CAG Molt

[Jill]

I posted this as a blog in error. Can anyone advise me how long I can expect my CAG "Chiku" to complete his first molt. It started in August this year when he was 7 months old. Except for his head,tail and wings he is covered in what looks (to my inexperienced eye)like down feathers.Before that his feathers were beautiful and perfectly symetrical. Is it normal for a molt to go on for so long and how often does this happen? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[BMustee]

hmmmm...you say all his feathers look like down? Are they his normal feathers that look chewed or is it strait up down feathers? I have not yet gone through a molt with my grey but the Sun Conure I had molted all the time and he would never look ruff during molts.

[Dave007]

The very first molt when a grey is a younster will be the heaviest because of it's age and because a brand new set of more mature feathers are about to come in. That first molt usually consists of a lot of baby feathers being shed all at one time so the amount of time it'll take for new feathers to come in will be longer then future molts. It can last for about 1,2 or 3 mts although that number can vary and it's normal. I won't kid you, that first molt will be messy--tiny white feathers all over the place. Future molts won't be as heavy and new feathers will be visible in a shorter amount of time because they're not baby feathers but mature feathers replacing other mature feathers.

A tip on cleaning that first batch of feathers--Take a small misting bottle that has water in it. Slightly spray the feathers in the cage tray. The feathers will get a bit damp and won't fly around all over the place. Also, when changing the paper in the tray, dampening the loose feathers will let you pick up the paper and feathers much more easily so that they can be dumped. Basically,they'll stay in the tray.<br><br>Post edited by: MrSpock, at: 2007/10/24 21:19

[judygram]

Like BMustee, my sun conure seems to always be in a molt, she has pin feathers on her head and neck area all the time.

 

Thanks Dave for the information on molting in greys, it was very helpful to me and probably to Jill as well.

[BMustee]

Yeah. My grey is probably just about due for his first molt and I will remember what you said about the first being a ruff one.

[Jill]

Thank you Dave, you've described exactly what happened. All the beautiful little feathers just showered off. My house looked like someone had had a pillow fight! Chiku spends a lot of time preaning and getting rid of some of the down feathers. He looks like he's wearing a wooly jumper! I am very relieved to know that it's normal and thank you everyone else for your interest.

 

Jill

[MakenasDad]

I was wondering what time, in general, does the first molt generally occur? Makena's about 6 months, should it be happening sooner than later - or closer to the year mark? Thanks..

[lovemyGreys]

Great advice Dave, exactly what my boys are going through at present.

Andrew my two boys are 9 months & have started their molt about 1 month ago.