Ajax4289 Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Ajax is my first bird. I noticed his feathers flying through the air for the past 1-3months. I happened to mention that he was molting to a bird friend and when I asked "he is molting right?" she described how his feathers should look and Ajax's didn't look like she described. SO question...is he molting or plucking? I never see him pluck and I am home quite a bit since I work from home. He will preens a lot when he's on his perch since I've been limiting his treat intake since he would gobble all his treats and then not eat his food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 That is not molting. Normally molting does not produce a large section of missing feathers as seen here. Are you misting him with aloe and/or give showers or baths? If not you shold be at least 2 - 3 times a week. It could be he is over-preening do to very prickly/itchy skin which the bathing would help alleviate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawL Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 That is definitely not molting. If it were my fid, I would schedule an appointment with my avian vet asap to rule out any problem there, and also increase his shower time every week. Be sure to give him a shower early in the day, so that he can dry off completely by his bedtime. Also be sure he has plenty of toys, including toys for preening to try and distract him from this behavior. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajax4289 Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 That is definitely not molting. If it were my fid, I would schedule an appointment with my avian vet asap to rule out any problem there, and also increase his shower time every week. Be sure to give him a shower early in the day, so that he can dry off completely by his bedtime. Also be sure he has plenty of toys, including toys for preening to try and distract him from this behavior. Good luck! I was planning on taking him to the vet very soon for a general checkup anyways. Ajax will not play with toys. I have tried various toys and switching them out every few weeks and he wants nothing to do with them...probley because I am home so much to give him attention. I'm going to increase his showers to 3times per week and see if that can help. I never thought I'd have an over preening bird! argh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I would also suspect plucking and if the added showers don't help I would have that crop checked for yeast or foreign bodies as they often pluck and area that may have an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 i know over preening and plucking are heart breaking!! i have that issue with my girls. they both check out just fine at the vet (they go twice a year for check ups), they have lots of toys and interaction, they're fed the best we can do for them. they get baths and this time of year we run a humidifier. yet, they continue to over preen and pluck!! one of the most important things you can not do is let the bird know how this is stressing you out!!!!!!! this will only add to the problem. i've had to come to the realization, whether i like it or not, that my girls are going to do this. i've even tried meds for athena in years past with little change, so i won't waste my money with it again. so we go through times where athena runs around in her grey underwear (the down on her chest) instead of having on her beautiful bright green shirt and kallie refuses to wear a turtle neck (she worries the feathers at her neck). i hate it, but this has been the way i keep my stress about this away from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 This is a suggestion. My parrots are not pluckers, but I did re-home an older ekkie who is a chronic plucker. After reading on the internet about how hemp seeds helps plucking birds, I purchased some sterilized hemp seed on the internet and gave it to him. He stopped plucking. I gave the ekkie to the young man next door because of issues with the ekkie and my Ana Grey. The neighbors have continued with the hemp seed, I purchased oodles, and the ekkie is happy and growing back in many feathers, lots of new downy feathers where there were none on his back. My neighbor told a friend that has a cockatoo that plucks about the hemp seed. I understand that the cockatoo has stopped plucking and the owner tells everyone about how her Too uses "medical marijuana" for his condition. LOL!!!! It is something to certainly ask your avian vet about to see what he/she has to say about the use of sterilized hemp seeds to help with plucking. I do know that hemp seed is a part of the commercial canary seed sold to people who have male singing canaries. I believe it certainly is worth looking into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 baby seems a little young, to make the diagnosis of chewing. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawL Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 baby seems a little young, to make the diagnosis of chewing. Nancy I don't think Ajax is as young as you think he is, if you notice the color of his eyes. Also, I really don't think we can put any kind of age limit on medical, or behavioral problems. --Hvave you made him a vet appointment yet? If so we would love to hear how it went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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