Focus on Exotics 2024 -The Feather Damaging Parrot: Diagnostic Work-Up and Therapeutic Options

Feather damaging behavior (FDB), also referred to as feather destructive behavior, feather plucking, feather picking or pterotillomania, is one of the most common and frustrating conditions to address in captive parrots. Successful management is largely dependent on the correct and timely identification of the underlying signaling stimuli or factors contributing to the onset of the problem behavior and the reinforcing aspects and consequences that maintain the behavior. This lecture will provide an overview of the underlying aetiologies, diagnostic considerations and treatment options for FDB in the psittacine patient.