic tests will probably be recommended and necessary to come to a conclusion. There is no topical medication that is going to cure or even stabilize this condition. Good luck.

Feather plucking is often associated with boredom, or other issues within their environment, but the cause of this problem is not always known and highly debated amongst avian experts. Making sure he is not bored is a good first step. One good way to keep your bird busy is by making them work for their food. Birds in the wild spend most of their time foraging for food. Instead of just putting food in their bowl, you can hide it, or put it in puzzle toys that require them to do some work to get the food out. I fed my parrot almost exclusively this way. Other enrichment options include putting a mirror in the cage and putting him in other environments. It's best to give your parrot as much possible space that you can to let her fly and roam around. You may consider getting perches or other cages for different rooms, or outside. If you can afford to have a flight cage built, this would be even better. Below is a link to some more information about enrichment ideas: http://www.parrotenrichment.com/ It's also good to make sure he is getting enough sleep. This is best achieved by keeping the bird in a dark room during sleep time. Birds should have 12 hours of sleep a night, so don't feel bad about putting him in a dark room for that amount of time. Diet is also very important. He should eat mostly a formulated pellet diet like zupreem. Make sure he is not eating a seed, or nut based diet as these are too fatty and can cause issues leading to feather loss. For more information about diet, read the article at the link below. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/species/pacific-parrotlet/ Lastly, make sure he is bathing regularly. Dry feathers can itch, break and cause them to pluck. It's good to put a bird bath in the cage as much as possible (once a day would be best). I hope that helps and he gets better soon.