Hi! I'm new here, and my three year old QP is naked! He started two days ago, and is now down to only head feathers, tail feathers and wing feathers!! What on earth would prompt this sort of behavior. He didn't do his usual moult in June. Could this be a result of that? Help me please bird fanciers. He's talking, and singing (Bird is the word), and is acting like himself otherwise. There have been no changes in his environment, I do a frequent toy change up. I just can't imagine what it can be.

Take him to the vet ASP.He might know better and help.

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear your Quaker is plucking.

First of all you need to take him to an Avian Vet to run some tests to see if it is a medical problem especially since it occurred so suddenly. There are various medical issues that will cause them to pluck... Hopefully it's a simple cure and it will stop the plucking. If nothing is wrong and he's completely healthy then you can look into behavioural/environmental issues etc.

Good luck, others should have some more insight! *Hugs*

Thank you both for your promt replies. Live in the sticks, and don't have an avian vet. We have one locally that will even trim his wings and claws and beak. I will call him on Monday. When he started I thought it was an isolated incident, he just kind of plucked his back and behind, now he is genuinely naked, and looks a fright. Acts perfectly normal however. One of his nest mates has done this since he was a baby, and I thought we dodged the bullet.

Good luck this sort of thing is scary and seems to strike at any time ..I hope you get some answers and your little guy starts to behave himself again...
WELCOME to the group..
Here is a link for feather protectors maybe if the ver rules out medical causes and its emotional issues it would help also keep the little guy warm...
Best of Luck...
http://www.flightquarters.com/bird-diapers...y_Code=FProtect





Interesting link..

http://www.funnyfarmexotics.com/IAS/Blanchfp.htm

Thanks for the link. I just placed an order. How I will get it on him, is questionable, as I think he specialized in blood draws in another life. He's a bad biter
My first encounter with him as a baby, left me with 7 scars. What personality though. He sings Bird is the word, says probably fifty different phrases, and whistles anything I send his way. From old Elvis songs to the Andy Griffith theme song. I just fed him some cottage cheese (one of his favorite things, and he is certainly NOT appetite suppressed. WAYYYYYYYYY ugly right now, but always up for a treat.

Good luck with your little one, I hope you find out what's wrong and are able to correct it before plucking becomes a habbit. Hopefully your vet will be able to run some tests. You might want to PM Connie (Andie's mum) she has a fair bit of experience with pluckers and I'm sure she'd be able to give you some advice.

Thanks for the advise. I will try to figure out how to do that.

Hi and welcome to the fourm.
I'm sorry but I have to say I am the worse speller you could ever meet.
So forgive me. LOL
I have had the same problem with my Milo. My qp. At the same age as your baby.
Also no vet near us. I had to take him out of town three hours away. This was a big deal for me because I get lost in my own back yard. LOL
I was taken him and my other bird to the vet for a yearly check up. I had NO idea anything was wrong. Milo had a very bad cut under his wing. I had NO idea it was there. Same as you He acted just fine. Nothing had changed really.
He was eating seed as his main food. When I got him that's what he was on.
I tryed to change him to pellets but he wouldn't eat pellets. He would go without food first.
I did like you and changed his toys around. Once a week. I don't think anyone could love a bird as much as Milo is loved. That is untill I found the forum LOL. So he had lots of play time with me. Lots of love. Lots of toys. Clean cage. I found this forum early on so I learned alot about what NOT to do. Milo was my first Bird. I had no idea what it took to have him in my life . You know like no candles no spraying stuff. Like cleaners and smell good things. Had to change my cookware. We smoke so we had to change how we went about that. Go outside, wash hands before picking up Milo. So on and So on.......
Anyway back to the vet visit.
The vet did blood test and found nothing wrong. I'm glad I had the test run because it could have easly been the trouble.
I had to leave Milo for a week to try and get his wing healed up. The vet got him to eat pellets so That was great. When he got home he took the rest of his feathers off!!!
We have been on a long road to recovery. Milo still has a cut under his wing that I can't get healed up. I got pluck no more from king cages and was told it could take up to three months to work and it did. He has most of his feather back. I got Milo and nibbles a avian sun light. Also a humitifier.
He took baths twice a week on his own but The vet said I should start wetting him down every day and stop the baths. This would promote him to groom instead of plucking. I changed them from a water dish to a water bottle. Vet said That could also be a problem. Unless I change his water five times a day. Milo didn't soak his food but still a fungus could be growing in the water.
Vet said that plucking could become a habbit and I should do everything I could to provent that from happening. As it could get worse as time go's on. I got things for him to forage for his food. I put things in his cage that he could shred. I have to NOT react to him when I see him working on his feather as thay love to get you going and it makes them do it more. Hard!!!!!
It really is a good idea to get him to a vet ASAP. I tryed the birdie jacket and just like your baby is most likely to do he had a fit. I was willing to put up with the bites but he got the thing off in maybe two mins.!!!! Little devil. LOL There are other things to try but I would have a vet try them.
Good luck and if I can offer any support durning your time of need please let me know.
Is this your first bird? What is your babies name? Do you have other birds?
Are there other pets? Kids?

Lisa and Milo

I'm feeling a little better today, and thank you for the comforting words. Kiwi still acts as though everything is fine??? A bird person in Denver that has many birds told me today, that if the don't moult, they will force a moult by plucking. She said to be prepared for blood feathers, and to be prepared to do alot of preening where he can't reach. He always enjoys this alot. He is not my first bird, but is by far my best bird. I had a Nanday Conure that was horribly destructive many years ago that had soured me on birds. Little Kiwi has restored my faith. I've had him since her was 4 months old. We have two pomeranians, Sammy and Simon and a tuxedo cat named Turbo. We have two grown children, and two grand children. All are "Critter" lovers, and among us, we have rescued many animals. Little Kiwi himself was a rescue. We gave him a home when he needed one, and he has repaid us many times over with his sweetness. He greets me every morning and starts my day out right. Thank you all for your kindness. What a great place to discover!

this is such a sad little story! I hope everything ends well for you and Kiwi! Quick question to all though... why wouldnt he moult? what could cause that?? is it preventable? genes? hmm...

My guess is that he hasn't felt any temperature changes, to alert his little body to the season change. My husband has MS and it is greatly affected by heat, so he had the air conditioning cranking late spring, and I think Kiwi needed to feel a little heat to know when to moult. That is all just a guess, and an easy way to blame my naked bird on hubby. Just kidding. That is the only thing that I can guess. He's eating well, talking and singing, and I am being very careful to see that he doesn't dehydrate. If I was more computer savvy, I would upload a picture of his little naked body. It's tuff to get the camera at an angle that really shows the nakedness. His head of course is fully feathered, and his wing and tail feathers are in tact, so the naked part is pretty well hidden at certain angles.