plucking issue

[brianL23]

I hope I am posting in the correct forum.

I recently adopted two african greys. An older gentlemen had them for about 8 years. They have been living in a large cage together for that time, so when I brought them to their new home, I decided to keep their same living situation. The previous owner gave me all of his stuff, cage, playstands, ect.. They are a male and a female.

They have been at my house for about a week now, they seemed pretty well adjusted. Recently in the last couple of days, the male has started to pluck the feathers around his tail feathers. So much so that his rump is nearly bald.

 

Now I know this may be a temporary thing, due to new environment and a complete change of people around. But would anyone have any suggestions on how to curb this?

[KimKim]

Sorry, I dont have any experience with plucking, hopefully someone who does will answer. I hope it is also because of the new place, maybe he is nervous, is there allot of noise in your house compared to where they use to live?

[judygram]

I'd say that since he has been with you only a short time it might have something to do with the adjustment to the new surroundings, did you change anything else in their environment? It could just be a temporary thing but maybe some of the more knowledgeable members will have some more ideas and suggestions for you.

[Dave007]

8 yrs old? 2 in one cage? If you see any signs of extra affection between the two, it may be that the bird is pulling out feathers in preparation of using it as nesting material even though there's no nest around. Both males and females do this. You should contact the other owner to see if they've ever tried to breed. A male and female that old in one cage for a long period of time promotes that. 6 yrs and older is the prime time for males and females to get interested in each other. Since they're both friendly with each other, I'm surprised that he or she hasn't made any advances towards the other. You have any proof positive that they're male and female?