Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject: My kakariki won't stop plucking his feathers!
My kakariki, Dennis, used to be semi tame but has recently started plucking his feathers and no longer wants anything to do with me. He won't come out of his cage to fly and only wants to eat sunflower seeds. I give him lots of fruit and veg but he only picks at it. Also, he used to climb the bars of his cage and be constantly tweeting etc. but now he doesn't make any noise at all and just sits there.
I was going to buy another kakariki as i thought he may just be lonely. Do you think this is the case?
I am going to see a bird vet on Saturday but do you think this is necessary, if not is there any advice you would give me instead.
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:20 am Post subject: Re: My kakariki won't stop plucking his feathers!
Hi and to our community,
Kakno1 wrote:
He won't come out of his cage to fly and only wants to eat sunflower seeds. I give him lots of fruit and veg but he only picks at it.
I guess this is the basic problem. Kakariki's consume lots of energy. At this moment they are in the middle of moult(northern hemisphere). So, they need more energy. Sunflower seeds contain mainly fat and are inadequate to maintain the feathercondition. They are fastfood for birds.
Many parrots behave like kids when it comes to food. You need to force them eating what's good for them.
So, remove the seed and only offer veggies until he eats it. Eating is a primary necessity of life and he will eat the veggies. Kakariki's also need lots of proteins to maintain their feathers. Eggs, meat, fish are good sources of proteins but it is easier to offer eggfood. For example Wimo eggfood. It also contains calcium and fosfor in a perfect ratio.
wonder if he has pocket mites??they can get them down and can get very poorly with them/easy to treat i may add and you will see a difference in a few days .personally would treat them before adding another bird xx
What Peter says above and naughtyniike is also a very god possiblity ...both combined
kakariki VERY rarely pluck...we have never had one and never known of one to do so unless mites or a health/very severe neglect issue
We feed greens regular, mixed seed, they eat all the sunflower and dont replensish seed trays for 1 to 2 weeks in the flights, forcing them to eat alternative heathy foods.
And treat for mites, just to make sure, see older posts on mites. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
hi.... if you look on members gallery you will see my pictures of when i had a problem with mites .i treated them .burnt all the nest boxes.and scrubbed fight and used a blow torch(be carefull)just a quick flash over for those areas unreachable.they need a high protein diet its really important to keep them at there best.
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