My Ringneck parrot's head is bald. Why is she losing feathers?

Hello. If Obie has a mate, that bird could be plucking the head feathers. However, the feather loss around the eyes does not fit with mutual grooming/courtship behavior. This pattern of feather loss suggests some sort of skin infection, infestation, or inflammation. I would be sure to provide appropriate humidity to stimulate proper grooming behaviors, watch for any rubbing of his head or face on cage items or displays of itchiness/scratching. Beyond that, it will be necessary for a veterinarian to examine him and maybe run some tests on the skin to look for bacteria, yeasts, parasites, etc. That way, the best treatment can be started for Obie.

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.

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.

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.

Hi and thank you for this question, It sounds as if Mithu should be examined by a vet. One possibility is a viral disease called psittacine beak and feather disease. This can be diagnosed from a blood sample. There may off course be other causes, but diagnosing them would require a vet exam.

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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.