Zebra finch pecking wound

[rjs]

My boyfriend has two male zebra finches (Meep and Beep) in a cage. Recently Beep has plucked out a lot of his feathers on the back of his neck and one 'shoulder'. There's a small scrape on the 'shoulder' of one wing, which has scabbed up, and the bald area is around this wound. He keeps pecking at the wound when preening.

We're fairly sure Meep isn't plucking him - they've been in the cage together for over a year without any problems before now. They are fed a finch specific seed mix, millet, egg food and occasional spinach leaves, and have cuttlefish available. They also get cage bird tonic in their water. The cage could be bigger for a pair of finches, but it's not ridiculously small - think standard budgie cage size. They're due an upgrade once we get our work bonuses...

Beep seems well and happy and is behaving normally other than his bald spot. We can only assume that it's started from him scraping his wing somehow, pecking at the scrape as it heals, and progressed to him plucking around it. We don't know how to stop him doing it, though! We'd be very grateful for any suggestions - I've seen it suggested that the wound should be covered to get him to leave it alone but I can't begin to see how you could do this with such a small bird. We have tried using the no-pek spray but it's very hard to get it on the area without catching him and obviously that stresses him out a lot.

My boyfriend loves his finches dearly and is worried sick about Beep - your help would be very much appreciated.

[Leel]

I hope its not plucking, my finches have been together awhile and plucking just sprung up even though they seem to love each other a lot so it could be a factor? I can't say for finches but I know you can use an (excuse the spelling) Elizabethian collar to prevent then pecking at wounds. Maybe seperate them to see if it heals up by itself?
Can't help much else sorry

[ac12]

I would separate them to be certain that it is not the other one that is plucking. Most of the time you will not see the plucker doing the plucking. Then keep them separated until the feathers grow back.

BTW the back of the neck is a common spot to be plucked, so I think he is being plucked.

[rjs]

Fair enough. I suppose the main reason we assumed it was Beep plucking himself is that the bald patch is centered around the wound on his wing, so we thought he was pulling out the feathers due to overpreening around that.

How long would we have to keep them separated before we would see some regrowth of Beep's feathers, if Meep is doing the plucking?

[ac12]

I put my plucked birds into a small hospital cage, so they have some peace and quiet away from the bird that plucked it. Badly plucked birds also get a heat lamp to help keep them warm.
Then I give the plucked bird a lot of egg food (for protein) to help grow the new feathers; breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I have seen feathers START to regrow in about a week. But how fast it will start to regrow depends on the individual bird, some are faster some are slower. After that, you just have to wait for the feathers to grow out and fill in the bald spots.

If Beep regrows the feathers, then you know Meep is a plucker.

If the bird was repeatedly plucked, the feather folicle may have been damaged and the feathers will NEVER regrow. I had one bird like that. It was a rescue, and the back of its neck and back were BADLY plucked. The back filled in, but the back of the neck and upper shoulders only partially regrew, so it was probably repeatedly plucked there.

Some times after the bird has regrown the feathers and you put them together, the plucker will not pluck again. BUT sometimes the plucker will just pluck the bird again. In that case, I separate the birds permanently, or if I have other birds I will try to swap partners to see if I get a more compatible partnering.

[rjs]

Separating them permanently really wouldn't be an option, I don't think, as there simply isn't the space for two cages in the flat.

I think the plan will be to separate them for a bit, though - we're going to buy their swish new living quarters and put Beep in there and leave Meep in the old cage, and see how they're doing after a week or so. Unless there are any reasons why this would be a terrible idea?
Alternatively we could just move them both in, and see if the increased space means the plucking stops (regardless of which of them is actually plucking) and separate them if it continues.

