# My cockatiel won't stop plucking :( help



## tedwards (Jun 6, 2021)

Hi my cockatiel Leo won't stop plucking his feathers. It's on his chest and under his wings mainly and a little bit on the back of his neck. We have taken him to an avian vet and they did a blood test & poo test and everything came back normal! I even changed his food to see if that was an issue but he's still plucking. He has a seed and nutrition pellets diet and sometimes eats spinach. I've tried countless times to give him veg and he just won't touch it and I'm not sure how to get him to eat it. Could it be his diet that is maybe affecting his feather plucking? 

It's starting to become really bad and I've seen him draw blood a few times. He's very friendly and likes to spend time with my partner and I but I have recently started a new job and so I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as I would like. He was plucking his feathers prior to me starting a new job btw. I'm just not sure what to do.. any advice would be greatly appreciated


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Did this vet not give you any advice on the feather plucking? SOMETHING is either stressing him out or he has underlying issues. One thing you COULD try, How often do you give him spray showers with a plant sprayer? You should always use lukewarm water as this simulates rain. If given two to three times a week, this MIGHT encourage him to preen his feathers instead of plucking them.Good luck.


----------



## tedwards (Jun 6, 2021)

Robert Seale said:


> Did this vet not give you any advice on the feather plucking? SOMETHING is either stressing him out or he has underlying issues. One thing you COULD try, How often do you give him spray showers with a plant sprayer? You should always use lukewarm water as this simulates rain. If given two to three times a week, this MIGHT encourage him to preen his feathers instead of plucking them.Good luck.


The vet said it may be a behavioural issue and also gave me some anti-inflammatory medicine to see if it helps. We gave it to him and he still keeps plucking. I have also tried to bathe him with lukewarm water in a spray bottle .. but he either flies away or freaks out in his cage and causes him a lot of stress. I will give it another go.. do you have any advice on how to bathe a bird thats scared of water?


----------



## PiedPilot (Apr 26, 2021)

Does he have plenty of toys and stimulation?


----------



## tedwards (Jun 6, 2021)

Yes he does - And a big flight cage he runs around in. He also lives with a budgie and they play with each other. He doesn't take any interests in the cage toys but he loves tea towels and anything fluffy like teddy bears or fluffy blankets (he sings to them and rubs his head on it? Lol) I've put a fluffy hair tie in there recently and he loves it and sings to it - so this is distracting him from his feathers a bit. He's still plucking but possibly a bit less. 

He also gets a lot of out of the cage time and he likes it sit on top of it and watch the world go by


----------



## Alfie (Nov 4, 2020)

Robert Seale said:


> Did this vet not give you any advice on the feather plucking? SOMETHING is either stressing him out or he has underlying issues. One thing you COULD try, How often do you give him spray showers with a plant sprayer? You should always use lukewarm water as this simulates rain. If given two to three times a week, this MIGHT encourage him to preen his feathers instead of plucking them.Good luck.





tedwards said:


> Hi my cockatiel Leo won't stop plucking his feathers. It's on his chest and under his wings mainly and a little bit on the back of his neck. We have taken him to an avian vet and they did a blood test & poo test and everything came back normal! I even changed his food to see if that was an issue but he's still plucking. He has a seed and nutrition pellets diet and sometimes eats spinach. I've tried countless times to give him veg and he just won't touch it and I'm not sure how to get him to eat it. Could it be his diet that is maybe affecting his feather plucking?
> 
> It's starting to become really bad and I've seen him draw blood a few times. He's very friendly and likes to spend time with my partner and I but I have recently started a new job and so I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as I would like. He was plucking his feathers prior to me starting a new job btw. I'm just not sure what to do.. any advice would be greatly appreciated
> View attachment 93544
> ...


----------

