Pet Lovers

[jewel3]

You might try adding humidity to the room, misting the bird daily, and adding a few shredder toys to the cage. Lots of things to do and exercise might help. Moving the cage to a new location might help, too. 

[GrailSeeker]

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@GrailSeeker wrote:

I have to disagree that it is not a life threatening condition, since our bird did eventually hit an artery and bled to death.

Our birds were out of their cages all day, and each automatically went back into their separate cages at night.  It was a very cute thing to see.  But as for being bored, that was not the case.  

It was almost like the feathers as they came back in caused him discomfort or itching, hence the attempted cortisone treatment.

Sad thing.

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Feather plucking and mutilation are two different things.  The OP asked about feather plucking which I have to assume was confirmed by the avian vet.  Mutilation is a whole other issue.

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He bled from plucking out feathers.

[dreamieLil]

Maybe @Bird mama can help?

[Bird mama]

I live with two sparrows, hand raised from hatch and one pigeon that came to me at a few months after being attacked by something.

My birds living arrangement is a little different.  They are not caged all day - actually my youngest sparrow Presto only sleeps in a 30 inch flight cage at night.

The only time my birds pluck at their feathers at all is during the annual/semi annual molt.

I am sorry @hyacinth003  that your daughters birds are having trouble.

[GrailSeeker]

Its pure speculation on my part, but a lovebird raised by its mother would have been preened by its mother, and imprinted to her;  and that is why since OP states her bird was hand raised, as was ours, I wonder if this doesn't have something to do with it. 

These birds are different in behavior than other birds that are not in the parrot family. They form long-term pair bonds and would naturally travel in flocks.

After we lost the lutino, the other lovebird began to follow my chihuahua around and mimic her!  I was giving the chi a bath one day in the kitchen sink, and the lovebird went immediately to his bath and began to bath!  And he would attempt to "preen" our dog.

We do not have any "avian" veterinarians in our area, only the run of the mill small animal doctor, and the livestock doctors.

These birds are so delicate, it does not take much for a serious injury to occur.

As I said, the lutino wanted nothing but to ride on your shoulder, because that's how he was raised.

Unfortunately, after a while, he also began to bite, and then the wanting to get on your head. 

The two of those birds, for some reason, hated it when anyone was on the telephone, tied to the wall on the landline.   My son and I both were bitten quite hard by those ornery birds, both while talking on the phone. 

The female, in the meantime, totally obliterated a mini-blind, tearing it up for nesting material, tucking it under her wings,and flying back into her cage with it. 

We loved all our animals, and did our best to give them good lives.  They are rather long-lived, being parrots, and we believe the lutino lived in excess of 10 years, since I do remember seeing it riding the shoulder of the girl who raised him at the pet store.  He was, however, the property of the pet store.

It looked very cute, riding around with her, but I do believe we must think of the consequences of hand raising these birds.  They are long lived and it is quite a committment.  When they reach maturity, they are not imprinted to the right species..

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[hyacinth003]

I guess we can't get into their heads to figure out what is going on.

His name is Mellow Yellow, and he really does seem Mellow.  He will follow my daughter around if out of the cage.  She says he doesn't chew toys the way the others do, so maybe he's more tense!

So, he and the girl are together in a different cage with a nest box.  She says the girl has been in the nest box.  She is keeping a close eye on them to make sure they at least will get along.  She has another girl that could be put with him if this one doesn't work out.

We don't care about the cosmetics of him looking bad, just the risk to his health.  I think she has tried misting him in case it's dryness.

An interesting perspective on the concept of hand raising them as pets.  Maybe would should leave Mother Nature alone sometimes!

Hyacinth

[GrailSeeker]

So your's is a Lutino, also? 

Ours came to us already named "Bird-bird".  How original.

They are a mutation of a Peach-faced Lovebird, so maybe that mutation also has something to do with it?  Maybe a genetic pre-disposition.

They are such beautiful little birds.  The feathers almost look air-brushed.

But yeah, ours plucked for his entire lifetime.  So never looked cosmetically acceptable as long as we had him.  Poor thing.

My dad gifted me my first pair of Peach-faced Lovebirds when I was 18.  They were able to open their cages and would fly up and sit on my stero speakers mounted on the wall.  Those two were always a little mean and would try to bite even as I was putting seed in their cups.  Little devils. 

So I've raised 5 in total, and all of them lived atleast 10 years. Probably have had 6 parakeets, and they were not nearly so long lived as the Lovebirds. I'm always tempted by them, looking at them in the stores, but it is long committment with them.

[hyacinth003]

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@Bird mama wrote:

I live with two sparrows, hand raised from hatch and one pigeon that came to me at a few months after being attacked by something.

My birds living arrangement is a little different.  They are not caged all day - actually my youngest sparrow Presto only sleeps in a 30 inch flight cage at night.

The only time my birds pluck at their feathers at all is during the annual/semi annual molt.

I am sorry @hyacinth003  that your daughters birds are having trouble.

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We hand raised a bunch of birds that my daughter found.

We were able to release them after we were sure they could fly.  One sparrow (we named him Curly bird) was deformed and we found a sanctuary for it.  It wasn't easy due to it being a sparrow.  At the time I was overwhelmed and just didn't want to commit to take care of a bird.  Curly couldn't fly or perch properly, so we knew he would not make it outside.

The sparrows overall were not as nice as the other birds!

It was a very rewarding experience, and we would probably do it again if we found one.

Hyacinth