Why a parrot male pulls out feathers to a female. Why do budgerigars pluck their feathers? What to do if a parrot plucks feathers

Everyone knows that sometimes birds have plumage problems. And when we see that our parrot itches and pulls out feathers, we begin to worry and find out the reason. It can be normal physiological processes in the form of molting or something that really should cause anxiety - in which itching appears.

Why the parrot constantly itches - reasons

Parrots love to preen themselves and put their plumage in order for several hours a day. This is a completely normal occurrence, like molting accompanied by itching, with the exception of stressful situations, when an oppressed state of the bird is added to the itching and dropped feathers.

What else parrots itch from is low humidity, which leads to drying out of the skin. Water procedures for our birds are mandatory, in extreme cases they are sprayed.

If causes such as humidity and stress are easily eliminated, then diseases manifested by pruritus cause a lot of trouble to bird owners.

When you do not know what to do if the parrot itches, take a closer look at your birdie and feathers. If the parrot itches to the blood, its traces will remain on the feathers as a sign of illness, and if infected with down-eaters, holes will remain.

Ticks can get into the cage of a parrot from the environment with various objects. Appearing on the wax, they provoke spongy growths. If the disease is not stopped in time, the beak suffers, then the area around the eyes, paws and cesspool. Therefore, when a beak itches on a parrot, this should definitely alert you.

With early detection of a tick, petroleum jelly is used for processing, and in more complex cases, an aversectin or novvertin ointment is effective. An integral part of the treatment is cell disinfection and attention to the diet to enhance the immunity of your feathered pet.

If you are at a loss to say why the parrot is itching, seek the advice of a doctor, as this may cost the life of your bird.

When a parrot is infected with feather-bugs, ticks, infection of feathers and skin of a bird with a fungus, a bird begins to itch and pull feathers on itself.

Unlike the microscopic tick, the cannibals can be seen. They look like little dark sticks. The infected pet eats poorly and behaves aggressively, plucking feathers from itself and other parrots, if not one lives.

In addition to self-pinching, the manifestations of damage to your bird’s fungus will be a lack of appetite, a white cheesy coating in the bird’s goiter, liquid droppings, a general decrease in activity and itchy scaly spots on the head and legs.

Mental disorders

Yes, yes, this can also be with your parrot. Birds are also subject to stress and all kinds of mental disorders, like us. Your feathered ward may have many reasons for stress:

change of place of residence, and this can be either a new house, a new cell or even a change of its location;
loss of a pair or incompatible partner;
separation from the owner, his change;
lack of attention, loneliness. Parrots are flocking birds, and if your pet sits alone day-to-day, without communicating with his own kind or with you, then he will have deviations in behavior;
insufficient or missing parrot toys;
puberty;
other pets, especially cats. The friendship of a bird and a feline is rather an exception. Sooner or later, a cat will hunt a bird, this is the law of nature. In addition, studies by scientists have shown that parrots experience extreme stress even from the smell of a cat. Remember the mice that are scared away by the smell of cats.

Inappropriate care and living conditions

It happens that the cause of itching and plucking feathers in parrots are disorders of the body. They, in turn, arise from the wrong diet of the bird. How much has already been written and read on the topic of the harmfulness of food from your table for parrots, and things are still there. Compassionate owners are overjoyed that their bird is killing something for both cheeks, like a hodgepodge or tea with halva, and they complain that the Internet should not be trusted, they say that they cheated, the parrot eats everything and is alive and well, as you see . Dear owners of parrots of all kinds and stripes! Your pet is almost as unique as you are, and carries food that is unhealthy for itself without visible consequences for only a while. Sooner or later, the question arises about the treatment of a parrot - it depends on the characteristics of the body of your pet. But, it will certainly arise. The bird will have pathologies of its internal organs, its metabolism will be disturbed, the parrot will begin to itch and thin out its plumage.

Another reason why a parrot pulls feathers may be insufficient humidity in the room where the pet lives, especially if its cage is in close proximity to a heater or battery. The skin of the bird begins to peel off, the parrot begins to get nervous and pluck feathers.

There are other reasons for which the parrot itches and pulls feathers. So, after the treatment of diseases of the skin of the pet, the remains of the ointment are often observed on it. The bird begins to pluck oily plumes of plumage contaminated with ointment, which then leads to the parrot getting used to this ritual, even when the problem of oily feathers has already disappeared.

