Society plucking other Society :(

[Tessa]

Hello all,

I posted a month ago about figuring out if the two males I supposedly got are actually females. Turns out they are both females. Things have been going well and I've only had two additional random eggs now that I've removed the nest.

My newest problem now though is my more reserved female has lost feathers from the back of her neck (it makes her look like she has a crooked neck). I watched them for a bit yesterday and Merry, the bolder one, was grooming Pippin normally but then every few moments would take hold of Merry and pull. Pippin cheeped a couple of times when this happened like she was saying, whoa, easy there! Otherwise she is her usual self and isn't showing any stress, as far as I can tell. They still snuggle up to each other to rest and sleep and share the same perch almost all day.

Is this just over-zealous grooming on Merry's part or a bigger problem? Is there any way to get Merry to stop doing this so poor Pippin can grow her feathers back?

[lovezebs]

Tessa

Plucking can become a serious problem if it becomes habitual, and it is a tough one to break them of.

For a while I had someone in my Zebra, Society flight plucking everyone in plucking distance.

I actually had to pull the plucked birds into another flight, so that their feathers would grow byack (which thankfully they did). The problem stopped at some point, but now I'm starting to see it cropping up again, darn it.

Sometimes it's caused by getting too enthused about preening , sometimes boredom, or wanting the feathers for a nest, and sometimes by lack of protein in the diet. It's difficult to say.

I would try offering some fake vines a and flowers, which may keep them occupied. A daily bath, and some spray millet, hung from the roof of the cage, to give them something to do.

Also when you see it happening, a firm NO! from you migh stop the behavior.

Good luck,