# Kakariki parrot help!



## Callys (Oct 10, 2011)

I have a yellow and red female kakariki parrot that is about 8months old, for like 3 months now it's feathers have been coming out, we thought it might be "mites" or what ever it's called so we got a spray for it. The spray didn't seem to do any good, it might not have been the spray but the first time we issued it the parrot had some sort of "fit" it fell of its perch and acted weirdly and ended up breaking its wing. We took it to the vet and they didn't know the cause of its feather loss, said it might be the "chewing stage" or something, but this was a while ago. We see it chewing and pulling out its own feathers sometimes, is there anything we/I can do to make sure the parrot is ok? It seems like the parrot is fine with the feather loss just the appearance of the parrot looks awful.

Thanks,
*Cally*


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Parrots in general have a habit of pulling their own feathers when bored or frustrated. This can be serious to the point of almost complete baldness, and is habit-forming- ie once they start doing it seriously it can be difficult to get them to stop. If there are no mites and the diet is complete, that is most likely what is happening.

How much time do you spend with the bird? Does it have any toys? It could be worth changing toys around every now and then to give her a new distraction. Even loo roll tubes and bits of paper count as toys, so far as the bird is concerned; they love to destroy things!

Another tip; remove any shed feathers as soon as you see them, so she doesn't have a chance to get used to thinking of them as playthings. Hope that helps.


----------



## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Poor feather condition is quite common in Kakarikis. They seem to require a slightly higher humidty. You should try spraying your Kakariki daily with warm water, & with a couple of drops of Aloe juice added to the water. You should be able to get Aloe juice from health food shops, or on the net. Hopefully this will help to soothe the parakeets skin & the feather condition will hopefully improve.


----------



## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

We rehomed a Kakariki who had been pecked by other birds because she was using their nesting box for laying when they wanted it for breeding!

We sprayed her regularly but her feathers never grew back she remained bald and a bit unsightly, but hopefully she was happy with us in her last few years here in her own cage.


----------