Female parrots sometimes pluck their feathers during the feeding of the chicks. At this time, they may suffer from a lack of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

Speaking of birds. Stressful situations in your family that turn into scandals, screams, curses, etc. turn into stress for your pet. So, do not spoil anyone’s nerves, try to swear in a civilized manner, without screaming and breaking dishes. And, if possible, solve the problem of plucking feathers with a bird under the supervision of a specialist. I wish you healthy parrots!

“Where the forest is like paradise and where the flowers are all year round.

The parrot lives - birds of marvelous beauty.

Shine with all the inflorescence of colors, bloom with every feather.

How many birds of fairy tales know, how many songs they cherish! ”

E. Frantsuzova

Parrots, funny domestic birds possess luxurious plumage - the pride of the owners and the birds themselves. How much joy and fun minutes they bring to the owner! And so much excitement causes situations when beautiful feathers are lost! Talkative birds tend to pluck themselves.

You can’t watch without tears how a gorgeous bird turns into a miserable semblance of a naked chicken carcass. What's happening? Why does a parrot pull feathers? Come on, sort it out.

Preliminary inspection

To inspect the pet, take the budgie in your arms. If the bird is already accustomed and accustomed to the situation - it will be easy to do. But for a still wild parrot, inspection can cause stress. In this case, act affectionately, not forgetting to talk to the pet in a soothing voice.

Behavior.A healthy bird is active and agile, responsive to sounds. But when the parrot is crested, sitting on the perch for a long time, constantly sleepy - this is not normal. Especially if the pet refuses to eat and does not want to communicate. This behavior indicates the development of the disease.

Completeness. Pay attention to the fatness of the bird! A sick parrot loses up to 1/3 of body weight (a bird can lose weight in 20-24 hours). Fatness is checked by the development of the pectoral muscles (in a healthy parrot, it is elastic and rounded). But with malnutrition, especially with cachexia (depletion), the pointed edge is easily felt at the keel bone.

The keel bone (keel) is a longitudinal lower bone with a cartilage. It is located in the lower chest area.

Feathers. In a healthy parrot, the feather cover is clean, smooth and even. If the parrot has become dirty and disheveled - take it in your hands and carefully examine:

Leather.To examine and evaluate the skin of a bird, gently open the feathers and examine the skin. A healthy feathered epidermis is light pink. Yellow indicates obesity or liver disease.

Dehydration of the pet becomes a dangerous situation. To check this, slightly raise the skin of the eyelids (if dehydration is present - the raised skin remains wrinkled and does not return to its original state for some time).

The ears.Carefully inspect the parrot’s ear holes for excessive secretion or foreign bodies. To see the ears, gently lift the bird feathers on your head and inspect the ear holes.

Eyes. Healthy eyes are clear, with a clean cornea. If diseases develop in the bird's body, the eyes react as follows:

The third eyelid falls out.
Marked lacrimation.
The conjunctiva turns red and swells.

The blanching of the conjunctiva tells us that the parrot begins anemia. To check the suggestion, gently touch the mucous membrane of the eye. With anemia, the eye membranes are soft and supple. But take into account the age of the bird - the elderly conjunctiva fades.

Nose. When a parrot develops inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system, serous fluid flows from the nose. If the discharge is cloudy, there is too much dust in the surrounding air.

Beak. In a healthy bird, the horn surface of the beak is smooth and shiny, without growths, tumors and abscesses.

Mouth. To inspect the oral cavity, gently tap the pet on the beak. When examining, pay attention to the condition of the tongue and the color of the mucosa. It is necessary to examine the area of \u200b\u200bthe goiter (squeeze the area of \u200b\u200bthe goiter with the index and thumb and feel it).

If the contents of the goiter are foamy, white or the consistency of the goiter is solid - this indicates inflammation. The bird receives dirty water and food stained in the litter.

AnusCarefully examine the area of \u200b\u200bthe buttocks (first gently pat the cloaca with a cotton pad). In a healthy parrot, the area on the pope has no swelling and redness. Otherwise, the bird has inflammatory processes.

Paws. Parrot paws examines at the end of preventive measures. Deformation of the claws and says illiterate content and a small number of perch perches. Skin covered with horny scales is a sign of bird damage with scabies mites.

