| suggestion for feather-plucking: I've solved my problem; maybe - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| Mike Levin |
Hey everyone -
A while back I posted a short note looking for suggestions about this
mysterious problem. I had a 9-year-old moustache parakeet (bought by me from
a breeder as a hand-raised baby), who was doing very well for most of that
time - friendly, happy, active, etc. All of a sudden he pulls out all his
feathers - looks like a plucked chicken. Then they grow back. Next year, he
does the same thing. Except this time, they don't grow back! He was this way
for most of the year. I took him to the vet and did all sorts of tests
(including them taking blood from his skinny little neck; a horrible sight).
They couldn't find anything. Anyways, I think I solved the problem and I
wanted to share it with others in case anyone finds this useful. I can't
prove for sure that this is what did it (as opposed to a spontaneous
"remission"), but I'm pretty sure this is it. I happened on a guy named
Wayne who makes play gyms out of "bottlebrush wood". You can see it at
http://www.waynesparrotstuff.com (I am not affiliated with him or his
website in any way; this posting is purely my own idea). Anyways, this guy
seems real knowledgeable and he insists in talking to you on the phone
before he sells you a gym. So I called him and we talked, and he said it
would fix the feather problem. I didn't really believe it, but I figured I'd
give it a shot. I bought the gym, and tried it (but instead of Wayne's
suggestion of leaving the bird on there for most of the day, I use it for
discrete periods several times a day, and also feed the bird treats on it).
Anyways, within about 3 months, the bird is almost completely back to his
normal self. It's quite amazing; the bird chews on this weird wood, which is
already unusual because he wasn't a chewer at all (he didn't play with toys
or anything like that), and almost all of his feathers are back. So, for
what it's worth, if anyone has this problem too, you might give it a shot.
At least call the guy - he's a fountain of information. Good luck to all!
Mike
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