Advice Needed

Mthomson

New member
Oct 29, 2019
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Hi guys.


I've had my bird for about 4 months. She flew into my garden, quite untame/unfriendly to start but starting to love her cuddles! I've not had a bird like this before, I vary her diet and keep her water fresh. Last few weeks however, she's starting to look rather scruffy. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if this is part of a moult? I've attached a couple of photos.



Thanks in advance


Mark


Darling 2.jpgDarling 1.jpg
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
It could be part of a molt but it seems like an odd time of year-- I guess it just depends on the seasons where you live and the age of your bird.

What do you feed your bird? I know you said a varied diet, but can you be more specific?

Have you taken your bird to the vet to have it checked over for disease (gram stain, CBC/blood etc)?

It's really hard to know without more information, so I am asking questions because it's hard to say---not trying to make you paranoid.
 

charmedbyekkie

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May 24, 2018
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If she flew into your garden, she might have a family looking for her. We had a lost bird fly into our balcony - he had apparently been missing for a week and someone cut off his identifying leg ring (likely to try to sell him) - but we managed to find his family. He was so happy to see them again; he made this baby calling sound when he saw them.

I would encourage you to find his original home. Fully-flighted birds can fly quite a bit of distance over just a few days. I heard of one macaw flying 25 miles within 3 days!

Just a heads-up, if the bird has been out with wild birds, it is possible for them to pick up a disease from the wild birds.
 
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Jottlebot

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Hi, just to repeat the messages above. If she could be lost please try and get her back to her home and if she's been in the wild she could have picked up something nasty and so vet check and blood tests are a must. Some owners microchip their birds too so you would no if she had an owner.

Going back to your question, Alex's do look AWFUL when they're having a heavy moult, but it is an add time and I'd expect more feather loss on her head and then it spreads, which doesn't match what I see in the photos. I'm confident she isn't plucking because she wouldn't get her beak to those that have gone.

I think vet blood tests is the safest option.
 

itzjbean

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What measures have you taken to get her home to her owners who are out there likely looking for her?

Remember, just because you find a parrot in your yard, does not mean it now belongs to you. There is a good chance it has escaped from a home where it was quite loved!


Social media can be a great place. When a bright green parakeet landed at my work last year, I found the owner in less than 3 hours by posting its picture in a group local to my area for lost and found pets.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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Hi welcome, thanks for reaching out. This is a little scruffy looking. Trying to help online is hard, that's why lots of info helps! Sometimes things are fed that can be harmful over time, and sometimes more things need to be added to the diet. Can you go over what you are feeding in more detail? Lots of times it's nutrition, but some times illness, molts should not look so rough in my opinion. It also looks like the remaining feathered don't have that healthy sheen.
We have diet and nutrition threads you can look for ideas.
We all love our parrots so very much, and the thought of loosing them is crushing!!! That's why when a parrot is found, everything should be done to reunite with the owner. Make sure they provide proof of ownership , like pic or something.
 
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Mthomson

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Oct 29, 2019
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Hi guys.


Thanks for your advise. Just to fill in some blanks for you. I'm in Australia so it's late spring here. Her diet consists of the usual Parrot grains and seeds as well as (sparingly) almonds and walnuts. She gets fresh and dried fruits and green vegetables - she loves picking peas from a pod. She has a very large cage that she is spends a good deal of time out of! Also has lots of wooden toys to destroy.
And just to put everyone's mind at ease - we went to great lengths to try and re-unite her with her previous owner and thank you for assuming I wouldn't have done that! Facebook, fliers in vets and pet shops etc.. She wasn't tagged or identifiable in any way. We had some people come look to see if it was their bird but it wasn't. Upon advise and given her aggressive nature (I've still got the scars to prove it!) when she was found it's more likely she's escaped from an aviary because she certainly wasn't a tame pet.
 

Laurasea

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Thanks for update! Thanks for looking for owner, sometimes that can't be found, or uninformed people set free.
Thanks for the rescue, and great job on taming!!! That's not easy with a ringneck!
Sounds like you are doing all the right stuff. . Not sure why bird is looking like this...
Wait till after molt, and then a vet visit is probably the next step. Keep us updated!
 

PickleMeDickles

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SassyByrd (DYH Amazon) JoJo (GCC) Betty (GCC) DEARLY LOVED fids lost to “Teflon Disaster� 12/17 RIP Pickles (GC),RIP Winston (Sun), RIP Lady PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES &TOSS OUT ALL YOUR TEFLON NOW!
Sounds like you’re working hard for this little bird. She very well could be an aviary bird, but please don’t assume because she has bitten you, even with crazy Kung fu lethal intent, that she isn’t tame. My birds have never even drawn blood (yet), but I have no doubt if approached by a stranger, SassyByrd would wholeheartedly make every possible attempt to eviscerate that person. And the little guys would surely draw blood. They aren’t like dogs where once you “tame” them they see most humans as friends. Nope, most birds (not all) will carefully evaluate every single different human they come into contact with and once an individual human is deemed worthy, they will allow (subject to change on a whim) the beginnings of a relationship to develop. Some birds skip this whole introductory period, but many don’t. And once they pick their person they do it with an amount of love and devotion very few humans could hope to come close to. That is why uniting a bonded pair (human/bird) is the only solution to 2 very broken hearts. Of course if that’s not possible, you now get to rise to the challenge of becoming someone’s everything. I’m not sure of the species (can’t enlarge) but consult that forum as a pellet diet may be a good addition. And I second the advice for a vet, at least to obtain baseline lab values. Good luck!
 

wrench13

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HiYa. A molt is evidenced by a lot of pin feathers ( feathers with their hard casings still encasing the feather), if he's molting and he likes cuddles you should see/ feel them.
If not then a diet is the area to work on.
 

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