[Vargur]

I hope its not plucking, my finches have been together awhile and plucking just sprung up even though they seem to love each other a lot so it could be a factor? I can't say for finches but I know you can use an (excuse the spelling) Elizabethian collar to prevent then pecking at wounds. Maybe seperate them to see if it heals up by itself?
Can't help much else sorry

if your birds are building a nest,
the male (or the female, I dont know, you dont say who is being plucked)
wants more material in the nest, then they start to pluck their partner.
Maybe some frustration are bugging them,
one of them wants to mate but its mate is not ready?
Provide them hardboiled eggs, if there is a plucking going on.
So they get enough protein to regrow their feathers quickly.
The partners (sometimes) pluck their mates even though they love them very much they just dont know better, I guess

[ac12]

Look for a breeder cage.
Those have a slide in divider in the middle of the cage.
That divider is VERY useful. I use it for temporary separation and to make the cage smaller so it is easier to catch the bird.

Vargur could be on to something. If the plucker/Meep is a male and the pluckee/Beep is a female, the male could be wanting to mate and out of frustration (no nest) is plucking the female.

If you don't know the sex of the birds, pictures of the 2 birds would let us help you figure it out.

[Ria]

First off, I have to say I love those names! Absolutely adorable!

Meep and Beep are both males, as noted in the first post.

It's possible that Meep plucked hard enough to actually cause a wound on Beep, and the continued plucking in the area keeps the wound irritated, meaning Beep keeps picking at it. Altho a bigger cage (and some greens to hide in) might help, it's probably best to separate them to make sure Beep recovers. There are a lot of reasons for birds to pluck, but like ac12 noted, the location is a common for one bird to pick the other.

[ac12]

I suggested that one was a female, because that is just what happened to me. I bought what I "thought" were 2 males...then I found eggs in the cage. oops.

Although in this case one would think if they were M/F they would mated before a year. So I stand corrected on the M/F option.

As for MM plucking, I had that also.
The dominant male will pluck the other male, sometimes so bad that I have had to remove the plucked male to regrow its feathers in peace.

[rjs]

They're definitely both boys - standard grey colouring with orange cheek patches and zebra stripes on their fronts.

We had trouble finding a breeder cage that wasn't mostly solid-sided, so we've decided to pop a divider into the bigger cage when it arrives to keep them apart for a bit.

[bugaboo5]

Do you have a picture of the pecked area or wounds? I've had perfectly fine and happy male zebras get territorial and aggressive with time. I usually scramble trying to house all the males separately and it's no fun. If it is plucking, depending on the extent of the damage, two weeks should suffice in growing new feathers with a good diet. A high protein diet is especially good as feathers are made of mostly protein. Maybe half a hard boiled egg or just the yolk may help. Good luck!

[rjs]

I can try and snap a picture but they usually won't stay still for long enough! I think the wound came first because we got in one day and there was a drop of blood on the floor of the cage and a smudge of blood on Beep's feathers. As he wasn't actually bleeding by the time we got home, we decided to just keep an eye on him rather than catching him for a look, and it didn't seem to bother him so we assumed he had healed up OK. But now we wonder if he just kept pecking at it and progressed to the plucking.

New cage has been ordered and we're making a divider for it so they'll be separated for a couple of weeks once it arrives.

They don't seem to obviously act aggressively towards each other - last night they were cuddled up together on a perch to sleep. When we bought them the pet store (a very reputable one) said 2 males should be fine together as long as there weren't any ladies for them to fight over.

[ac12]

Yes 2 males will be OK...normally.

But the dominant male could still pluck the other one, and they usually do the plucking when you don't see them doing the nasty deed. I only caught one plucking the other by pure chance, and it still had the feather in his beak. Caught red handed !!!

And even w the plucking they would cozy up to each other like good buddies. The plucked bird would accept being plucked. I call it "the battered wife syndrome." The plucked bird does not seek to escape from the plucker.

[rjs]

Just thought I'd post an update - the boys have been separated for about a month and Meep has grown back most of his feathers, except for the original bald spot around the scrape on his wing. So it looks like he plucked that spot bald first, then Beep started plucking him too.

How can we get Meep to stop pecking at the scrape? It looks like a graze and it's about half the size of my pinky fingernail - so not a serious wound but it won't heal properly because he just won't leave it alone! If he was a dog or cat I'd have him in one of the comedy cone collars so he couldn't reach it but I'm guessing they don't come in finch sizes...what about something like a dab of vaseline or gentian violet?

I've tried to get a picture of the scrape but he just won't stay still long enough for me to snap anything other than a finchy blur!