Dear Parrots magazine,
Night-time plucker cured
My lovely African Grey, much to my dismay, began plucking his feathers, but he always seemed to do it at night, when he was on his own. In the daytime he was always out of his cage all day, either on his play-gym or on his favourite swing, and I had never seen him pluck a single feather then. I took him to my vet, explaining that he had a good diet, was sprayed daily with lukewarm water, had company all day long, and had at least 8-hours sleep at night.
He immediately asked me if the parrot was in complete darkness during the night, and I told him he was. He suggested providing a night-light for him to see if that made any difference, and I’m delighted to say that having provided him with dimmed lighting all through the night he immediately stopped the habit, and has now re-grown all his feathers. The vet also explained that sometimes the reverse would work. A parrot used to light during the night would often stop plucking if he was moved somewhere that was quiet and dark, especially if it was a lack of good quality rest-time that was leading him to become stressed and irritable.
I hope this information will perhaps help other readers that have an African Grey with this habitual and rather distressing problem.
Mrs P. N. Haynes - by email