Jul 15, 2013 10:14:15 GMT
birdie2
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 6
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Post by birdie2 on Jul 23, 2013 12:01:40 GMT
I have three budgies 1 male and 2 female, the elder of the females has been feather plucking for some months now. I bought Johnson's anti-pek spray which I used on her and some of her feathers grew back, but she gets stressed when she is handled, and I was not sure that spraying with the spray every day was good for her, so I stopped using it. She is still pulling her tummy feathers out, and making herself bleed, so I have been putting a diluted solution of aloe vera on her tum. I do not think they have mites, as the others do not feather pluck, and I did the white sheet test the other night, and that was o.k. I got a feeling she( Blanche ) is jealous of the other younger female,(Bobby) who we adopted last year, before it was just her and the male bird (Spike). We have tried putting the younger female in a separate cage, but then she sits there on her own, which is not fair on her. We were debating on getting another male, but that could lead to other problems. Any suggestion, apart from getting Blanche a psychiatrist!
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Post by budgiefriend on Jul 23, 2013 13:57:08 GMT
Welcome to the forum. I do not have an answer to your plucking problem. I know others have experience in this behavior and they will be happy to help. Good luck.
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Post by Hezz on Jul 24, 2013 2:32:50 GMT
Feather-plucking is relatively uncommon in budgies, and not something I have had to deal with. Can you not spray her without having to handle her? Moogie will be able to tell you what she did for her little guy, plus there are other members who have had issues with different birds of theirs who became pluckers.
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Post by Moogie on Jul 24, 2013 8:50:51 GMT
Hi Every time my Elf went to pluck his feathers i got up and walked out the room-i had to do this ALOT i would not give him any attention at all,i also used a spray called 'rain' by avix which contains aloe vera but mostly he stopped because he didint get any form of attention for the plucking,if i walked back in the room and he was still plucking i would walk straight back out until he stopped and had sat back on his perch,when he did stop then and only then i would show him attention and tell him he was a good boy ect,it took a while but in the end he used to go to pluck ,i would stand up to walk out and before i had even began to walk he would stop and go back to his perch,all his feathers have now grown back although from time to time he will still go to have a pluck but stops when i stand up.....It takes a whole load of patience but hopefully in the end like me you will get there....please keep us posted on how things go...
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Jul 15, 2013 10:14:15 GMT
birdie2
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 6
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Post by birdie2 on Jul 24, 2013 17:21:31 GMT
Will try the aloe Vera, this sounds like it will be less harmful. My birds are out of their cage all day, and fly free in a lean too type conservatory, where they have swings and play things. This plucking started when we got the other female. So it could be a type of attention seeking!
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Post by mizloco on Jul 24, 2013 18:57:04 GMT
I've just read an article in Cage & Aviary and it said that feather plucking can be caused by behavioural problems brought on by calcium deficiency and it will right itself once the calcium deficiency is dealt with. Not sure if any of the experts on here know anything about that?? Might be worth investigating further.
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Post by Hezz on Jul 25, 2013 1:33:29 GMT
Nina, would you be able to share the article with us? For those of us who don't have access ...... It sounds rather interesting, and an extra dosage of calcium may be easier than watching and going through what Moogie had to.
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Post by stace on Jul 25, 2013 4:26:30 GMT
I've just read an article in Cage & Aviary and it said that feather plucking can be caused by behavioural problems brought on by calcium deficiency and it will right itself once the calcium deficiency is dealt with. Not sure if any of the experts on here know anything about that?? Might be worth investigating further. That's very interesting. I've never had to deal with plucking so haven't ever looked into it properly. Quite possible for it to sometimes be related to a deficiency of some kind.
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Post by mizloco on Jul 25, 2013 5:17:20 GMT
I will work out how to get it on here when I get home from work. It covered lots of things feather plucking being one.
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Post by mizloco on Jul 25, 2013 5:22:30 GMT
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Jul 15, 2013 10:14:15 GMT
birdie2
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 6
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Post by birdie2 on Jul 25, 2013 8:25:05 GMT
Thank you mizloco for the link about calcium deficiency leading to plucking, my birds have a cuttle fish and iodine block in there cage, but Blanche the bird in question, has always been aggressive, not so much now as she is getting older,so maybe she has had some sort of problem, but she has never laid any eggs, only gone through the motions with Spike! but her mate bond feeds her, so will have to find out if this will be o.k for other birds, as I do not want to over dose the rest.
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Post by mizloco on Jul 25, 2013 20:07:58 GMT
Here is the article from cage and aviary. I've had to photograph it as it was a downloaded magazine on my iPad.
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Post by Hezz on Jul 26, 2013 1:17:33 GMT
Thanks, Nina. *Smooch* birdie2, I doubt you need to worry about overdosing the others. If all the birds are eating the same thing, it is possible the others are low as well, just haven't expressed it in the same way. What is their general diet like? Are they veggie-eaters, or strictly seed-eaters? A multi-vitamin supplement could be helpful as well.
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Jul 15, 2013 10:14:15 GMT
birdie2
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 6
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Post by birdie2 on Jul 26, 2013 9:24:20 GMT
Thanks Mizloco for the trouble you took in posting the article, it is something I have not thought of. I have emailed the company (that you supplied the link for) and got a reply from a Marcus Holley,he said it would be o.k for all my birds, and as Hezz pointed out, it might do them all good. My 3 eat fruit and vedgies, they have a go at them, but go crazy when I put lettuce in, but I have read somewhere that too much lettuce is not good as it washes out any vitamins in there bodies, so maybe the Calcivet will do them good, I will give it a try.
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Post by Hezz on Jul 27, 2013 1:43:06 GMT
Lettuce is mostly water and fibre, with very little nutritional value ....... goes right through them and adds nothing, is why lettuce should be a small treat only. I am glad the company were helpful and promptly replied. Hopefully this may spell the end to Blanche's problems.
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