Stress related feather plucking/over-preening

[Oneironautical]

I adopted a pair of lovebirds from my neighbour about 2 months ago, and when they came to us the male (mango) had a ring around his neck where he had plucked his feathers before arriving at my neighbour's house. Within the first two weeks, his mate (tiki) attacked him and we took him to the vet to have a scrape on his neck looked at. I think he had started to pluck/over-preen his feathers at that point, but he is continuing to do it and starting to cause himself injury (two of the spots where he plucked bled when he pulled the feather out).

I am thinking that this is stress related from changing homes, as he wasn't plucking at his old house. Maybe something in our house is stressing him out? I just don't know what piece of the puzzle it might be and what I should try changing first.

We switched them from an all seed diet to Harrison's pellets and nutriberries on the advice of the vet. I got a full spectrum bulb and have that above the cage. They get 12.5 hours of darkness and we regularly clean and rearrange the toys in the cage. Regular baths, about 1 hr of time outside the cage daily.

Things I am not sure about: they are in my daughters bedroom, not far from the main area of the house but they can't see us from where they are unless we come in the room. They also seem to be constantly in hormone mode, and my neighbour said they never molted while living with them (approx 4 yrs). I also wonder whether the noise of us watching TV in the evening is stressing them out? I have considered moving them into the main area but I'm worried they will be too close to the wood stove (an air tight stove but we still have to open it to light it and put wood in), maybe 12-15 ft away. Also concerned about the living area being too noisy for them in the evening.

Any suggestions? I know I should probably also take them to the vet to get checked out again, but I wanted to get some opinions about other potential stressors. Thanks.

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community! Congratulations on taking in these 2 lovebirds!

My first question is are you sure you have a male/female pair? I, as well as other members here, have had male/male pairs and, occasionally, female/female pairs that have gotten along just fine. Female/female is more unusual, as females normally don't live well together. When Tiki attacked Mango, was the injury on the back of the neck? You might want to have these 2 DNA sexed so you know exactly what you have. There are any number of labs that do it, including Avian Biotech. You can order sexing kits online that use either a sample of blood (short clip a nail and collect the sample on a card that they sent) or you can pluck 5-6 chest feathers (no pain involved whatsoever) and send them off to the lab in a collection envelope that the lab supplies. Results don't take very long.

Moving to a new home can be very stressful and it takes a while for parrots to adjust. Parrots learn by experience that they are safe and experience takes time. I find that having the cage near a wall so that at least one side of the cage is protected or in a corner where 2 sides are protected. Lovebirds are also curious so having them around the family can be helpful, as they get to see what's going on. Bedtime for my flock is sunrise to sunset. They let me know when it's bedtime! If you have them in the main area of the house, you can possibly move it to a quieter area. They may feel more comfortable if you cover their cage. This is something you will have to just try and see what happens. A tired parrot is a cranky one, that's for sure!

As for diet, lovebirds are seed and veggie eaters in their natural habitat. They are native to Africa and African species need a higher fat content in their diets than parrots from other areas of the world. Pellets are low fat so African species don't get the higher fat dietary need from an all pelleted diet. I feed a cockatiel seed mix (yes, containing sunflower seed) and fresh veggies. Kale, carrots, sugar snap peas, green beans, collard greens, broccoli are all good veggies. I stay away from spinach, as it's high in oxalic acid which binds usable calcium.

Another thing I use with my parrots are toys that can be destroyed! Parrots love to chew and can get pretty creative when that need is not met. I like toys that can be shredded. Bamboo is a favorite. Be careful around toys that use string or cotton yarn. It can be chewed and swallowed and then you have a big problem because the cotton may not be able to be digested.

If you have any pictures you would like to share, we would love to see your lovebirds. To post photos here, you need to upload them to on online storage site and then copy/paste the URL here.

Hope this has been helpful!

[Oneironautical]

Thanks Linda. We have seen them mating and seen tiki laying eggs so I'm very sure they are a male/female pair.

I will try adding seeds back in and see if that makes a difference. They do eat veg also, I've been giving them collards and lettuce and sweet potato and carrots. I'll try more seeds & greens.

They definitely get shredding toys, things like paper and cardboard egg cartons. I got them a bird kabob toy but they don't seem to have figured it out yet.

I'll try changing the diet back and moving their cage out to the main area. My daughter thought we could get a wheeled cart thing and wheel them out during the day and back into the bedroom at night. Or maybe a daytime cage and a nighttime cage? Not sure if that would create more stress. We live in Canada and the days are very short this time of year so we cover them well after the sun has gone down.

I'll try posting pics later today.

[linda040899]

Not knowing more detail, I put out the thought that they may not be male and female. Mating and laying eggs says Tiki is a hen.

I think I would get a rolling cart and just move the same cage. Less stress.

See if the dietary change helps. The veggies sound good. I didn't mention sweet potato but there's nutrition in that. Some birds like cooked corn but there's not too much nutrition there. All my birds, large and small, LOVE Nutriberries! I don't use pellets at all, as Nutriberries have pellets in them My avian vet recommended no more than 20% for small birds, as they contain too much nutrition and can cause early death from renal failure. Mine love eggs and I sprinkle a tiny bit of Moringa powder over their food. Since I started that, my birds are doing much better on not getting sick and they seem to be living longer. I have several lovebirds that are 18+ years old!

[Oneironautical]

So I changed a few things and the feather plucking seems to have improved.

-got a wheeled cart and now we move them out into the living room during the day and into the bedroom at night.
- removed the nutriberries, at least temporarily
- added seeds back into their diet. They now get 40% pellets, 40% seeds, 20% fresh veg.

I think the main thing that is helping is having them in the living space. I think he was anxious and lonely in the other room, and could hear me moving around (I am home during the day a lot right now) but couldn't see me. Hoping the improvements stick!

Also, thanks for the tips and feedback. I will try the moringa powder too, when I get some. It is helpful to have someone who is more experienced to bounce ideas off of.