Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/21/2006

Question
My daughter had 2 cockatiel, she has had them for about 3yrs. Last week the male past away. And now the female, Paris, is suffering from separation anxiety, I believe. She has been pulling out some of her feathers (not to many, no bald areas) and pacing her cage. But this afternoon we noticed that she is biting at her foot, and it is now raw (very red and smooth) and she has, what appears to be blood around the mouth of her beak. My daughter was able to entice her to open her mouth and it to seems to be raw. This morning she was calling Brad (the male) and was jumping from one level of her cage to another more today than this last week. Since Brad pasted away, about a week ago, she has been very quiet until today. Any feedback or suggestions would be great.. Thank you very much...


Answer
Hi, Dena.  Thanks for posting!

The female tiel is wondering what happened to her male.  She may be grieving his absence/loss.  This results in behavior changes.  She'll get over the loss eventually, but might need some TLC from her humans until she realizes he's not coming back.  

If the inside of this tiel's mouth is raw, something medically is amiss.  However, the inside of her mouth should be pink.  Could she be picking at her feet, making them bleed, and this is the blood around her beak/inside her mouth?  If not, I recommend you take this tiel to an avian veterinarian for a medical evaluation.  Not a cat/dog vet, but an exotic animal vet that is trained at treating birds.  If you can provide more details about her behavior and the condition of her feet, I might be able to help out more.  Thanks.

Chrys