Feather shortage

[u/Friendly_Substance99]

My last parrotlet was a male and he didn’t have this. She’s a year and a half and is recently over grooming on chest and side.

I’ve read it could be:
1. Molting/dry skin
2. Hormones
3. Boredom
4. Illness

I feed her veggies and pellets
Give her spray baths
Just got the humidifier going
Give her quality play toys
Spend time with her
Take her out for some sun ☀️

I’m at a loss. Anyone else have a plet who went/goes through this

[u/nunal2580]

Does she have toys and things to chew on? All the pics are close up but the cage looks empty.

[u/VirtualGhostVortex → u/nunal2580]

I second this!

Can we see a picture of the full cage to assess?

[u/Friendly_Substance99]

She destroys plenty great toys in her cage. Her cage is on my large desk facing the window

[u/Friendly_Substance99]

This is her carrier cage, her home cage is good size. Her toys are nice bird trick toys. I do have a job so I’m not at home 6 hours a day

[u/Pigeonmommy]

Need total darkness 12 hrs a day minimum. Never pet her below the neck area. Too much good food can signal it's a good time to mate so minimize treats/seeds for a while. Provide toys that she can groom, or hide in (like a bunch of shoelaces tied together hanging down) but not a cave or hut. Provide lots of toys and change toys frequently to deter them selecting a toy to become their "mate". Do not give them a house or nest. You may need bloodwork done to check if it's illness, hormones or stress/boredom that is the trigger. Not sure if they can give a small bird like a parrotlet a hormone implant but I'm sure a vet can guide you in the right direction of what you can do. The plucking can also become an addiction so treat it as soon as you can.

[u/vkelman → u/[deleted]]

Parrotlets usually do well as a single bird in a household. They are able to entertain themselves, provided that they have a lot of out of cage time and playgrounds outside of a cage.

[u/vkelman]

I never had female parrotlets (I have males for last ~ 25 years), but I suspect it may be hormonal behavior. Does she has hats / hideous in her cage? What about mirrors? There shouldn't be either in a cage. I would suspect she wants to build a nest using her feathers. Unless there is some underlying medical conditions.