molting or plucking?

[rick6477]

i have a 13 mo old congo today he was on his play stand and i noticed he was chewing on a tailfeather he must of pulled out should i be worried

[KimKim]

that feather was probably ready to come out and he was just playing with it. I wouldn't be worried with this one feather.

[rick6477]

well there have been more now and he has lost 16 grams since friday but i am wondering i just put up my christmas tree and covered my big mirror in my living room with a wreath i am going to take them down now to see if anything changes

[Luvparrots]

I wouldn't worry about one feather that has molted out. I have an older re-homed ekkie and he is a plucker. It is not his long feathers that he plucks it is his finer body and back feathers. So I think your grey was just playing with a molted feather.

[chezron]

I would take him to the vet and get his blood levels tested to see if his calcium is adequate. My bird had started to pluck, and it turned out he needed sunlight. We take him outside most days of the week to get 15 minutes of sunlight. It wasn't but two days of sun exposure, and he quit messing with his feathers. Sunlight allows them to make Vitamin D which affects their mood because it is a hormone, as well as, a vitamin. Try it.