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Why is my African Grey plucking feathers after surgery? Parasites?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | African Grey | Male | unneutered | 3 years old

Hey so I have a 2yr old African grey and about a month ago he had a surgery for a medical problem so he stayed with the vet for 2 days and since he came back he has been plucking his feathers and behaving differently and today I saw an insect crawling and found out that it was a louse fly so I took him to the vet and she sprayed him and got rid of the fly but he still seems really annoyed and plucks his feathers so I’m suspecting that there might be more flies as the vet doesn’t seem experienced

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on April 15th, 2019

I'm sorry to hear about Alex! It sounds like he has had a lot of stress, and parasites as well as just the stress from surgery and vet trips can certainly lead to feather plucking. A good first step would be to make sure Alex's enclosure is cleaned daily to prevent any food or other items from attracting parasites such as flies. If he has any surgical wounds or sutures, keeping the area clean and dry will also prevent parasites from infecting the wound. You can also use an Elizabethan (cone) collar (Google has tutorials on how to make bird sized ones) to help keep Alex from plucking his feathers and allow the area to heal and rest. This can help reduce irritation and also reduce stress-related behavioral plucking. Making sure to distract Alex with things he can chew on, such as toys, will also help. If more parasites appear, or any wounds or surgical sites look infected, bringing Alex to the vet again for additional care is best.

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