Love Your Pet: Living with Anxiety Induced Displacement Disorder

If you remember my entry way back on April 20, 2006 I wrote the story of how Ready and Sarah came to be our favorite pals from Africa. I wrote about all the squeaking and the clamour and the beautiful yellow crest on Sarah's little head. I also briefly made a comment about Ready's pants- his Bermuda shorts! Well, sometime later, on August 27, 2006 I posted a short fim in which two parrots give an interview about the importance of creature comforts. These stories are interrelated and they refer to an important issue in avian care. This issue is often referred to in its most general terminology as Displacement Disorder. Displacement Disorder occurs when an emotion/desire/impulse/compulsion is not played out in its most immediate situation and is instead repressed and released in another situation. The inability to express yourself at any given moment (especially over issues that are of importance to you) may lead to anxiety. This anxiety is then released else where and often manifests as anger and hostility. This is Displacement Disorder.

Animals often experience Displacement Disorder. In the case of birds the start of Displacement Disorder can be traced all the way back to the day a wild animal is captured, placed in a cage and shipped to a pet store. An animal who has lived free all of its life and whose instincts can be traced over 200 million years through its theropod lineage; is suddenly incarcerated and forced into a life of nothing more than temporary amusement will in many cases begin to display anxious behavior.

Ready in August of 2004- not long after coming to stay with us.

Of course every case is unique and in Ready's case we have all seen some special circumstances, outbreaks and an interesting solution. Ready and Sarah were rejected by their original owner (a local parrot breeder) because Ready had bitten (in some cases viciously and mortally) some of his aviary mates and chicks. The first problem anyone could name was a strong sense of territoriality. As a backdrop lets say that all parrots are territorial. We need space to grow, to feed and to raise our young. We all protect our little white picket canopies. It's Nature's way and it ensures the survival of the species. In the wild if an intruder arrives we peck and hiss and he will usually go away. If the home maker loses out he simply flies off and starts anew somewhere near by. No big deal really. I mean, no one gets mutilated or killed. But what happens when you have an above average territorial instinct or you happen to be an Alpha Personality altogether? Top that with being cooped up in a small room packed with other parrots who not only intrude on your space constantly but also simply do not go away after the hissing and pecking??? Well things can sometimes get real mean! This is what got Ready into trouble at the breeder's place. Those other parrots simply would not disappear. The dude was just protecting his space and his family. It got him a bad rap jiffy quick and off went the call for an adoptive family.

When Ready and Sarah came to Salazar Manor the first thing that struck me about him was the fact that he was almost completely naked from the neck down. Feather plucking is a symptom of Displacement Disorder. It is considered a form of self-mutilation and the last step before flesh biting and blood letting. Ready has never bitten himself but he has certainly removed a lot of feathers. Chewing and plucking are terrible behaviors to witness. There is little that can be done once a parrot starts chewing and plucking. Theories on the root causes for this behavior extend beyond Displacement Disorder. For instance, some people (vets included) theorize that some birds actually enjoy the taste of the trace minerals found at the wick end of the feathers and pluck for the taste of these minerals. Furthermore, in some cases the reason could be medical: bacterial disease and external parasites, allergies to foods, obesity, thyroid problems; nutritional: lack of calcium and other minerals, proteins, fatty acids, etc.; environmental: dry air causes dry skin, allergies caused by airborne pollutants; habitat: over-populated living space, lack of adequate nesting sites (these can lead to sexual frustration as some parrots will not mate unless they are comfortable with a nesting site); situational: some parrots react adversely to having their flight feathers clipped too short too early in life.

There are more reasons but the literature is saturated with these the most common ones.

Luis noticed that Ready began to act territorially right away. He still bites intruders in his room whenever he is out of his cage and whenever someone gets too close to his cage or happens to get caught between him and the bathtub. Ouch! Then there is the fact that he and Sarah are constantly on the look out for a nesting site. Their nibbling behavior has cost Luis and Danielle several books, some moulding and some furniture. I guess they are looking for a good tree trunk to carve out. I wouldn't know- I build nests myself. Ready has some favorite spots he has scouted out for raising little critters. Dani won't have any of it so Luis is constantly luring him out of his favorite spots whenever Luis finds him guarding one fiercely. Although Ready's Alpha Male ego gets the best of him he is a big softy at heart. He loves being petted and having his head scratched. And lets face it- of the Salazar Manor bunch he is the most photogenic. He simply loves the attention. What happens when he doesn't get it? Well, let me tell you that he whistles and squeaks at the top of his wee lungs until we all just leave or he is settled, cage and all, into the other room. Hey, I'm a parrot and yet I myself can not tolerate the vocalizations of this dude. Man alive! It hurts.

Ready in March of 2005.

Luis tried some simple methods of dealing with some of his acting out as best he could. The territory thing? Well, the best you can do is stay out of his way. We all deserve our space. Here at Salazar Manor we all live by this little rule and Luis and Dani are generous in this respect. The baby business is a no-no as Luis will simply not be able to sell the chicks and the Salazar Manor will grow and grow until Dani bursts and moves to Calgary. So no luvin' allowed. The attention issue was under control until Ready bit Luis through the lip, the hand and recently trapped Dani in the bathroom and bit her foot twice. Ouch! Ready gets little one on one time because he is unpredictable. Luis figured that lack of attention was one of the main reasons for his feather plucking so about a year ago he took Ready to the vet to see if the vet could suggest methods to sooth Ready's behavior. The first vet suggested something called Haloperidol. The vet simply said that it would calm him down and that this would curb his aggressive behavior. Sure enough, within a week Ready was cool as a cucumber. Luis served it to him on a cracker. Ready was soon just sitting there on his perch doing nothing at all. Luis was delighted at first- no shrieking, no chasing toes, no biting lips. But something was off. In high school Luis had a friend who was diagnosed bi-polar and Zoloft had the same effect on his friend. This was not cool...

One day, Isidro came by with Maguey and Luis told him about this new medication Ready was on. It was working Luis said but admitted that the results were a little too extreme. Ready was no longer Ready- he was acting more like a pillow on a sofa: just sitting there all inanimate. Isidro asked what he was on and when he heard that it was haloperidol Isidro (who is a nurse) jumped up and said, "hey, isn't that an anti-psychotic?"

Ready in May of 2007- check out all of the feathers!

Ready was pulled off the stuff that very day and within a few more days he was back to chasing toes and squeaking at the top of his lungs. So Luis went to a different vet. This time blood work was done (it found no diseases or other medical problems other than a slight protein deficiency- this was looked after with his diet), a visual skin test was done and found no signs of parasites, irritation or excessive dryness. The haloperidol was pulled form the regime and It was suggested to Luis that he try keeping Ready busy with things that would occupy a parrot in the wild. The big one being food collection. How do we make it a wee bit tougher for the dude to access his food? Well this one didn't do the trick. Parrots don't eat all day non-stop, you know? We eat two big meals and only sporadically in between. So there is lots of time in between to get bored and find trouble. Luis continued to pet Ready and talk to him and take his picture. Ready and Sarah, however were spending more and more time locked up as they had started to destroy Luis' books whenever Luis was away. Ready had nibbled at the linoleum in the bathroom and Sarah was busy munching away at the moulding around the window. "What was next," Luis confided? His camera collection? Holy wet turkey feathers!!! Not the cameras! As a last resort Luis purchased a pet Elizabethan collar. That was a total disaster. Yeah, nice one Luis. How would you like to wear handcuffs around your neck, buddy? Ready chewed the lining right off and within half an hour had managed to gnaw it to a sharp serrated edge. This then dug into Ready's neck and at the first sight of blood Luis jumped Ready and pulled the collar off. Luis was shaking from the horror and Ready was scared out of his wee wits. Poor guy. With no other resort at hand the African duo was confined to the cage five out of seven days. And then it happened: Ready stopped plucking. His chest feathers are almost all out and his flight feathers are growing strong and long. He looks great! Luis thinks it was the regular schedule that keeps him mellow. Spending time outside of the cage actually stressed him out. It spurred his territorialism, it drove his desire to mate and created chaos in his need for regular scheduling. Of course this doesn't answer everything and there is no way of telling whether or not we will all wake up tomorrow to find him down to his Bermudas again. For the mean time he looks as handsome as any other Meyer's Parrot.

Ready is the least understood of us all. He is also the most cared for and the one dude that attracts the most curiosity from visitors. Ready is a victim of a relentless and careless pet trade. We are all happy to have him and Sarah here at the Salazar Manor Petting Zoo. Here's hoping you remain feathered and plucky, Ready!

Ready in May of 2007- coy and handsome.

Step up!

Further on-line reading:
Avianwelfare.org
birdtoyoutlet.com
Avianwelfare.org
MAARS.org
ASAH.net
RutlandVet.com
RealMacaw.com
Wikipedia.org
2ndChance.info