Notice my grey is Plucking under his wings. Not real bad.

[Guest Nalanikay4]

I have had my grey for about 4 months now. i noticed when i got him there was some missing feathers under his wings. He seems to be sometimes plucking his small feathers. iv heard that maybe it could be because of not enough attention. but thats def. not a problem here. maybe it could be because hes in a new home now..., not quite sure. He seems really happy. anyone have any advice. i dont want it to get worse if there is something wrong. just worried. i grew up with my parents african grey and he seems like the perfect parrot. nothing ever was wrong with him. But anyhoo. any advice. thanks lots!;:rolleyes:

[Eshana]

When you bathe him, do you get under his feathers? From my experience with my 'tiel, and from what I've read, the skin can get very dry under there, and without proper attention during bathing, it can become very itchy, and as a result the bird will pluck those feathers.

[chezron]

Do you give him exposure to full spectrum light, or take him outside regularly for sun exposure?

 

Greys need either form to assimilate calcium and to produce Vitamin D. Vitamin D especially is crucial as a hormone and also as a mood regulator. My grey had started shredding his feathers and acting a little neurotic. Once I found out about the importance of sunlight for mood, we started to take him outside 15 minutes a day or give him an hour of full spectrum light in his cage a day. We noticed he stopped feather shredding within a week. He has not resumed the destructive behavior since. We also feed him a chicken drumstick bone once a week for the calcium in the marrow. You might try this.