Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 9/8/2006

Question
Hi.  I have a 4 month old peach faced (silver dilute) lovebird.  I have never owned a bird before.  We have only had him? for 3 weeks.  Very reputable breeder, great references.  Yesterday my daughter looked at Truman and said his beak was all red.  So I looked, his beak was full of blood, and his tail feathers were all bloody.  So I thought, blood feather.  My husband and I took a look and nope, it was a wound.  We took him immediately to the closest vet (not specifically avain but it was after hours, we did our best).  The Dr said he had a more-than-likely self-inflicted wound.  He put him under, put 2 layers of stiches, a big awkward collar, and antibiotics.  Poor thing.  It just happened last night, but all he's doing is fighting the collar. I can't see him eating/drinking although I have it set up so he could.  SO, I have an appt with an avian vet later today.  My concern is, is this going to be something that happens again or often?  The bird seems so happy.  The only thing we can think is that he has gotten too much attention too soon and is stressed.  But he sings, plays, comes out (reluctantly sometimes, but still sits on our shoulder, gives kisses, etc.)  The small amount of stuff I've read talks about self-mutalation, but it seems almost always that the bird wants more attn, not less.  This bird gets plently, but also plenty of rest.  Any thoughts/advice regarding this?  We all are claws over beak for the little guy... and just want him happy!

Answer
Hi, Carolyn.  Thanks for posting!

I'm sorry to hear about your little lovebird.  Parrots usually fight those collars, but it's necessary to keep s/he from causing further damage to the wound.

I can't really answer your basic question though (will it happen again) because I don't know what caused the wound to begin with.  Was any blood found on anything else besides the bird itself?  Perhaps the avian vet could better explain this once s/he sees the wound.  Could be self-inflicted, but perhaps not...I'd like to hear what the avian vet has to say.  Normally the parrots you see that self-mutilate are those with medical or psychological problems associated with lack of human attention, improper diet, mistreatment, serious medical conditions, etc., etc.  

Stress usually does occur when a bird is moved from one environment to a new environment, but it's rare a parrot will self-mutilate as a result of being moved to a new home, unless the parrot is much older and had been in 1 home for many years with 1 owner and the change is just too much for s/he to handle (such as a previous owner passing away and the bird was closely bonded with this person).  Another situation would be going to a new home where the bird is mistreated and self-mutilation occurs as a result.      

It's possible your lovebird could have had a simple "itch" in that area and s/he went overboard trying to eliminate that itch.  Could also be some type of medical issue internally in that area causing the bird to pick at the area trying to eliminate a source of discomfort, etc.  Could also be a bug bite or something similar and the bird was trying to get at the bite.  Could also be that your lovebird injured itself somehow inside or outside of it's cage.  Also wondering if it could have started out as a broken blood feather (young birds play a lot and often break tail feathers in the process) that your lovebird just kept picking at.

Let me know what the avian vet has to say.  S/he has the advantage of actually seeing the wound itself, which often times can explain what happened.

Chrys