My 5 month old eclectus is starting to barber his feathers? HELP!?

Question

by barber I don't mean plucking the whole feather out, only the soft part, leaving the hard "line" which it's attached to intact. hope that makes sense. I dont think its because of mites, he was sprayed for them around a month ago and his cage is cleaned daily. I am his original owner and handfeeder so it's not because of the stress of changing homes. the only thing I can think of is that i've been taking evening classes (4.00pm-9.30pm) on and off during the last few weeks. that has been the only change. he is fed his regular fruit and veg diet with a minimal amount of seed every day. today when I saw him pulling at the feather (he was acutally trying to hold it with his foot and barber it at the same time) - I tried to distract him with a toy and some food. is this the right thing to do? I also gave him extra out of cage time today. should I get him some "grooming" toys? I dont want him to become a plucker :(

help please

Answer 1

We can't make any recommendations until you have had him looked over by a certified avian vet. But I am concerned about:

Have you hand fed birds before?

Are you feeding him a pelleted diet? (colored or non-colored?)

It is possible for the bird to have a yeast infection in his crop due to poor hand feeding practices. It also sounds like you know what parrots are suppose to eat. But do you know specifics about eclectus? These birds have the longest digestive tract of all the parrots, it is designed to extract as many nutrients from their food as possible. This being so, fortified pellets can be very harmful to them. Eclectus need a WHOLE food diet. They can't eat any artificial coloring or synthetic vitamins. Foods like "GoldenFeast" pellets would be a good option to use as a base diet because it is not "fortified", it only uses real food.

If you think his problem is related to boredom, then keep his cage large and stuff it with toys (rotate toys weekly). Also, put your TV and radio on a timer, so they can turn on/off during the day.

As a last thought, does he get 12 hrs of sleep? Does he get a daily bath? What about fresh air/sunshine? All of these play a role in whether or not a bird is feeling it's best.

But in the end, he needs to see a vet first.

Answer 2

this is a very young age to start, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he's been by his self. turn the TV on for him while you have to be gone. See if this helps

Answer 3

It's diet or he's just plain bored; eclectus's are the best pet when it come to a change of routine.  They are not like your larger parrots who thrive on routine.  Eclectus's are unique in nature and actually enjoy quality time alone but, with that said they also need activities to keep them going.  I use jute rope and maybe once a week I put a piece of paper crimpled up and jam it in the cage bars. That takes a while to get out.  Hanging toys that have brushes on them seem to keep my male occupied - it's not about the pulling and shredding, he actually looks like he's preening the brush LOL.  Eclectus's also need almost daily baths.  My pair would love a built in bath tub at the bottom of their cage with a shower.  I have never experienced parrots who truly enjoy water as much as the eclectus species.

Diet is the other possibility; sometimes with eclectus's you can feed them too good.  Their digestive track is long so they can put down the food.  Be careful too much of a good thing becomes bad.  Veggies have high content of vitamins and too much in this species can cause several issues one which, related to plucking or obsessive preening.

Recommendations: Switch up the toys, add paper to the cage bars.  Change his diet to just plain brown rice and hook bill food from the pet store see if there's a change in the next month or two.  

Your little guy is just a baby, he's very impressionable and can stop this bad habit with your help!

Good luck

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