I think i'm being manipulated by a baby

[LabRat00]

I need some advice on what to do with my 11 month old baby cag. Yesterday, when I got her from her cage, I noticed a large chunk of feathers missing from the front side of her neck. I looked around her cage and couldn't figure out what had happened to her, until later when I put her back in her cage, and the minute I closed the door, she hung herself on the side of the cage, wimpered and reached down and yanked out a chunk of feathers. I THINK she is just doing this for attention, but I don't know. I HAD to work this morning, and was afraid of what I might see when I got home, and sure enough, she has plucked out all the feathers across the front of her neck now. Aside from leaving her out of her cage all day, which I don't want to do for safety reasons, I don't know how to stop this behavior. Obviously, I know that giving her her way, is not the right thing to do, but I really didn't want to compromise her beautiful feathers. In the past, she has always, twisted herself into a pretzel, and wimpered whenever she didn't want to be in her cage, or if we didn't turn out the light right at bedtime, but I never gave into her manipulating me in that way, so maybe she has found a better way of getting her way. idk. HELP!!!

[Dave007]

I can only say that you should treat that area immediately with some aloe gel. She may have a minor irritation there and started pulling feathers. Put enough on so that it's absorbed. After doing that then you can watch her for the next few days and see if she continues doing it. It may have something to do with the molting time of a bird that age. It would be the first *major molt* of her life. Birds act differently during that time--some accept it, others don't. For some it's irritation, for some it's fine, for some it's painful.

 

Yes, it could be other things but the important thing to do is treat that area. If it's irritated and causing her to pull those feathers, an untreated area will cause her to pull some more.