My 5 year old quaker parrot has been bitting his tail and chewing on his right foot/leg to the point where it turns pink and looks tender. I don't think this is healthy and I hate to see him hurting himself, is there something I can do to change this behavior? His right leg has a band on it should I try to remove it? Or does he just need more attention? Is he sick?
Thanks for any help,
Emily

I have an 8 yr old quaker and he occasionally will pick at his feet. I would suggest a visit to the vets office if that is possible!
Just my opinion!

Do you have any vets nearby????

I would call and ask a vet what they think you should do...They will more than likely want you to bring him in to check him out. Maybe he has some kind parasite that is making him itch????


Alicia

I think you need to rule out medical problems first. As was suggested, there could be a medical problem, or there could be mites. If he is picking at his legs right where the feathers begin and at the base of his tail it very well could be mites of some type, A way to check for mites is to place white papertoweling down and put him in a controlled area such as a sleep cage for the night and then in the morning check for little brownish black or reddish black tiny tiny spots, which is the feces of the mites which is dead blood. However, you need to understand that it could still have mites and not show the mite droppingd on the paper towelling. And the vet should look closely at the bird and they'll be able to recommend the proper type of medication to get rid of mites.

If the bird does not have any medical problems it could very well be a nervous problem which has become a habit. And it could e the precursor to other problems.

I would suggest making sure that you have plenty of preening toys and shredding toys available at all times. You might offer the bird some type of product (I use cut up feather boa's) for them to preen so that they don't get in the habit of over preening or plucking themselves. However, there's no guarantee that just cuz they have those things that they won't still pluck etc. But the more that you can offer them the better off you and the bird will be.

But I would first rule out any medical problems before assuming it is just behavioral.