Feather Pulling - Mites or Stress?

User Question
I'v had a keet for about three yrs now and,about a month ago he started to pull out all his feathers out for some reason, and the vet says that it is stress, and other people say it is mites and I dont know what it is.

I am giving him drops of wheat germ oil (two drops daily by mouth). And we put a 8-in-one bird protector on the cage which i keep very clean. What is it??

Lisa's Answer
If it was mites, your vet (assuming he/she is even semi-competent) would have seen them. If your vet didn't find anything and feels it is stress, then it would seem you're making things worse by grabbing and putting things into your bird's mouth and adding odd new things to his home environment.

First, remove ALL mite protectors from the cage. Most involve noxious chemicals which the keets really dislike. Your vet says that there aren't mites, so doing things to annoy the bird "just in case" would seem to make things worse. Your vet says it is probably stress. So you need to go with that diagnosis. Stop putting things into your keet's world that are bothersome.

Put the cage somewhere quiet and relaxing, where you can interact with the keet but there aren't cats, dogs etc staring at it every moment. Play soothing music when you're not there, keets don't like silence. Make sure he sleeps for 8-10 hours every night in quiet darkness, with a covered cage. Spend a portion of each day quietly interacting with the keet, keeping him company. Give him fresh seed and water every day. Also offer him any treats he likes - millet, lettuce, etc. Yes normally you wouldn't want to overload your keet with treats but our aim right now is simply to make him feel happy contented and loved.

If you report on your progress in our forums, we can give you other suggestions too. But I would really make sure that you do everything to get this keet as happy and relaxed as possible. Even if it IS some other illness that is not currently detected, having a relaxed, happy ill keet is far better than having an upset, sad, ill keet.

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