Charlie was a sweetheart until a few months ago, when he started to attack us! We have no idea what happened, maybe he was frightened. We have had work being done on the house, so the noises have really stressed him. We restricted him to his cage since he started chewing on the window screens, and my husband won't let me clip his wings (he says it's cruel and no argument will change his mind). Now he sets in the cage miserable, and plucking feathers and is nearly naked. Any suggestions will be appreciated; I really love him even though he has bonded with my husband instead! Will his feathers grow back? He has pulled them out under his wings, breast, stomach, and legs; it's so pitiful as he is a beautiful bird!
Answers:
A few months ago was cockatiel mating season. At that time many cockatiels %26quot;Go Hormonal%26quot; and become very terriroial and aggressive ! They can and sometimes do attack !
The hormones are raging for 4 to 8 weeks, after which the bird reverts back to its old habits.
So basically the bird went through a temporary breakdown, and now finds himself in solitary confinement. His tiny brain does not understand why. He is lonely and unhappy , so he has begun plucking his feathers just like stressed people will sometimes bite their nails even to the quick !
Ther bird is feeling confused and betrayed. you must regain his trust. This can be done , but it will take a lot of time and patience. Expect to be nipped a few times, but do not punish the bird other than a stern %26quot;NO BITE!%26quot; and leaving him alone
Begin by spending lots of time with him, even if he is in his cage. Talk to him in a soothing voice, praise him , sing to him, read to him, anything to interact with the bird. This needs to be for at least 1 to 2 hours per day.
When he shows signs of being calmer , try giving him special treats through the bars- sunflower seeds, room temperature cooked pasta, crackers, fruits and veggies, or whatever he likes best. Make sure that he only gets the treats if he takes them from your hand nicely. Don't drop treats into the cage or the food bowl. He needs to know that treats come from you and your husband alone! he must socialize to get his treats!
After he has shown that he will readily take treats from you, try opening the cage and offerring the treat at the door of the cage. Let the bird come to you. He will soon learn to come to you for his treat.
Next, after giving him a treat try gently stroking his chest and tummy. If he withdraws or gets aggressive, just close up the cage and leave him alone for a few hours. Eventually he will become more tolerant to your touch.
As the last step, when he is comfortable with your touch, then try offerring your finger for him to step up on, while you say %26quot;Step Up!%26quot; He should get the idea fairly quickly. At this stage he has demonstrated that he trusts you fully.
Next year, watch for the mating season ( usually in the spring). If the bird shows signs of aggression, then put him in his cage, but be sure to spend time with him , talking to him each day, even if he is acting aggressive. You should eventually become adept at recognising the bad times and dealing with them.
I hope you two are not arguing in front of the bird! If you are, stop, and stay calm around the bird and give him some quiet dark privacy at night.
I've heard when they pluck their feathers, it's either because of loneliness or stress. And now being in his cage will only make it worse. If he was used to being out of the cage %26 now doesn't have that freedom, he's going to show it. I know some pet stores have %26quot;bitter spray%26quot; that you can get, spray it somewhere that the bird is chewing %26 it'll taste horrible. It's hard to say if they'll grow back. Hopefully they will. I birdnapped a cockatiel that was being abused by his owner. he plucked out all his little feathers but never grew back. because so stressed that pulling them out was his relief. Maybe you can get him to come out by moving real slowly when trying to get his out of the cage. It might be real lonely. You could also get your bird new %26 different toys to keep him entertained.
Clipping wing feathers is NOT cruel. Clipping wing feathers keeps a bird tame and reduces the danger of them flying out an open door or window or hitting a ceiling fan. You should definately clip your cockatiels wing feathers.
Your bird is likely either stressed from all the construction or simply bored to death. Keeping him in his cage without a variety of toys, no companion and without a lot of human interaction will drive the bird to do things to keep itself entertained - including ripping out it's own feathers.
Feathers will (usually) grow back, but you need to stop the cycle of him yanking them out now before it's too late.
