Health

Why Is Your Parrot Pulling Out Their Feathers – Feather Plucking In Parrots

Feathers Plucking is something that can be seen when keeping parrots. Feather plucking is something that requires you to take a deeper look into the care you are providing. This is not something parrots do in the wild.

CALL YOUR VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY IF YOU NOTICE YOUR PARROT PLUCKING! – this is something that can be a symptom to a health condition and that must be ruled out first and foremost. Plucking becomes habitual if you do not get help from a professional as soon as you possibly can, that being said this shares common reasons your parrot could be plucking and steps you can take to help fix it ALONGSIDE THE DIRECTIONS OF YOUR VETERINARIAN!

Common causes

  • Improper diet/malnutrition
  • Boredom
  • Over stimulated – music or noise happening all day long
  • Confused
  • Nervous
  • Stress – change in their environment
  • Jealousy – new person taking time away from them, new pet, new baby
  • Poor air quality / lack of humidity
  • Lack of sunlight
  • Internal disease or parasite
  • Metabolic issues

Steps to fixing it

  1. Take the bird to a vet to rule out any medical conditions
  2. Look at their diet, are they eating enough fresh foods? Are they eating a high-quality pellet?
  3. Do they have toys they can destroy?
  4. Do they get enough mental stimulation through training?
  5. Do they have too much going on? Too many toys? Loud tv on all the time?
  6. Is there any way the bird could be jealous?
  7. Are they stressed from moving houses/changes in their environment etc?
  8. Do you have enough humidity in your home? You can always go out and buy a cheap small humidifier (clean it often so it does not grow mold) just for the area your bird is in.
  9. Find a bird-safe air purifier so they have the best possible air quality.