Cleaning or Feather Plucking

[greystar]

how can i tell the difference if Star is cleaning himself like my canary or plucking? i mean it's true that i dont see any feathers inside or outside his cage, , but i am afried that even if it's cleaning, can it lead to plucking?

 

does plucking happen even if the bird is happy, i mean not depressed or sick coz some sites say that?

 

when i see Star cleaning away, i sometimes distract him my scratching his cute little head or talking to him

[Char]

All birds preen. It is a natural thing for them to do. It is how they distribute oil from their oil gland to the feathers to keep them in shape.

 

If a bird is anxious or bored they may over preen but I doubt that is happening.

 

I think as Grey owners we are over sensitive to the feather issue because we there is so much info out there about greys plucking so we tend to worry about every little feather.

 

My advice is don't worry unless you start seeing bald patches.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/08/17 12:35

[danmcq]

Char is spot on.

 

Unless you see Star reach down and rip out a beak full of feathers, it's not plucking.

 

Your a normal fretful Parront. :-) We are all that way!!

[Jayd]

Our new rescue Jim, the first couple of days he did a little plucking on his chest and red tail.(pulled 2 red feathers) We showered him with attention, gave him treats and did a lot of talking to him, and sprayed him with aloe. He stopped plucking but it could have been a disaster..We have TWO other fids that weren't so lucky, they were damaged to badly when we got them, They don't pluck anymore and the few feather they have look GOOD...NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK...<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/08/20 21:29