Cockatiels: Initially had three, two males and a female. One male pretty much almost killed himself plucking into his chest ... gave him away to friends. Now the male/female pair that were happy - the male is now plucking all his feathers off. He won't wear a collar, chokes himself trying to get it off ... Any suggestions on this behavioral problem? I talked at length to a vet who specializes in birds and he couldn't tell me much ...
Are they paired off? Do they mate and/or breed?
Do you have a nest box? Are they in the same cage?
What do you feed them?
If they are paired off, make sure they have a proper sized nest box available.
Make sure they have enough room to fly in their cage, even if only a few strokes of the wings.
See if they will eat natural peanut butter, if they do, put their dry power vitamins in the peanut better. Liquid vitamins are almost useless, especially if added to water.
Make sure they have some suitable chew toys and a cuttle bone.
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Do they take regular baths? Some will like a shower (you might mist them with a spray bottle) or put a bowl of water in their cage, put some spinach leaves (one or two) in the water.
Do you feed them greens?
Spinach, carrot tops, carrot sticks are all good treats.
My sister's cockateil also pick all of his feathers off. I have a female cockatiel and she does not do that. We have never successfully stopped the behavior in the male, but I suspect that it is partially due to the fact that at one time she gave him tons of attention but since he was young she has gotten married and had two children so he doesn't get the attention he used to. This could be part of the cause of his behavior.
Pet stores sell bird pacifiers that are supposed to quench this activity and might work for an individual bird.
Cockateils are also prone to vitamin D proficiency. Perhaps this is the result. Try feeding you cockateils carrots. They are very good for birds. Since birds are picky, you may need to experiment with how they will eat them, ie cut in sticks or chunks or rounds or raw or cooked.
The one that suggests itself is boredom/stress. many times a bird plucks itself the way we humans chew or fingernails, or dogs lick hot spots. some of the things I have heard that make sense to me include making sure the bird is getting complete nutrition, make sure the bird has plenty of toys, help your bird bathe regularly by misting gently with clean water. While I have been told to use topical anti-itch products, other books have told me that that is the wrong thing to do, because if the bird IS neurotically over preening, the product will actually make the preening fixation worse. good luck to you. I adopted a bereaved bird who had been transferred from one household to another three or four times before I ended up with her, and I know that sometimes a plucking habit becomes permanent.
There could be several reasons why your bird is plucking its feathers off. In general, it could be a sympton of a disease, or as a response to something in its environment, non-disease related. As for diseases, problems such as low thyroid levels, pox virus, liver disease or pruritis could cause the bird to pluck. As for non-disease: poor nutrition, food allergies, boredom, sexual frustration, overcrowding. If you suspect it's disease related, have the bird checked out by an avian vet. If disease is ruled out, try making changes to the bird's environment. Try a different food, change around the toys, buy new toys to stimulate the bird. Try separating the male from the female. Unlike Quakers, I don't believe cockatiels are predisposed to feather plucking, so there must be some external influencing factor. The fact that two different males exhibited the same problem seems more than just a coincidence. The first thing I would probably try is to separate the male and the female and find ways to stimulate him. Turn on a radio next to him, or put him in front of a TV. Give him toys that encourage foraging for treats. Hope some of this helps and best of luck to you and your birds!
Remember that one of his flock is missing he might be stressed because of that (even if it seemed like they hated each other). They also get bored - you can put some more toys for him to play with. My cockatiels love to chew on wood. Take empty paper towel rolls fill them with little toys, seeds, torn up paper etc .. this will help with his foraging instincts. He might like the little string and rope toys to help with preening instincts. You may have to spend more time with him until he gets over his loss. I know that sounds funny but these birds are so intelligent and really do pick up on what's happening around them. Unfortunately, there are birds who can't be cured of this and if so, just love him as he is. Best of luck to you and the little guy!
There are both medical and non- medical causes for feather picking. The major medical causes include changes in hormone levels, external and internal parasites, malnutrition, internal disease, and bacterial or fungal infections of the skin and/or feather follicles. Interestingly, and contrary to popular opinion, external parasites (mites in particular) are extremely rare among caged birds. The non-medical causes are psychological and/or stress related.
