Molting or feather plucking?

[Sindbad]

Hello Folks. Ijust have a couple of concerns that I thought I may share with you and ask for your expert advice (being the novice CAG owner that I am.

 

Sindbad is a very nice and happy male. Once we come back form work, he is whistling and talking non-stop until we settle with him. We take him out of the cage as soon as we're back and give him neck rubs and shower him with attention.

 

Yesterday, I was bathing with the sprayer and noticed that his back lower neck has a spot of about 1/2 inch with no hair. It does not show up when he is dry but was very clear when the feathers were wet. He is also losing a few feathers (2-3) of different sizes daily recently. I also noticed that while we are giving him luvluv (neck rubs ) sometimes the feathers are coming off in my hands even though I'm being very gentle. Not too many. There are some pins at te bottom of his neck, so I'm guessing he is molting. He is a year old now.

 

I've also noticed that in the last week or so, he screetches tensely and in violent movements of his beak, and if your hand is close to his head, he'd bite you (gently) but tensely when his is done.

 

Today I started doing more research. I collected 4 feathers that I found around his perch and examined them carefully. They did not show any signs of biting or plucking. They were just straight and beautiful, EXCEPT FOR ONE. It looked like he after it fell, he was playing with it, which I caught him doing with a mid-size feather that showed no sign of plucking at all. What do you guys think? Should I be concerned or is this really what molting is? Thank you all.

[jaak198]

Hi,

 

This is just a stab in the dark but how often are you showering him and are you doing it in a way that he is totally wet?

 

Also how long is he sleeping each night?

 

Ali.

[daveyj]

Hiya Sinbad my Alfie is doing the same & hes molting hes around the same age so no need to worry he may get a little grumpy during this time but alls well Alfie plays with feathers to that drop out & one or two fall out when he has a neck tickle to

[Eckobird]

Hi Sindbad, it sounds like he is molting, especially since he is one. Have you noticed a lot more down feathers on the floor? When you say you rub his neck and feathers come out are you talking about the down feathers?

[danmcq]

I agree with the others, he is molting. :-)

[Sindbad]

Thank you all for writing. Jaak, you have raised interesting points. I shower Sindbad about once a week, in the weekend. I gave him a shower on Sunday and that was a couple of days late. I got him a spray to stop itching. It contains Aloe in it, but probably not the Alo juice every one here is talking about. I just got what the girl at the petstore recommended. I sprayed him after the shower. He seems to be itching less now.

As for his showers, I use a sprayer, and I fill it about three or four times to make sure he iscompletely wet. He hates showers and keeps trying to avoide the water. But yesterday I also put him in the sink under the faucet (water was in spray). He freaked out in the beginning then he gave up.

Am I showering him enough? Or is it too much?

 

As for sleep, he takes naps in the evening but actually we turn the light off around 11:00 or 11:30. He wakes us up at 7:00 AM. He takes frequent naps though. Sometimes I take him with me to work, and I see he takes frequent naps... and even on the weekend, he does take naps. Is he getting enough sleep? and if not what should we do? We can cover him earlier, but we put his cage in the living room so that he can be part of the family and live with us.

 

Thanks.