General Discussion

[u][b]Day 4 - 10/11/2019[/b][/u] Showcasing Holly the Eclectus parrot, belonging to @Zygon --------------- [b]Name:[/b] Holly [b]Species:[/b] Eclectus parrot (supposed Solomon Island subspecies, but probably a hybrid) [b]Sex:[/b] Female! [b]Age:[/b] A little over 3 [b]Tell us a bit about your birb![/b] Holly is my baby girl. I've had her since the week before her second birthday (although it feels much longer). She wasn't really a rescue, although I don't really approve of how she was treated before (very dominance-theory guy, y'know?). When I got her she was terrified of flying, and only flew when scared. Now she has excellent recall and regularly harasses me when I'm eating. Her favorite activity is going outside. She used to go in a harness, but grew uncomfortable with that, so now goes in a travel cage. We walk to a nearby park once or twice a week. She is incredibly brave, and very hard to keep stimulated. You can probably tell from these pictures that we are having some trouble with plucking. She had several vet visits, and it doesn't appear to be medical, so I am just giving her lots of new toys (that she never plays with rip) and attention. She is slowly improving. She's got a nice, macaw-size cage, with many different types of toys and foragers, three different play areas, and gets between 2 and 3 hours out time every day. Sweet potatoes, apples, and sprouts are her favorite foods, so I make a blended, balanced mixture with a fair bit of all to keep her interested, and bake it into daily portions. She's still very young, and quite a sweet girl. She steps up to anyone (with some bribery). [b]Social Media:[/b] I post a lot about Holly, including near-daily updates on her plucking, on my [url=https://eclectus-mom.tumblr.com/]tumblr, eclectus-mom.[/url] Bonus cameos from my mom's african grey, Cusita, as well. [b]Pictures:[/b] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/8e18065f99df81cdde43ce4e2d144a9a/a0802b381c466471-57/s640x960/82dd2803d72a47539bd4be568232f3118d748910.jpg[/img] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/9fee8580674e88a43e7cbcc8e490f74f/703ef0268ec9e9ce-15/s640x960/4a8941330a66818c120b8723777654d07919243a.jpg[/img] -------------------------- Feel free to ask @Zygon any questions about Holly! [u][b]PINGLIST[/b][/u] @squidho @Riceboy @TsundereShadow @Sybrand @Irefyoozsh @Vyntara @Requacy @Aradan @ohwowimcool @MidNightTiger @GravityGryphon @BirdBagel @Notepad @Luminosi

@Zygon What a beautiful birb! I’m cheering for you and Holly all the way! [emoji=tundra laughing size=1] Go Holly!! Pardon my dumb but what is plucking? Is it something to do with her feathers? [size=1]i want to be a future bird owner so I should probably know this stuff rip[/size]

@zygon she's so pretty, i love her colours!!!! i'm glad she's recovering and it's awesome that you're trying to keep her entertained!! :)

Amazing girl!! She's a beautiful birb!

@birdbagel it's an unfortunately common condition in parrots. It's usually caused by stress or boredom, but it can also be triggered by seemingly tiny things, like a slight shift in schedule or a few days without the normal amount of interaction. The bird starts pulling out it's own feathers. If you look up parrots, you'll see plenty of images with bald chests. That's what will happen to Holly if I can't stop her. I haven't been able to figure out what caused it for Holly, nor find any predictable pattern of when she plucks more/less. It can become addictive, a nervous habit of stress relief. It's like compulsively chewing nails til they bleed; it's pervasive like nail biting and painful as well. It more common in some species that others (like eclectus, African greys, and cockatoos), but possible in any.

@GravityGryphon Thanks, I'm trying. She doesn't make it easy though lol.

Pinglist, please?!

[quote name="Zygon" date="2019-10-11 16:40:42" ] @/birdbagel it's an unfortunately common condition in parrots. It's usually caused by stress or boredom, but it can also be triggered by seemingly tiny things, like a slight shift in schedule or a few days without the normal amount of interaction. The bird starts pulling out it's own feathers. If you look up parrots, you'll see plenty of images with bald chests. That's what will happen to Holly if I can't stop[emoji=coatl sad size=1] her. I haven't been able to figure out what caused it for Holly, nor find any predictable pattern of when she plucks more/less. It can become addictive, a nervous habit of stress relief. It's like compulsively chewing nails til they bleed; it's pervasive like nail biting and painful as well. It more common in some species that others (like eclectus, African greys, and cockatoos), but possible in any. @/GravityGryphon Thanks, I'm trying. She doesn't make it easy though lol. [/quote] I have a severe nail biting problem as a fidget. Sometimes I've genuinely bit out my nails and caused my fingers to bled. Poor little bird.

@Zygon
Oh, makes sense, looking at her chest closer. I used to peel the skin off my lips compulsively until they bled, poor girl. And I looked up images as you said, and some of the more severe cases broke my stupid little heart.

Best of luck to you!

edit: I scried Holly for fun, she's really gorgeous, and I wanted to know if you want to see it? I'm honestly not sure whether or not I can post dragon scries in general discussion so that's why I'm asking :P

A bit more info on plucking: even the most well cared for parrot can develop a plucking behavior. I've seen it many times. The bird can be happy as a clam but still decide to pluck. One of my friends has had her Moluccan cockatoo for over 20 years, since he was a wee baby, and he just recently started plucking. Most of the time it is definitely triggered by boredom, stress, diet, etc... but a lot of the time it can just come on randomly. If the cause isn't really known, I tend to recommend vet checks to see if there is an underlying cause (as that can be a reason as well.) Some parrots, as some of my parrot-owning friends say, just seem to want to be nudists sometimes, haha.

EDIT: Hormones are also a very VERY common reason to plucking.

@doctorvar added!

@BirdBagel I'd personally love to see it and feel free to scry any of my birds too! So far, I've just posted one of my flock, I'll post more eventually. I feel like he would totally be a coatl since he kinda looks like one already, and they seem chill.
Also, if you ever have questions since I saw you would like to own a bird someday, feel free to message me any anytime! I've owned birds my whole life and I pretty much dedicate my life to aviculture LOL

Next bird will be posted soon!

@Quivira @Zygon Here she is! I was so inspired by Holly, her colors are so soothing to me [img] http://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=86&bodygene=13&breed=4&element=1&eyetype=3&gender=1&tert=18&tertgene=5&winggene=24&wings=161&auth=738f8b141d9e2f6886d1f289b471068ff2ce287a&dummyext=prev.png[/img]