feather plucking 7yo lorikeet - Jack
by Jill Barlow
(Bracken Ridge, Queensland)
hi.. I have a 7yo rainbow lorikeet (green neck 1/2ring) - (male I suspect!!). He has started plucking out his chest body feathers - I suspect he has been doing this a couple of weeks or so... He has a bare strip along his abdomen which is only noticable if I have hold of him (gently of course)... He seems to be healthy enough but how can I tell if he may have a disease of some sort? He eats dry lori food and water.... he loves young milk thistles and sometimes eats the juicy leaves of my sunjewel potplants... He has his flight feather clipped so has to walk or climb everywhere he goes... When I am not at work he lives outside and between his indoor and outdoor cages... Jack has plenty of toys to amuse himself with in and out of his cages... He often"annoys" my small dog and my large black cat... (they generally all get along together). I believe Jack is male as he 'shags' anything soft and has never laid an egg...I have had him since I rescued him from crows, maggies and micky birds one rainy windy afternoon about 7 years ago... He talks too.. If you can please give me some idea as to why he is plucking his chest feathers (to the point of squeaking when he plucks a 'live' one out), I would be very gratful. thankyou ... Jill Barlow ---
PS--- If you require a photo of his bare chest I will endeavour to take one for you... once again thankyou for any help you can give me to stop him plucking out too many more chest feathers... Jill B