Well with all the noise, then bieng trapped in his cage, adn tehn if you all fought loudly, it's a wodner he hasn't started making a wound in his chest. You rarely hear of a cockatiel plucking this badly...it's obviously a rough time for him right now. When he chews on windo screens tell him now, and move him bakc to a play stand. To help soothe his skin and the feathers that remain in shape, a wet bird is less likely to pluck. Get aloe gel, pure 100% aloe gel and mix it well in warm water and put it in a never used spray bottle. (You can find one at the dollar store) And mist him whether he likes it or not in the morning, and then after an hour do ti agian if possible. Keep him wet till the afternoon in which case you ahve to allow him to dry for the night. Provide a good diet, adn add mroe toys to his cage. Then ge thubby to start spending time with him everyday. Within a week ro so if your baby doens't improve it's time for the vet to get bloodwork donw. if you aren't willing to take care of your bird and just keep him confined then please give him to a rescue who will try and do everything they can to stop his plucking and find him a loving home who won't care if he tries to destroy their home. That's the thing about parrots: Noisy, messy, and destructive. I feel bad for your tiel because you are punishing him for being himself: a young bird who is being a young bird. You are goiong to have to start letting him out of his cage if you want to try and reverse what you have done. His feathers may grow back.but it depends. Some birds do ti so extensively that they don't. He will tolerate you, tiels aren't one person birds. he will do find if you take him out, bathe him and then offer him things to chew on. Give him head scratches(They see it as you are preening their head feathers, a bonding thing birds do for each other in a flock) Please do the right thing: start taking care of him or give him to a rescue.
Mabye you havn't been spending enough time with you bird. not that long ago i went away fr ten days and when i got back my cockatiel was nipping me but i just spent some time with her and played with her and she stopped.
the feathers can grow back but you need to figure out what is stressing him out so much. if paints or varnish are being used you need to get him out of the house for atleast 24 hours after it has dried. check out birdchannel.com for more info and advice
Charlie's feathers should grow back in time. In the meantime, as John P said, he is very stressed. This state of mind is very condusive to major feather plucking. The trick is for neither you nor your husband to let Charlie sense that you're afraid he's going to bite or be mean again. The best approach is a quiet, calm, slow one. Speaking very softly, almost whispering, will make Charlie calm down so he can hear what you're saying to him. We've never seen this approach fail, not even when a bird is in full voice and panicing. Remember also to watch out for %26quot;night frights%26quot; which cockatiels are very susceptible to as he's so stressed. They're like the nightmares a 2-3 year old has when they need mom or dad to sit with them, talk to them, and reassure them that nothing is going to get to them.
See if you can locate a %26quot;preening toy%26quot; for him. This is basically a wooden ball with material spouting out of it. The idea is that a nervous bird can work the materials through his beak, just like he would were he preening a flock mate. The toy is usually very inexpensive but does wonders to calm down an insecure and depressed bird.
Contrary to what your husband thinks, clipping Charlie's wings will do all of you a world of good. It will show Charlie that he can depend on you to meet all his needs. It will keep him from flying into windows or walls where he can be seriously injured, if not killed. It will also keep Charlie from heading over the horizon if he gets a chance to escape. My husband %26 I had felt the same way until our sight-challenged quaker parrot proved that it was MORE loving to protect him from himself since he didn't know what he was flying into. The flight feathers WILL grow back, they'll just need another trimming when that happens. Flight feather cutting, when done properly, hurts as much as a hair cut hurts a person. In other words, it doesn't hurt at all! I also suggest you invest in a flight suit or two. It's going to take time for Charlie to get used to this, but he'll love the idea of being able to go outside with you, go for rides, and maybe even into stores or other places where people are. This will help socialize him which will make him, and you, much happier.
Try keeping your TV or radio on in the room where Charlie lives when you're not around. The sound of human voices will help soothe him as he'll think he's not alone. Since cockatiels are VERY social birds he needs all the feeling of being with part of a flock desperately at this point. Make sure that you let him out to socialize with you 1 - 2 hours a day. Give him treats and juice as encouragements and reinforcements when he does things that earn him a %26quot;good bird%26quot;. Both of you need to practice %26quot;step ups%26quot; with him daily so he understands that you and your husband are the flock leaders.
Meantime, since Charlie is in molt, undoubtedly has itchy pin feathers, and the heat isn't helping matters make sure you give him some meat each day. Don't give him a lot as meat can make cockatiels aggressive. That being said, the extra protein will help the molting process pass quicker and give him stronger and more beautiful feathers. When I say give him meat, I'm talking only about 2-3 cockatiel bites worth. That shouldn't be enough to make trouble between the three of you.
Good luck to the three of you. Have patience, work with Charlie, and all should turn out well yet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment