Hi Sunshine the Senegal, Welcome to Parrot Chatter. Looking forward to hearing all about Sunshine.

I saw your posts and questions regarding Sunshine's plucking. I don't have any experience with that, but I'm sure other members will be along shortly that can help you out with some suggestions. I do know that some will never stop despite our best efforts with enrichment and diet.

As far as getting her to play with toys, start small and teach her how to play by playing with the toys with her. My Green Winged Macaw didn't know how to play with toys at all when I got him. He screamed when I showed him a piece of paper. I started small with a piece of paper, a straw, a bottle cap and basically made a fool out of myself by having so much fun with those items. He watched and pretty soon curiosity got the better of him and he just had to see what all the fun was about. I taught him to "Touch it" and when he did we had a party and he got lots of praise! Baby steps finally led to a more confident bird that does like to play today.

Hi & welcome.

Post some photos & tell us about your Sennie. I read about the plucking issues you have. Perhaps as you can tell us more about Sunshine & we can help.

thank you all for your nice replies. Yes, the first thing I did was take her to a wonderful and well known aviary vet in Toledo. Her name is Dr. Susan Orosz. She felt it was due to stress and had me give her haldol. After awhile I took Sunshine off of it since it is an addictive drug. Since my move to Florida I was told by a Bird Club here to give her Rescue Remedy in distilled water. Many times tiny little feathers have appeared but she usually plucks them out. I tell her NO and she stops for a minute. I have given her numerous NEW toys & rotated some old but the only thing she pays any attention to is the foraging boxes & small raisin boxes. I bought some real soft wood & drilled holes in the blocks & filled them with treats. Occasionally she will chew up the block. I try to 'play' with her but she walks away from me or gets scared & flys away. Her diet is fruit & avian nutra cakes in the morning & vegetables & whatever else I might be having for dinner. Her appetite is good. Any suggestions for treatment please advise. Thank You

I'm sorry I don't know too much about plucking but I'll try to help with a few ideas.

Do you use Avian lighting for Sunshine? I highly recommend the SpectraBird lighting. LINK: SpectraBird

Also, what type of sleep schedule is Sunshine on? Following a strict sunup/sundown schedule will help her and may help ease her stress levels.

Has she had a complete physical and blood work done recently? Has she been tested for Metal Toxicity?

I would suggest that you ignore the behavior completely. Even negative attention such as a "No" is attention.

I have heard frequent showers are good for pluckers.

I would give her lots of leafy green veggies. You can hang them from her cage or play stand.

Some people have had good luck with a product called "Pluck No More". I've heard good and bad about the product. Maybe someone else that has tried it and can offer advice.

Here's some links that may be helpful;

LINK: Parrots - Feather plucking in parrots - Learn causes and remedies for feather plucking and feather chewing.

LINK: Feather Plucking

LINK: Diet and Feather Picking

This is from the Land of Vos site;
ALOE VERA-- The most popular herbal remedy for the care of parrots seems to be aloe. One popular use of aloe is a topical spray to sooth the irritated skin of birds that engage in feather plucking. Aloe Vera Herbal Remedy Dramatic results can be obtained with this protocol when used on parrots who are destroying their feathers due to an itchy condition of the skin. Even in cases of psychological plucking, the aloe spray has been known to slow down feather destruction, due to the fact that damp feathers seem to dampen the urge to pluck. The easiest way to obtain a quality aloe spray for parrots is to buy it from a health food store. I recommend George's Aloe Spray, which comes in a spray bottle with eight ounces for approximately five dollars. Otherwise, a spray can be made by obtaining a new and clean spray bottle and filling it with a solution of one part pure aloe vera juice to three parts distilled water. The Kitchen Physician Herbal Remedies for Parrots

Welcome Sunshine the Senegal, very glad you have joined PC. As you can see by reading the information Karen has provided, there are so many reasons for pet parrots to pluck and I sure wish that it was an easy thing to determine, but the truth is that you may never know. You have already taken a very necessary step and had Sunshine examined by a good vet to see if it is caused by medical issues.

There is a lot of information out on the internet about foods that birds are often allergic to, for example, corn or wheat. You would start by taking one food at a time out of Sunshines diet to determine if that particular food is the problem. This link is a good visual for the healthy parrot diet pyrimid.

Parrot Food Pyramid Diet Nutrition Healthy Bird Foods

I would recommend putting lots of clean branches in her her cage so she has lots to chew. Since she doesn't play with her toys, she may be missing something that she likes to chew and taking it out on herself. Branches would be closer to a natural environment and she may like that.

See if you can determine what in her life that causes her stress by her reading her actions. Is her cage by a window or in the middle of the room in lot's of activity?

Again, welcome to our board, looking forward to chatting.