If there is a suspicion that the pet is unwell, immediately leave the parrot from the other relatives in a quarantine cage. Feed a sick bird with dry / soft food or sprouted millet. Fruits, herbs, exclude from the diet. And hurry to the appointment with the vet!

Causes of Self-Plucking

The reasons provoking the birds to tear out feathers in themselves (and partners) are many. Such behavior is noted in diseases, poor conditions and mental disorders of the feathered. Consider each reason in more detail.

Diseases

Knemidocoptosis does not pose a threat to humans. Scabies mite, getting on human skin, dies in 1-2 days.

SymptomsThe disease goes through four stages of development:

Initial. The insidiousness of the disease is that the symptoms are not detected immediately. At the initial stage, it is impossible to recognize the ailment. Knemidocoptosis manifests itself as soon as ticks reach the adult stage (it takes 3-4 months).
Easy. On the paws and the area of \u200b\u200bthe beak (wax), growths similar to calcareous piles are formed. The skin peels, itches, its peeling begins. A sick parrot gnaws paws and pulls out feathers, trying to scratch itchy skin.
Medium. Scabies is already pronounced. A tick occupies almost the entire body of an unfortunate bird. The parrot eats poorly due to deformation of the beak, violently plucking feathers to blood. The behavior of the bird is lethargic, lifeless.
Heavy. The poor bird is completely deprived of feather cover. The skin and beak are covered with rough growths. Joint inflammation begins (if the parrot loses its limbs, it dies).

The causes of the disease. Where does the terrible creation of parrots living at home come from? A feathered bird becomes infected with ticks in a pet store due to a drop in immunity. The tick penetrates the cage along with poor-quality, dirty food and as a result of living in unsanitary conditions.

The feathers affected by the poohorae become full of holes, their tips are deformed, twisted. The eyes become inflamed in birds, feathers on the back completely fall out. Newborn chicks die.

The cannibals are visible to the naked eye - they look like dark, moving sticks. Poohoedov instantly infect neighbors in the cage, and parrots begin to pluck feathers from each other.

Symptoms You can find out that a pet is sick by the following signs:

Characteristic spots appear on the muzzle of the parrot, beak, legs. They are covered with gray scales and are very itchy.
The pet, getting rid of itching, combes the skin with its beak, paws, tearing out feathers.
A white curd coating appears in the bird's goiter. These secretions stain plumage in the head area.
In a sick bird, appetite decreases, digestive tract disorders (diarrhea) begin. The sick pet is lethargic, weak, breathing heavily.

The reason for self-pinching is illiterate care

The parrot is a capricious and wayward creature. The pet requires love, care of the person and good conditions. Good content means:

Correct lighting (daylight hours of birds is 15-16 hours).
The location of the cell (away from drafts, windows, heating appliances).
Frequency of bathing (regularly, especially in hot weather, after the procedure, the bath should be removed and the wet surface of the cell wiped dry).
Air purity (it is forbidden to smoke or use aerosol products near birds).
Humidity and temperature (the best temperature for a pet’s life is air temperature + 20-25⁰С with humidity 70-80⁰).

Particular attention should be paid to cleanliness of the air and regular bathing of birds. Dirt feathers, inhalation of dust provoke the development of self-plucking. The bird, striving for cleanliness, pulls out dirty feathers.

Bad sleep and daylight instability lead to self-pinching. With good lighting in birds, calcium metabolism normalizes, feathers become strong and healthy.

Cell.Some particularly sensitive birds begin to pull out feathers, living in a round cage. Many parrots are wary of strangers and strangers and tend to hide in the sting of a home. If there are no corners, a frustrated, frightened pet begins to tear feathers.

Poisoning.One of the causes of self-pinching is metal poisoning. What is the cell made of? In the production of cheap homes and accessories use tin, zinc, lead. The parrot, biting the bars of the cage, is poisoned. Due to poisoning, the owner should only water the pet with bottled water (it is forbidden to give water from the tap!).

Nutrition. Many birds pull feathers due to allergies. Allergic reactions cause inappropriate food. Owners should very carefully introduce new feed into the diet, looking closely at the behavior of birds, and abandon the use of mineral stones with dyes.

The bird pulls out feathers due to the lack of certain substances in the body (in this case, the torn feather has a stem filled with blood). This is due to a lack of arginine amino acids in the body. Most arginine is found in:

Rapeseed
Niger
Oatmeal.
Canary seed.

