Moulting or plucking? i know its over done but its scary!

[aunali9]

hi guys. been a while. i hope everyone is doing well. first of i want apologize for asking a question that has probably been asked a million times before. but i have a massive fear of Echo plucking his feathers. he has always been rough with his feathers when he preens even and they have been a little bent or ragged since a long time.

 

he is 8 months old and he has a healthy appetite. he has one fresh meal of vegetables or fruits in a day, and he has tropican pellets available at all times in his cage. i give him seeds and nuts when he is out of the cage with me, and during training. no supplements or vitamins, or pest sprays etc. i also bathe him once every couple of weeks with a mist of clean drinking water as the tap water in karachi is heavy with minerals. he gets 2 hours a day out of the cage minimum, but largely when im at home he is out. he is also fully flighted and has never been clipped. he is active plays with (destroys) his toys, chatters all day, has started imitating whistles precisely and im sure he tries to repeat his name and "hello".

 

a month and a half ago i had to leave karachi for a month, so i left him with my friend. she has 2 indian ring necks and he was already familiar and friendly with her, and she knew how to hand feed him and deal with him in general. when i came back a couple of weeks back and took Echo back from her, he was a little different. he used to love getting his head scratched and wasnt as free with his beak. i know he was alright so long as he was with her and im sure she took very good care of him. now he still lowers his head for a head scratch when i bring my hand up, but as soon as i touch him he resists. so i stop also. he also used to stick to me like crazy glue. always on my shoulder on my head hanging off my clothes or something. now he hardly ever wants to come to me willingly other than to assault my phone or my watch or something.

 

i have been noticing that some of the tiny feathers from his head are shedding because on occasion when he does let me give him a head scratch, i end up seeing a couple of them stuck to my fingers. also today in the morning there were 4 feathers that seemed like they were from his body on the floor of the cage, none of them are blood stained and he has no bald patch on him. a little while ago i saw him pull one from some where on his back and start chewing it up. he chewed it till it became a pulp. the others at the bottom of the cage are whole. the bases are dry looking but they arent round like quills should be, they look a little flattened.

 

i hope he isnt plucking his feathers. not that his appearance matters much, but he is a friend and im very concerned. ive heard they can really hurt themselves if it continues

[Greytness]

Do you have any pictures we could view?

 

Greys regularly shed their downy feathers. My guy always has a light sprinkling of them on the bottom of his cage. Then, around twice a year that sprinkling becomes a little snow flurry of fluffy feathers that like to stick to everything.

[aunali9]

thanks for the reply greytness! i'm not at home at the moment but i shall put up a few pictures later in the day. downy feathers are the fluff balls or the ones from the body like the back/chest. even the back and chest ones have fluffy ends.

 

update: no feathers this morning. or yesterday. i hope i was just freaking out.

 

and any advice regarding the change in behavior?

[Greytness]

Being the sensitive species that these are, I'm sure that your leaving has everything to do with his aloofness. Give him time, a lot of your attention, treats, softly spoken words, and I'm certain that he'll come around. This aloofness could also coincide with a change in his development. You just never know.

 

Sometimes you just have to ride it out before they come around again. It's difficult not to take a behavioral change personally. It has everything to do with his time away from you, so now he has to slowly reconnect back into his lifestyle at home again with you.