Feather Picking

[lboucher317]

:Hello,

I have a three year old cockatiel named David. About two and a half months ago we were having a hard time with David as he was pciking the feathers underneath his wings. Every morning I would wake up and find a pile of feathers on the bottom of his cage. Well, after a couple of weeks he stopped picking, but the feathers have not grown back. All other physical signs are good (e.g. eyes, behavior, stool) so I'm not quite sure what is wrong. I was going to take him to the avian vet, but they wanted 350 just to get in the door, not including tests, plus another 200+ for medicines, etc. Unfortunately we are going through a difficult finacial time and I just don't have the money to take him right now. I was wondering if anyone might have some answers as to why he is doind this and how I could take care of it.

[birdvet]

I am quite surprised to hear the quote from your avian vet of $350 for an office visit, and $200 for meds. Depending on location, most avian office exams run in the neighborhood of $35-65... Perhaps you need to call another hospital for an estimate. Having said that, your bird should be evaluated by an avian veterinarian.............. Many disease processes can cause plucking under the wings. In cockatiels, most notably, they are prone to giardia, bacterial skin infections, and chlamydia. There are also several metabolic conditions that will cause plucking. Your vet will be able to run tests and properly treat the bird.
Good luck,
BV

[Michael B]

Hello.
I have a bunch of links for finding avian veterinarians that might help. I can't really vouch for which is the best to use, but I'll just paste the list here and hope one of them helps.

aav.org/vet-lookup/
www.aav.org/
www.lafeber.com/FindALocal/Vet/default.aspx
www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
www.babybirds.com/vets/
www.toolady.com/vetrefer/vetrefer.htm

[birdlover377]

My birds name is Makaii and the poor bird is looking horrabale and we cantt afford a vet he is plucking hid feathers andeating less o wat do i do?

[Michael B]

birdlover377 said:

My birds name is Makaii and the poor bird is looking horrabale and we cantt afford a vet he is plucking hid feathers andeating less o wat do i do?

This is the Indian Ringneck that you are bird sitting for a few months that you mentioned in the other string? Won't the owner pay for the veterinary care? Tell him/her that you received advice online that s/he needs to see a vet. The condition could be caused by different causes: germs or sicknesses (or psychological) and I doubt it can be treated online.