Self-plucking of talkative pets begins due to an attempt to independently treat the dead bird (improper drug selection, non-compliance with the norm). The arrogance of the owner leads to allergic reactions, poisoning and death of the bird.

Natural causes

Parrots regularly molt, the feather cover changes and the pets “help” themselves get rid of the feathers as soon as possible. With the end of molting, self-pinching ceases. The pet itself does not show any signs of illness or a disorder in behavior - it is fun and active.

But when stress falls on an unfortunate parrot, things are much worse. Being under the influence of emotional overload, depression, despondency, self-plucking of a pet reaches such an extent that not a single pen remains on the body. What causes stress?

Loneliness, lack of fun and toys.
Climate in the family (frequent quarrels, screams, abuse of people).

In stress parrots often drives their own host. Accustomed to waking up with the first rays of the sun, chatty birds begin to make noise. A sleepy man, hoping to sleep some more, covers the cell with tissue, provoking a stressful situation in the bird.

Hungry, birds sitting in the darkness and loneliness from boredom, sadness begin to pull feathers from them.

What to advise? Love and respect feathered pets, have a couple (female or male), regularly let them fly around the apartment and never yell at them.

According to observations made by leading ornithologists, parrots of the following breeds are most prone to self-pinching:

Cockatoo.
Aratinga.
Monk parrots.
Ground-skinned parrots.
Representatives of the macaw family.
Representatives of the type of lovebirds.
Eclectus (parrots of noble blood).
Jaco (African gray and red-tailed parrots).
Representatives of the group of ringed parrots (necklace, plum-headed and Alexandrian).

But Amadin, Amazons, budgies, Corella, such a disorder in behavior rarely overtakes. Self-plucking is a serious disorder that negatively affects the health and mental state of the parrot.

The work of the thyroid gland and endocrine glands suffers. The healthy growth of feathers depends on the functioning of the thyroid gland. The pet, tearing out the feathers, makes the thyroid gland work hard. Over time, her strength and energy reserves are depleted.

A weakened thyroid gland stops producing the hormones necessary for the development and health of the bird, which leads to serious illnesses and mental disorders. This condition should be treated and corrected immediately!

What to do?

Rid the pet of longing and loneliness. Get a friend / girlfriend parrot, but don't forget that the new bird needs quarantine. Parrots are creatures who love to imitate. If there is a sick bird in the house engaged in pulling feathers, looking at it, and healthy relatives will begin to pinch themselves.

Review and improve the content, diet of poultry. Constantly offer your pet a new good quality food - variety is important in food!

Do not pay attention to the indignant cries of a capricious feathered! Give only the “right” food and don’t remove the food, even if the parrot is on a hunger strike.

Sometimes with the education of parrots requires patience and endurance. Sometimes it takes months to teach a pet to eat healthy. This must be defeated by a person, not a pet! Eliminate walnuts, oilseeds from the diet. The bird should regularly eat beets, carrots, and salad (this food stimulates the thyroid gland and saturates the body with iodine).

Iodine is an extremely important trace element for the growth and strength of feathers. If the bird itches, include vitamin B15 and calcium pangamate (half a dragee) in the diet. For the health of the nervous system, tincture of valerian, eleutherococcus, pollen is useful. Tinctures are mixed with honey, sugar and given to the pet.

Provide your favorite bird with a swim, daily putting in a cage a container with warm water. In winter, additionally conduct UV exposure sessions. In severe cases, when self-pinching progresses, wearing a special collar helps. You can do it yourself:

Take a dense, flexible material (preferably plastic).
Cut a circle out of it (its diameter depends on size). Calculate its size so that the feathered one could not reach the calf with its beak.
In the center of the circle, make another hole equal in diameter to the neck of the parrot.
Sand the edges with sandpaper - they should be even so as not to injure the delicate skin.
Put on the bird and fasten the edges of the product.

The pet will have to wear a collar for 1-2 months. If the bad habit has returned, and self-plucking has resumed - the pet will have to carry the collar for another six months. Do not forget to move the drinker and feeder so that the parrot in the collar can reach them.

By joint efforts, round-the-clock care and attention, the owner will be able to help the poor parrot, get rid of the ugly bad habit and return the bird a luxurious, beautiful plumage!

Unfortunately, pinching is not such a rare occurrence for budgies. However, no matter how obvious the symptom may seem, identifying its cause is quite difficult. Bird lovers rarely manage to do this on their own, and even more so - somehow cure the bird.

