Budgie Constantly Missing Tail Feathers

Hello Everyone,

I have four budgies (some background info to follow). Two live in one cage, two in another. I have had one of the budgies seven years, his partner we have had a year and a half. They are both healthy birds and have recently had their vet check ups.

The other two live in their own cage. One of the budgies from this pair cannot seem to keep her tail feathers. I have had her and her cage mate for about seven months. She was young when I got her. She still had a black tipped beak and a full head of stripes. She did not have a tail when I purchased her. Neither did the other bird. But I figured they may have just broken them in the tiny pet store cages. Her cage mate grew his tail in nicely, she on the other hand, did not. She will get a tail feather in and immediately snap it. She does play rather rough with her toys for a budgie, but I worry there may be something else wrong. Her diet is the same as the other budgies. They get a seed and pellet mix, along with daily veggies and occasional fruit. Has anyone had this issue with their budgies?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

-Nik

I don't really know , I think it's a plucking case , except of the chest it's the tail feathers . It's unusual that only the tail feathers are getting snapped off instead of the main body. I would buy preening toys to see if it could divert her attention

Birdlover11 said:

I don't really know , I think it's a plucking case , except of the chest it's the tail feathers . It's unusual that only the tail feathers are getting snapped off instead of the main body. I would buy preening toys to see if it could divert her attention

Click to expand...

Yes, and lots of toys to distract the budgie.

I would be looking at internal issues, such as nutritional or glandular.....but again that is just a guess.

If you think about it there is some issue why she is picking and chewing off her tail feathers, which is not normal behaviour.

If both birds were like this when they were young, one has grown the tail feathers and one has not, then I think there is a more concerning issue to look at.

good luck, and I hope this works out for you and your bird!
...I'm editing this as I think of more and more things.

at the moment I would give them a vitamin supplement, and organic flax seed, which contains omega. It certainly won't hurt and worth a try