Why Is My Cockatiel Pulling Feathers From Under His Wings
From: JANNINE P
Dear Mitch
I wanted to ask for your advice.
My male cockatiel is pulling his feathers out from under his wings.
Good morning, I get your newsletter every Sunday.
We have an elenora cockatoo (aka medium sulfur crested) that we have had for 21 years.
We got her when she was 4 months old.
Within the last two years she has started to yell.
Within the last year it has gotten real bad.
Donna B writes on 9/9/2018
I have a 6-1/2 year old Jubilee Macaw (named Bijou) who seems to be having a very difficult molt.
I am concerned his constant picking might turn in to plucking.
Bijou has begun constantly picking on himself and pulls out not only larger feathers but also small to mid size feathers and gray fluff.
As of now, however, I don’t see any skin abrasions or blood.
Why is humankind so focused on lopping off body parts?
We “bob” dog’s ears and tails.
We castrate bulls.
We lop off the foreskin of infant males.
First things first.
You can use Nolvasan solution as an antibacterial flush and Betadine (available in pharmacies and most animal feed stores) to disinfect the wound on the human.
Betadine can also be used on any animal including all parrots, birds and mammals.
There’s nothing wrong with using peroxide.
Grabbing a bar of soap out of the shower or the bathroom sink to clean the wound will only add bacteria residing on that bar of soap and probably should not be used.
I don’t know that there’s enough storage space on the Quora servers to answer this.
I read that parrots are loud, noisy, and messy – a lot.
Then again so are children.
Let’s start with a top-level explanation.
Pet people in the disciple category will always react negatively towards the word own preferring instead to call it pet bird companionship.
In reality, birds are the most owned pets we can have.
We have to lock them up in a bird jail.
Find the Birdy IQ exam here if you haven’t taken it
Of the first 170 exams we had a 25% pass with 75% correct answers to 44 multiple and true/false questions
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Your African grey may have upwards of 8000 feathers. Feathers keep a bird warm, and dry and enable flight.
For a molt to occur, the old feather must be removed. Before molting begins blood vessels that support the feathers dry up so the attached feather becomes loosened by the surrounding tissue.
Mitch,
Have you written about “bird sleep”? I watched an eagle chick go from hatchling to fledgling and during the process, both the chick and parents seemed to sleep only periodically, preening much of the night.