Plucking feathers on itself does not have specific recommendations for treatment, since for each bird its causes are purely individual.

Most veterinarians still believe that birds pluck themselves when they are improperly fed. Most often this is caused by the abundance of sunflower seeds in the feed. The fact is that the nutrition of the birds should depend on the temperature conditions in which they are located, and their mobility. Seeds rich in vegetable fats are a delicious delicacy that birds simply adore, but you should not let them eat seeds in unlimited quantities. In nature, parrots do not often have the opportunity to eat sunflower seeds, so they often prefer this type of food to everyone else. At the same time, birds locked in a cage do not spend as much energy as they do in the wild. Feeding seeds is allowed in small quantities in the cold season, but in extreme heat it can only do much harm. If you notice that the bird eats a lot of seeds, purposefully choosing them from the feed, you need to stop giving them a parrot.

It is especially worth paying attention to the protein content. In some cases, birds are given lean cooked meat. However, “overfeeding” with protein can also cause self-pinching, so the main thing is moderation in everything.

Other experts say that nutrition is by no means a catalyst for self-plucking. Sometimes the indoor microclimate plays a decisive role in this. The temperature of the budgerigars should be neither too hot nor very low. High humidity or too close a light source (lamp, location of the cage in a sunny place), the duration of daylight hours can affect the budgie, and he will engage in self-plucking. It is also important not to forget that the bird should have the opportunity to swim regularly.

Do not forget about psychological problems. Yes, yes, they are in such small birds. Parrots are social creatures, they hate boredom and loneliness, and may well begin to pluck their feathers from longing.

The same behavior is observed in unfortunate parrots in their "personal" life, who are offended by other birds, domestic animals, and people. Sometimes parrots begin to pluck themselves if they do not have a partner or their hearty friend flew away, fell ill, died.

One thing is worth remembering for sure. A parrot who is sick with self-pinching needs attention and help. If this does not stop, the bird may die. First of all, you need to re-read all the recommendations on keeping captive birds, to ensure the correct position of the cage, nutrition, temperature.

Try to communicate more often with the bird, if she lives with you alone, to captivate her with interesting activities (crawling on the table, dragging paper clips, pens, jewelry), talking. Buy a budgie a mirror. It is best to consult a professional bird doctor and try to choose a treatment with your veterinarian.

Olga Belyaeva

Parrots like no other birds are prone to plucking, it’s sad to see how your beloved pet pulls its feathers one by one. What is the reason for this behavior and what to do about it? - let's figure it out.

Long molt

Active molting occurs twice a year - in the spring and autumn, but there should not be completely bare spots on the skin of the parrot. The only exception is young individuals, in which the molt is the first, it passes harder, may be accompanied by bald patches. New growing feathers, erupting through the skin, may itch and itch, so the bird seeks to pluck out old ones that impede the growth of a new feather. If a feathered bird does not peck itself to the blood and does not tear out healthy feathers, this is a completely normal process.

Another thing is nibbled and broken off feathers, as well as erupting “stumps” that do not open for a long time. This indicates metabolic disorder or poultry disease, you need to show it to an ornithologist and make the necessary tests.

Commonplace boredom

Yes, yes, boredom is the main reason that a parrot plucks or chews its feathers. Parrots are emotional creatures, stressful conditions are not uncommon for them. Parrots have many reasons for self-plucking:

Lack of sleep, the presence of nearby irritants (children or other pets;
Separation from the previous owners;
Unsuitable partner or loss of the previous pair;
Lack of attention from the owner;
Lack of toys in the cage;
Relocation or relocation;
Puberty.

The bird can be aggressive not only in relation to itself, but also begin to pluck feathers from relatives. The bird needs to be provided with comfortable conditions: the cage should have toys, poles, mirrors, beads and other interesting little things. Try to practice with the bird regularly, find time to caress and feed it.

Dry air

The skin of parrots in an apartment with dry air can dry out (surprisingly, the birds are tropical), scales form on the skin, similar to dandruff, which are very itchy. You can not put the cage near heating appliances and batteries - they dry the skin of the bird and mucous membranes, it is recommended to use humidifiers to increase humidity, do not allow drafts. There should always be clean water and a bath in the cage. Against the background of dry air, bronchitis, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and other diseases can also develop.

Dermatitis

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