Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!intercon!ooblick
From: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Cockatiel feather picking
Message-ID: <26BE4AEA.C75@intercon.com>
Date: 7 Aug 90 05:00:26 GMT
References: <1990Aug6.230634.4064@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation, Sterling, VA
Lines: 52

In article <1990Aug6.230634.4064@agate.berkeley.edu> boris@ocf.berkeley.edu (Boris Chen) writes:
>My Cockatiel seems to have a skin problem. He is pulling out feathers. Also,
>with some of his feathers have only the shaft left. I tried giving him
>vitamin suppliments and anti-stress formulas, thinking it may be due to
>me moving around. Also, I bought Feather Glo bird bath in attempts to
>releave skin irritation. It didn't help, so I tried an anti-picking
>spray called Quell made by Mardel labs, and that doesn't seem to help either.
>I had a vet check for parasites or mites, and the result was negative.
>The vet put a plastic crown around his neck to help prevent the pullling out
>of feathers, but that doesn't solve the itching.

A collar should be the LAST thing you try for a plucking bird.  Was the
vet a real avian vet?  If you are going to leave the collar on, watch the
bird EVERY MINUTE.  I can name you dozens of cases of strangulation due to
collars on birds.

Spray the bird for mites even though the vet says there are none.  It
can't hurt.  Use the sprays found in most bird shops.  Also, start adding
nekton S and nekton bio to the food.  Regular vitamin supplements don't have
the necessary protein and amino acids necessary for some birds.  You may
also want to purchase some of the special "feather plucker" toys found in
Bird Talk.  The one I use looks like a large coiled rope that the bird
takes apart bit by bit until it looks like a mop.  Cured many of my 
birds.

Also keep in mind that the bird may just be peeved that you moved him and
will just get better on his own.  Still, the nekton won't hurt him and may
do him a world of good.  The toy will stimulate his little brain cells and
make him a happy camper.

Another possible explination is that the bird wants to breed.  Cockatiels
are like rabbits in their sex drive and urges.  Keep this in mind if your
bird keeps getting too restless and plucky.

Don't take the poor thing 400 miles away.  If he is upset that he was moved
in the first place, moving him again may not be the thing.  Find a GOOD
avian vet in your area.  Parrot World magazine has a hotline for finding
avian vets.  Unfortunately, I don't have one in front of me to get you
the number.

>	Any advice would be helpful. And I would appreciate it if anyone
>has any suggestions as far as books concerning bird diseases.

The Harrison and Harrison Avian Disease book is the best.  It is also the
most expensive at $80.00 or so.  It is the vet textbook on the subject.
Also, try Diseases of Cage Birds by Burr, published by TFH.  Another good one
is the Bird Owner's Home Health and Care Handbook by Gallerstein.  But be
careful not to try too much self-diagnosis of your bird.  Let a good vet
handle everything but the most routine.

Mikki Barry
Natural Intelligence Aviary