Feather Picking and Vent Kicking

My Question: I have a 4 year old Solomon Island Eclectus male, Fenway. Fenway is very socialable, intelligent, witty and gentle - but he has some issues with feather picking and kicking at his vent. He has had gram stains, giardia tests, fungal test, etc - and they all come back negative. He’s currently on a very healthy diet (legumes, lentils, bulgur, brown rice, organic
fruits and vegetables, pellets made by his breeder, organic unsalted nuts (almonds and pistachios in low quantity), etc. His vet has recommended some homeopathic remedies - apple cider vinegar in water for any upset stomach problems, and aloe vera in water for itchiness. He gets bathed 3x a week in water, and doused in avian aloe spray every day. The kicking at his vent (right leg reaching back so that underside of foot kicks vent/lower tail) seems like a nervous tick/hormonal.
What are your thoughts? Lindsey Scopel

Hi Lindsey, Your question fits right in with a discussion I was having just this morning with exotic pet veterinarian, Lore Haug. We were talking about the importance of distinguishing between behavior problems that are primarily the result of a disease process vs behavior problems that are primarily the result of a learning process. In the case of a disease process, behavior is considered a symptom and the medical model is appropriately implemented to investigate the underlying cause of the symptom and to determine a cure. The question,“Why does he do that?” is answered by determining the way in which an animal is sick.

In the case of a learning process, behavior is not a symptom of underlying disease. A different model, the behavioral model, is the appropriate framework to investigate and resolve the problem. With the behavioral model, we aren’t looking for a cure for an illness but rather teaching opportunities and new environmental arrangements that make the problem behavior irrelevant, inefficient and ineffective. We reframe the question “Why does he do that?” by asking, 1) what does the animal get, or get away from, by behaving like that, and, 2) what events or conditions in the immediate environment signal to the animal that the problem behavior will be reinforced with some outcome.

This translates to the ABCs of behavior - antecedents-behavior-consequences - a feedback loop whereby antecedent events signal that a particular behavior will yield reinforcing consequences, which accounts for the motivation to perform the behavior again when similar signals appear again in the future.

Of course there are plenty of behavior problems for which these models overlap. Some behavior problems can be helped by using both the medical and the behavioral models, concurrently. The reason I shared the difference between the medical and behavioral models is that it isn’t clear to me which model is most appropriate to resolve the behavior problems you describe. It is possible that the feather picking and vent kicking are learned behaviors, that is, the behaviors are maintained by antecedent conditions and reinforcing outcomes (e.g. insufficient opportunities or skills to engage in alternate species-appropriate behavior and social or sensory reinforcers). There is abundant research in the human literature demonstrating that highly destructive, self-directed behaviors can be learned and maintained by antecedent conditions and reinforcing consequences.

However, my guess is that the behavioral explanation is less likely in this case than physical explanations, such as allergies to particular foods or other items that your bird comes into contact with. As a result, I urge you to continue to pursue the physical possibilities with experts in the medical and nutritional fields, as well as with professionals with a special knowledge of captive eclectus parrots.

That said, given our commitment to an ethical standard of behavior management in which our teaching interventions follow the “most positive, least intrusive, effective solution” rule, we will do no harm by considering behavioral interventions at the same time you pursue the physical possibilities. In this case, you should first try to identify the antecedent conditions that predict when your bird will engage in these behaviors and also carefully observe what are the consequences immediately gained by feather picking and vent kicking. To do this well, keeping a written log of the ABCs for a week or so will be really helpful.

In terms of interventions, the bottom line is that your focus should be on what you want Fenway TO DO instead of feather picking. You can then develop a positive reinforcement teaching plan to teach these alternate behaviors. You should also consider changing the environment so that the alternate behaviors are easier to exhibit and more reinforcing than the problem behaviors.

This program can be concurrent with ongoing medical investigation because even if the problem is not behavioral, Fenway only stands to gain by learning more enriching behaviors in a well-arranged, complex environment.

I hope that gives you more direction with which to understand and resolve this behavior problem. Your commitment to Fenway comes through loud and clear, for which I greatly admire you.

All best,
S
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.
Utah State University
Dept of Psychology
Dept of Special Education
[email protected]

“The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.” Herbert
Spencer