What causes my parrot to lose feathers on its head and chest?

The most common reason for feather loss is feather picking. This is usually a behavioral trait that can be very hard to stop. I would recommend a visit to a vet to just make sure there are no underlying disease like parasites or infectious. IF the medical exam is normal make sure to have adequate space for Harry to live. Provide plenty of toys to play with and possibly a mirror. Increase interaction in a quiet place of the house to reduce stress. You can mist the features with an over the counter feather hydrating spray. Sometimes if it is not improving their are medications you can use to help with this behavior.

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.

Poor Guava! A good first step is a visit to your local vet to make sure there isn't an underlying issue such as nutritional deficiency, illness, infections, parasites, etc that are causing him to pluck feathers or preventing them from growing back in. Getting any health issues treated can help. Secondly, if he checks out otherwise healthy, feather plucking can become a behavioral obsession in birds, especially those that are stressed or underenriched. Making sure Guava has enough fun activities to do such as toys to play with, puzzles filled with treats, time spent together, etc can help enrich and prevent feather plucking. Making sure he's kept in an area that isn't too stressful can also help. You can also make an Elizabethan (cone) collar or place a "flight-suit" onto him to help obstruct his ability to feather-pluck and break the habit while allowing the feathers to grow back in.

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.

It could be a molt, stress, malnutrition or infection (bacterial, fungal or parasites). Without a physical exam, it is difficult to determine what the underlying cause may be. Ideally, she should be seen by your veterinarian or an experienced avian veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment. In the meantime, clean and sanitize the cage, bowls, toys and perches. Discard anything that cannot be sanitized. Feed a well balanced diet and provide fresh water at all times. A bath or misting with warm water may promote preening and healthy plumage. Provide a variety of toys, attention and playtime to keep her engaged and active.

The bumps could be new feathers trying to push through that are being picked right away and preventing Nemo from regrowing them. If he is stress plucking, making sure he is kept somewhere that is less stressful, such as a quieter room, and that he has enrichment such as toys, perches, time with you, etc can help. In some cases, plucking becomes a habit that needs to be stopped, and something such as a birdy flight-suit that covers the chest or an Elizabethan/cone collar (Google has tutorials for making tiny bird sized ones from objects at home) can block him from picking and allow the area to heal.

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.