Anxiety Disorder Cockatiel

Allears

Songster
8 Years
Jul 4, 2015
420
50
176
South Africa
Hi All,

I am so pleased that I joined this site, it has everything under "one roof" so to speak and I would never have found it if it wasn't for two little throw -away chickens!

Does anyone have advise for me in respect of my Tiel's feather destroying habit?

He and the female were adopted and I don't know how old they are, but they was raised on two tablespoons of black sunflower seed mix a day, which I know is bad news. I've managed to wean them off the sunflower seed, but they still wouldn't eat any veggies. Billy (boy) has a little sweet red apple once in a while, but isn't crazy about fruit either. Ray (girl) is anti fruit and veggies full stop.

Their feathers were really starting to look, but the female died (probably organ failure) and Billy was very unhappy for about 2 months. He's much more chatty now, but has started destroying his feathers again. He doesn't pull them out, but chews them and he looks a bit like a feather duster.

He has space and plenty of toys. I've had him for 3 years and he only started allowing me to touch him after his mate died. He's very nervous of people generally.

The cage next to his is home to my Laughing Dove.

Thank you.
 
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This won't stop the problem long-term but some people buy little "sweaters" for them that prevent feather picking. You could use an old sock with holes cut out of it.
 
Thank you
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Hello
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Thanks for asking. Cockatiel didn't respond well to the sock / sweater idea, but I think it's because he is nervous of being handled at the best of times he's eating fine and drinking, just feeling the cold. The temp dropped to 6 degrees c last night, which is extremely cold in this neck of the woods.
 
Hello there, thanks for asking :)
I've been quiet the last while because I was robbed of my laptop :-(
Cockatiel (Billy) has not shown any signs of improvement as far as the feather splitting goes, but warmer weather is on its way so at least he will be more comfortable at night.
 
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Hello there, thanks for asking :)
I've been quiet the last while because I was robbed of my laptop :-(
Cockatiel (Billy) has not shown any signs of improvement as far as the feather splitting goes, but warmer weather is on its way so at least he will be more comfortable at night.

That's terrible about your laptop being stolen!
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Could you tell me what you feed Billy? Maybe adjusting his diet a bit would help?
 

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