Collar No 2

We realized that "Spooky" was very unhappy with his first collar the vet put on and so decided to make some changes to his collar, so we trimmed his collar down slightly so he can eat and get around his cage a lot easier and also put some padding around his neck so that it was more comfortable. Within a couple of days of making changes to his collar he was talking and whistling again.

2nd visit to the vet Collar No 1

On the second visit to the vet we after we had tried everything we could think of we agreed that the vet would put a collar/cone on Spooky so he would stop plucking. It was the only thing left to try. The vet said to leave it on for 4-6 weeks. The photos shows how unhappy he was with his collar/cone on. After the collar was put on Spooky did not whistle or talk for 3 weeks and mainly just sat in his cage with his head hang down, we felt so sad for him and wondered if we had done the wrong thing we wanted our old Spooky back yes he was plucking feathers but at least he wasn't miserable. Also his neck looked really sore where the collar sat it seems to dig into him. There had to be a better option than this.

Change in diet

After reading that cockatiels should be eating a limited amount of 20-30% seed we were shocked. Yes we did currently give Spooky vegies but that was really only a small percentage of his food intake the rest was seed.
Pellets
We purchased some Dr Macs Cockatiel pellets from the vet. YES he likes them
Seeding Grasses
Fresh clean seeding grasses can be collected from your garden to feed your birds. Ensure that these are free from pollutants and chemicals. YES he loves wintergrass
Nuts
Cashews, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, macadamia, brazil nuts, pecan nuts, pistachio nuts, pine nuts. Try peanuts in the shell so your bird has to work to get the reward. YES amazing he does love nuts

Natural Browse
Casuarina, bottle brush, banksia, eucalypt wattle and pine cones. Most native plant species are safe to give, but stay away from introduced species.

Fruit & Vegetables
Apple, Apricot, Asparagus, Baby Corn Banana, Beans- fresh - kidney/lima/lentil/soy, Beetroot, Blueberries, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Capsicum (all colours), Carrot, Chinese vegies (bok choy), Coconut, Corn (on cob, from frozen pack), Cucumber, Dandelion Leaves, Endive, Fig, Grapes, Kiwi, Mango, Pear, Peas, Parsnip, Plum, Pumpkin, Rockmelon, Silverbeet, Spinach Sprouted seeds, Sprouts - alfalfa, mung, radish, Squash Sweet potato and Zuchini. Spooky's favourites: Corn on the cob, Bok Choy, Apple, Beans, surgar snaps.
So yes some success in diet habbits but not sure if this has slowed down his feather plucking.

1st Visit to the Vet

What started the feather plucking?

We went to the vet 4 months ago when we realized our attempts to stop him plucking were not working. The vet inspected him and checked him for mites and feather and beak disorder which he did not have, but he did have worms and that this may be the cause of his plucking. We felt dreadful that we had never thought to worm him as this meant that he must have had worms when we got him from the pet shop as he has no contact with other birds. So he was treated for worms, but alas the feather plucking did not stop. We also recieved literature on feather plucking and causes. So we went away with our literature and read up on everything related to feather plucking on the brochures and also anything we could find on the internet.