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Why is my Indian Ringneck bird losing feathers, itching, and plucking?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Unknown - Bird | Female

my pet indian ringneck is losing feather from starting of this summer he is feeling itching on his body and regularly plucks his feathers .He is also losing feathers from his head and top of his beak please help i dont have any vet nearby or any pet medicine shop

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3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on June 15th, 2018

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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    Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 19th, 2019

    Hi there, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It sounds as if Maple my be stressed in her current living situation. This could be because of a cage mate or, if she is alone in her cage, something in the environment. Stress can often cause birds to excessively groom and feather pluck. The other thing that could be going on is a bacterial or fungal skin infection. This can cause the skin to be irritated and cause your bird to feather pluck. If everything in her environment has remained normal then skin infection is most likely. This can be diagnosed with a simple test (skin cytology) by your veterinarian and medication can be given to help fix the problem. I hope this helps thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 16th, 2018

    This could be due to a skin allergy, although mites and skin infections are very common as well. An immediate check up would be required to confirm or rule out these clinical suspicion and treat appropriately. Your vet may want to perform some skin scrapes and similar tests to establish diagnosis. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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