a v i a n
Thinking Outside the Box Sheila Blanchette presents the case study of Hei Hei, a 13-year-old male cockatiel who had issues with plucking behavior and night frights as well as a reluctance to be inside his cage, and sets out her behavior change plan that empowered him to make choices about his environment
H
ei Hei is a 13yearold male cockatiel who, at the time of relin quishment, displayed plucking behavior. Unfortunately, however, his rescue intake sheet did not include any background informa tion that would help determine the cause of this. During visual review, it did appear that there were missing feathers on his back, so he was taken to a certified avian veterinarian for a complete medical exam to eliminate any possibility preexisting medical issues. While we waited for the test results, Hei Hei adjusted to his new setup of living in my home. Several days later the results came back: no avian diseases, no mites, and no nutrition deficiencies had been de tected. The veterinarian explained that Hei Hei had neurological issues in his tail and wings, but was not in pain, and that his quality of life was not affected. However, these same issues would prevent him from flying and also cause some balance issues. It was important for me to be aware of this because if he fell, he may not be able to pick himself up again. The veterinarian noted that Hei Hei was in good health, so the missing feathers appeared to be the result of a behavior issue. During my first week observing Hei Hei, I noticed that he preferred to be outside the cage. I didn’t notice any plucking occurring at this time. At the same time, each morning I would find a few smaller feath ers at the bottom of the cage but could not determine if this was related to molting, preening, or plucking. © Sheila Blanchette
When cockatiel Hei Hei (above) was surrendered, he was struggling with night frights and plucking behavior and preferred to sleep on top of his cage rather than inside it (below)
© Sheila Blanchette
One night I woke up to a loud noise and banging. I went to check on Hei Hei and determined that he was having a “night fright.” Night frights occur when a cockatiel is spooked or anxious during the night and can cause him to try to escape by flying into the cage bars or flailing on the cage floor.
52
BARKS from the Guild/March 2021
Night Frights During the second week, more behavior started to surface. One night I woke up to a loud noise and banging. I went to check on Hei Hei and de termined that he was having a “night fright.” Night frights occur when a cockatiel is spooked or anxious during the night and can cause him to try to escape by flying into the cage bars or flailing on the cage floor. This can be dangerous as the bird’s wings could get jammed in the cage bars, and was especially dangerous for Hei Hei because he could not set himself upright and may have got stuck on his back. As a result of this experience, I started adjusting the location of Hei Hei’s cage and added a light to reduce the potential for night frights. I also started to keep a daily log to help me investigate anything that might be contributing to the night frights or the plucking. After two months of observation, one key factor started to emerge from my notes, namely that the night frights seemed to reduce when Hei Hei was left out of his cage at night. And when I continued leaving him out of the cage overnight, in the morning I would find him sleeping quite peacefully on top of the cage with no issues. I never found any feathers at the bottom of the cage either. And so, over the next month, I rearranged Hei Hei’s cage setup so he could sleep outside safely. This in cluded pillows around the cage in case he fell. After several weeks living outside the cage, there appeared to be no further plucking or night frights. Hei Hei’s back feathers grew back in and he was back to being a beautiful cockatiel. However, now that the genie was out of the bottle, so to speak, I had get him back in again. In other words, for safety and adoption purposes, Hei Hei needed to adjust
