Moon's Graden

I need some advice on my African Grey bird, named Happy.  She is just over a
year old and had her first molting about 3 months ago.  It looks as if she
have picked up the bad habit of feather plucking.  It is not an issue of her
being left alone and having nothing to do.  My wonderful wife is at home
most of the day and the cage is very clean (parasites), we checked.  I have
read the books on this issue.

Does anyone know where I could get a collar for her to wear to help stop
this plucking.  Some time ago, I saw a African Grey with a plastic collar on
it.  It was a cone type of collar, so that the bird could not reach her
feathers to pull on them.  But the bird was still free to drink and eat out
of there cup.  The owner said it was one of the simpler method to break the
habit.  The other would be a foul tasting preparation that would make her
not like the taste of her feathers.

Any and all information will be helpful.

Jim H. Pock

Of course, then it was just a matter of time before she plucked them all out
and continued down to the wings. By the way, she was so stressed about that
morning and the noise she heard, for the whole week I had to keep her in my
living room; she refused to go to the original room.

I went to see the vet because my first thought was: I have to get a collar.
After having some talk with her I decided not to proceed as apparently the
birds take a long time to get used to them, they may get hurt if
unsupervised for the first week or two, and it may increase the stress level
for your bird too.

So that was my decision for not using the collar, instead I bought another
African grey. It was costly, but a companion is probably the best thing to
keep her busy 24 hours. Not that I spent not enough time with her as our
working shifts differ in the family and we were home at least 9 hours a day.
But the extra attention she is getting seems to be priceless...

My point here is that you should really discuss this with your vet before
you proceed. I was often told that there are many cases where the birds get
so stressed out that as soon as you take of the collar they pluck it all out
again. But that is what I heard, it could be wrong.

If it's the first time, maybe you could just see if a change in routine
could help?

I wish you luck

George

Personally, I wouldn't use a collar. It tends to stress out your Grey
too much.

My first step, as stated in the other reply, would be to talk it over
with your vet and have them make CERTAIM it isn't a medical problem. One
of my babies had a yeast infection that caused him to feather pick even
though we had cured the infection.  More then likely it's pyschological,
(spelling?). Usually something changes in a Grey's enviroment or
something stresses out the bird and causes plucking.  Most times it's
hard to figure out just what caused it.

The longer you let it go, the harder it is to break the habit. I'd start
with regular, (daily if possible), spraying with a mix of water and
aloe-vera juice, (drinkable type), or the gel. I usually mix in an inch
or so of aloe-vera in a standard planter sprayer, however, I have mixed
up to 50% for a heavy picker when needed. This helps control any itching.

The other thing I do is give the Grey something to take his mind off the
plucking. I use a roll of plain-white toilet paper. They're cheap and it
can keep your Grey ripping up paper instead of feathers for anywhere
from an hour to 2 hours, depending on how determined your Grey is.  It
does make a bit of a mess, but I think it's worth it myeself.  Also make
sure he has toys to keep him busy too.  There has been some talk about
the cardboard tube being dangerous, but you can ask your vet what he
thinks about the idea before trying it. I talked to mine and she hadn't
heard anything about problems with the tube, (the glue used to make it
was suspect), and I think it's just a myth myself. Again talking to your
vet will help you decide.  P.S. I've been using this technique for 10
years with no adverse effects, other then having to clean up a rather
large pile of toilet paper at the bottom of the cage... :)

One of my clients moved 2 months after she got a Grey from me and he
started plucking. Using this method we got him to stop in lest then 2
months. Can't guarrantee it will work for you, but it's worth a try.

Either way your first step should be talking to your Vet and ruling out
a medical problem. Then go from there based on his advice.

Good Luck,
Wabbit