My parrot is plucking feathers. Are mites the cause, or behavior?

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.

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.

Thanks for reaching out about Miso and including photos. Psittacine Feather Destructive Behavior can have many causes: stress, nutritional deficiencies, some viral diseases, external parasites (mites, lice) and other problems. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Provide more distractions toys, give showers to induce bathing, check and correct nutrition. These are all things to try. Good luck.

Treating feather picking really depends on the underlying cause. Mites can be a possibility, and you may see an increase in itching, redness of the skin, or visible flecks of "stuff" on the skin or feather base. Most pet stores carry a mite spray that can be used to treat this. If you see visible wounds or oozing on the skin, it could indicate something more serious such as an illness or skin infection which should be looked at by a vet. If the plucking is around the vent, this can sometimes indicate an internal parasite or digestive upset causing issue. Boredom can also sometimes cause feather plucking. Adding in more enrichment such as fun puzzle toys, toys that can be preened instead, or even spending more time together can help reduce boredom behavior and feather plucking. Moving the cage to a lower traffic area without pets or people bothering Kiwi as much can also help. if you can't seem to find a cause, home treatment doesn't work, or the problem worsens, seeking veterinary care is always best.

Thanks for reaching out about Rupu and including photos. Feather picking can be caused by behavioral problems and medical conditions. Medical conditions range from metabolic (liver, kidney), dermatitis (bacterial, fungal, viral), parasitic (mites), dietary deficiencies, and other systemic illnesses. Feather picking due to stress, breeding behavior, and others are also common. A veterinary visit is needed to assist with diagnosis and treatment plans. Dietary review is important. Keep separated from other birds in case infectious and contagious. 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.

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.