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Hi Linda,

Thank you for the Noni juice info. I looked it up and it seems like a really good product. Jamie is going to the vet's tomorrow so I will ask her about the dosage for a caique.

I will also ask about the tube kind of collar - thank you all for the good info.

The good thing is that Jamie seems to be getting used to the collar (she has had it for a week now) and she is staring to climb around more comfortably. The vet does want to increase the size of Jamie's collar by a bit next week(currently it is just a training collar that really does not prevent her from feather chewing). We will see how the next few days go...

Poor Jamie also has a cyst on her toe so she will have to have a surgery on her toe in a couple of weeks

Kate

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in a very long time, but I decided to check in because we have had a sudden bad feather snipping problem with Brady. Low and behold, I find this post and it seems like many people are having problems! Brady has always plucked a bit in the fall, but this past week it went to a new extreme. Within 5 days he has gone from having a slightly-plucked belly to being completely bare on his entire stomach, chest, and legs, with a couple of smaller bare patches on his back. He appears to be snipping the feathers, not pulling them out, and I came home today to find a huge pile of feathers in the bottom of his cage. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow to make sure he's not sick (he seems completely fine and normal otherwise), and I'm hoping the change in his feather behavior is only due to the fact that we switched his food recently (about 2 weeks ago - not by choice - we ran out and the store we buy it from didn't have his usual food - we're getting more of his usual food delivered this week). Regardless of what the issue is, it's so sad to see him in this state. He looks soooo shabby!

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time! I no longer have access to chat sites at work and I used to pop in every day during lunch. I hope everyone and their FIDs are well!

Take care,
Laurel

Hi Laurel,

Nice to hear from you! I am sorry you are having the same problem with Brady. I sure hope we can all somehow figure this out - it is just awful to watch them snip feathers or hurt themselves

Let us know what the vet says. Brady is the same age as Jamie (about 4 years old), isn't he?


Kate

Hi Kate,

Yes, Brady turned 4 this past May, so he's about the same age. I took him to the vet on Tuesday morning, and she called back today to say that all of his blood tests, stool sample, etc etc were completely normal, so she believes his feather snipping is an environmental or hormonal behavioral problem. She suggested a few things:

1.) Make sure he is getting enough moisture for his skin, via frequent baths and adding humidity to the air (we are going to get a good humidifier for the livingroom, since Brady's cage is only a few feet from our very drying radiator)

2.) Add a full spectrum UV light near his cage and put it on a timer so he is getting a full day's worth of Vitamin D

3.) Add foraging toys to his cage to keep his interest and curiosity piqued throughout the day

4.) Leave the TV on while we're at work

5.) Don't touch him in ways or put him in any situations that could be misinterpreted as a sexual stimulus

I started to implement some of these suggestions over the past two days, and he already seems like he has toned down his feather snipping. He's still doing it a little, but not nearly to the degree he was doing it this past weekend.

Thanks for your concern, and I hope Jamie starts doing better as well!

~Laurel