After close consideration which would suit us best, we looked for a bird in our area. Nobody would give us any guarantee on the birds’ health, nor would they show us where the birds were raised. That sent bells off so I called Parrots of the World on Long Island.
We had seen Marc Morrone many times on the Martha Stewart Show and his vast knowledge led me to believe he’d be sure to send us a healthy bird and Parrots of the World was the only place which gave a guarantee on the birds’ health. Of course with animals there are no guarantees, but obviously this bird was healthy. She arrived in a carrier which was flown on a jet from New York to Austin, TX with no incident.
I don’t go out to work so have plenty of time to dedicate to a parrot. I cooked her food, gave her toys, played with her and gave her the time required by these intelligent animals. Then, the last thing I ever though would happen happened; she started to pluck her pin feathers out and was very agitated and rustrated. I didn’t think this issue was boredom since I spent all day with her, so I brought her to the “avian” vet. After 800 dollars and no findings using these expensive, tests she continued to pick at herself along her back and her legs. Disease ruled out I felt awful as I watched my beautiful bird turn into a bald, sick looking bird. When I’d spray her with water daily it would really show how she’d plucked out every feather on her legs and was much worse than I thought when I saw her dry. It continued to the point where I did not know what to do. She did not have medical problems.
When I called Marc from Parrots of the World he told me about a holistic product called, Pluck No More. I was willing to try anything at this point and the vet was useless. I ordered the product from King’s Cages and started putting Pluck No More into Mika’s water every day, along with putting it in her spray bottle as well. I ordered the suggested amount of bottles, (which I believe was five) and put my faith in this product. I was very impressed with the service King’s Cages gave me to explain everything.
Every day I made sure I gave Mika fresh water which did not have chlorine in it with the suggested dose of Pluck No More, and slowly over the next month or so I noticed her feathers started coming back in. I had to ask my husband if he’d seen her doing that picking at her legs and back with the same frustration as before and we both couldn’t remember when the last time it was we saw this behavior. It was gradual enough we didn’t notice till she stopped altogether.
I never took photos of her when she was bald because I never thought to, but had to tell our story. When I hear Marc Morrone on his radio show I call to say how great this product is and that, when following instructions to the letter had great results. My Hahn’s Macaw, Mika is full of beautiful feathers like magic!
Now I use the Pluck No More any time I think Mika is getting stressed. This can happen when the day length shortens or gets longer or if she is in season and has sexual frustration (yes, parrots get this) or when her stress leads to watery poops. I take out a bottle of Pluck No More; start her back on it and less than a week she is back to normal.
For any pet bird owner the worst thing is to be doing everything right, but you have a behavior which is so unhealthy for the parrot. It is painful to watch and I found a product which does what it says it does. It WORKS! Imagine that. It’s so much less invasive than blood draws, which add more stress. I’m not saying there aren’t times to bring a parrot to the vet, but feather plucking (in my opinion) is stress related, from sexual frustration to seasonal changes or less frequently by some illnesses.
Last, but not least, I eventually found a Board Certified Avian Vet (hard to come by) and when Mika had her annual he performed NO tests, none needed, thought she looked wonderful, shiny and had a sweet temperament.
If you have a bird which plucks, please try this product, Pluck No More. In addition to the product I now set up forage puzzles, and keep her busy with millet and allow her to play alone each day. She is an emotionally healthy bird and it started with the breaking the cycle using Pluck No More.
Thank you,
Victoria
