Hallo To All The Mum & Dad's of QP Plucker's & Picker's ~

I would like to create a thread where you can all compare notes about the age your QP(s) started this behavior. I think it would be helpful to the newbies (And not-so-newbies *Raises Hand*) to have more informations about QMS as well as plucking.

So here are the 10 questions ::

1.) At what age did your QP start?
2.) How long has your QP been plucking/ mutulating?
3.) Did you ever determine the cause? (And what was it.)
4.) What treatment(s) have you tried?
5.) Which was the most effective?
6.) What is the health status & feather status of your QP today?
7.) If you found out another person had a QP just start plucking what would be the best advice you could give?
8.) What has been the most difficult aspect of dealing with this?
9.) Was the QP a rescue, hand-fed, parent raised?
10.) Describe the environment that your QP was in when the plucking started, and any changes you've made?

Not got the problem but here are a couple of good links...

http://www.avianweb.com/featherplucking.html

http://www.birdsupplies.com/Feather-Protec...ts-p/avfpro.htm

So as long as I keep my bird on an even keel he won't ever feather pluck? Good environment, cage placement, light/ dark, diet, socialization.... All of that sort? He is a three-year, and I haven't seen any problems, but it is the biggest cause for concern for our little green dragons. I get worried sometimes.

There's never a guarantee that a bird won't begin plucking or mutilating. I truly believe that some of the mutilation factor can be genetic.

There are so many reasons for a bird to begin plucking its hard to say what caused them to start. Many times it can be from an illness such as a crop infection but not always. Sometimes it can be from boredom or stress.

There's not been any scientific study that I'm aware of but I'm wondering if once they start plucking even though the problem (such as an infection) has been cleared up; that they keep on plucking because they get something like an endorphine rush from the plucking. I wonder if they get the same type of chemical release that people that are hair pullers get. Just a thought.

That's an interesting thought. I wonder what the other member's think?

I just thought I would jump in....I am a hair puller and I do get an endorphine rush when I pull. So this could very well be the case with FIDS who pluck. I started pulling because of depression...it was a way to release the pain I felt inside. I'm no longer depressed but I still pull my eyelashes...it's extremely hard to stop.





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This is a side note...if anyone on this forum has this problem and wants to talk about it with someone who understands, or you just want to know more about compulsive hair pulling, feel free to PM me and I'm completely open to talking about it and answering any questions.

I got Dudley from a rescue. He (just a guess) had only been there about a week and before that I'm told he was at just one home for about 4 years. Those owners had to give him up because they couldn't spend the time (I gather they started a family). I noticed him plucking his legs a couple weeks after I brought him home. The rescue said he didn't pluck while he was there. A blood workup a couple months after I got him showed no medical problems. I can only assume, with dismay, that he started plucking when he arrived at my house, possibly due to the change of venue and the stress of a new home. Now I think he is hooked on the endorphin rush exacerbated by normal molting. I have now had him for 2 years and he has plucked the entire time. Right now he is looking his absolute worst ever lots of bare spots but he is also molting. I started taking lots of notes since he arrived in Nov 2007, including weight, how much he ate, etc. When I got him he weighed between 115-120. Now he weighs 120-125 (see his diet below - perhaps too much treats?) Then notes about his clicker training which I started very soon after getting him (because he was very cage protective and wouldn't leave his happy hut), and his plucking, to see if there was a seasonal aspect to it (this time of year is worst). I also tracked, loosely what remedies I used. I have tried Prozac and natural herbal "anxiety relief" drops and Pluck No More. I've tried Sock Buddy. None of these seem to make any difference. His diet is Zupreem, peas & corn or Beak Appetit in the morning with bagel or oatmeal. Grapes & broccoli & dried pineapple on his kabob during the day. He has my attention all day long (since I have been unemployed for 6 months which has made no difference at all) so it is not more of my attention that he needs. He has radio playing, lots of foraging and other toys, free flight times in the house, a screened porch for warm weather, play perches at various places in the house, a dog companion, lots of enriching clicker training exercises & tricks with safflower seeds (high fat but high training motivation), Nutriberries & avicake as treats. I currently am just using anxiety relief herbal drops and Molt Ease spray with aloe and shark oil and baths as often as he'll take them (usually about every other day). Am going to try red palm oil next. The most difficult part of this is my attitude toward it. He doesn't like me to preen or pet him to deal with his pin feathers on his head. Wouldn't he be much more beautiful with full plummage? For his part, he has warm feet and seems very content. So as long as he is not mutilating himself, I don't see a reason to resort to collars. If someone were to get a quaker who developed into a plucker, I would say try all these things one by one and then if they don't work, drop the ones that are not helpful and just accept him as long as he is otherwise healthy & happy.