My father in law adopted this guy after he had been living with an abusive family who kept him in a cat carrier in a dark closet...he is finally starting to get his feathers back :D

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos]

[u/[deleted]]

Plucking is a hard habit to break. Our parrot almost went bald but we brought him back, mostly through a lot of 'personal interaction'. Did your FIL do anything in particular to get him to regrow plumage?

Hard to tell from the picture but what species?

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos → u/[deleted]]

he still plucks a little, but he has two smaller birds in the same room as him to keep him company when my FIL isn't home. But it really just takes a ton of attention and interaction to make him stop. Whenever my FIL has a long work week, he tends to start up plucking again :/

[u/[deleted] → u/Misstress_of_Chaos]

A parrot expert advised me not to get another bird because he could get more nervous. Hard to know what to do.

[u/LadyDarkKitten → u/[deleted]]

He's a Moluccan Cockatoo, I rented a place that had one living in a cage on the porch. Poor guy picked his breast and the backs of his wings almost bald, but with enough personal interaction he stopped and most of them grew back. This picture was taken after 5 months of rehabilitation.

[u/rspeed → u/[deleted]]

I've heard that the follicles sometimes stop producing feathers in birds who pluck for a long time.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Mine died from plucking :( I didn't even know he could do that

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Thats so sad.

[u/rasputine]

That's awful, you're a wonderful person to save him. Hopefully he hasn't suffered any permanent mental damage from being shut away all that time :(

Thanks for being awesome!

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos → u/rasputine]

He definitely has some issues still unfortunately :/ he is 10 years old, and was stuck in the closet for about 4 years. My FIL has had him for almost 6 years. If not the center of attention he screams at the top of his lungs just for you to look at him, he is missing one toe nail that was apparently pulled off with pliers from what I am told :/ and likes to walk flat footed not stand on a perch for the most part b/c of not having a perch for his first 3 or 4 years of life.

[u/rasputine → u/Misstress_of_Chaos]

apparently pulled off with pliers

That is the most vile thing I've heard in a while. Fuck those people. Fuck them hard. I mean, neglect is a pretty fucking awful thing to do to such an intelligent critter, but that...that is horrifying.

[u/LadyDarkKitten → u/rasputine]

Unfortunately locking a parrot away like that is a sure way to cause mental trauma, hte longer they are locked away the worse it gets. If this Cockatoo is young enough he may be able to over come the damage. I've seen ignored birds, and it can get bad!! One Macaw I cared for was locked in his cage with no personal interaction for like 10 years. No matter what I did he was just hateful, angry and bald. It was so bad that instead of accepting treats or running away he would come over and bite you instead. I don't blame the bird by any stretch, he was simply afraid and did the only thing he could think of to make the scary thing go away.

[u/hurfdurfer → u/LadyDarkKitten]

That makes me sick. 10 years? Physical abuse is awful, but this kind of neglect I just can't stomach. It just seems so much more cruel. What an awful person. Animals have social needs, emotional needs. They aren't robots!

[u/girlinboots]

Aww poor baby! My grandpa used to raise cockatoos (among other kinds of birds) and they can be such sweet birds! We had a yellow-crested one that used to play hide-and-seek with me. I'm glad to hear he's doing better. If you'd like some advice let me know, I would be more than happy to pass along some information from my grandpa :). That man is a god damned bird-whisperer I swear.

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos → u/girlinboots]

he is sweet. he is still terribly afraid of men he doesn't know, but loves women. He will sit on my shoulder and nudge my cheek for head rubbings lol. :]

[u/Cancerous86]

That is absolutely awful. I cannot fathom the lack of empathy of his previous owners. To keep such a beautiful creature locked up in a closet to the point it starts destroying itself. I cannot imagine the guilt that would go along with just being aware of that situation.

[u/beskurrd → u/Cancerous86]

There's no guilt involved there (from the abusive owner), more than likely they're relieved to not have the stress and burden of the bird there anymore. When people are abusive towards animals to that extent there's no second thought about it. I hate people. >.<

[u/stignordas]

Peachy Puff! I love these guys, good job bringing him back. They make such cuddly playful parrots.

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos → u/stignordas]

His name is Yoda :D

[u/jorellh]

Moluccan's are loud a fark.

[u/Misstress_of_Chaos → u/jorellh]

he is indeed loud if not constantly held and talked to, I think even more so b/c of the previous abuse :[

[u/lunarjellies]

I'm happy to hear that your father in law saved him!

[u/[deleted]]

I had a Moluccan but I moved out and my Mom had to give it to a new owner because her new place did not allow pets. They are awesome animals. They don't talk a whole lot in my experience but have a lot of personality.

[u/Bakefy]

:(

[u/123kitty]

Poor baby!

[u/SuppA-SnipA]

I could never keep that beauty in a closet. Even now, to me he looks awesome.