Weird bald spots

My 4 month old from petco has weird bald spots i noticed when I showered him on a shower perch for the first time today.. hes sopping wet in these pics.

on the wing, i could move the feathers and there was an inch long section vertical along both shoulder bone and then one on an elbow area.. and i noticed his tail feathers look weird at the quill..

is this normal??? im worried

at first i assume he was plucking to being bullied, then i noticed it was just skin..

Hes also extremely small but not malnourished.. he hasnt grown any since getting him. he was hatched 7/15 and he was 4 weeks when we got him.
I also noticed that his ear holes are really large..
you can see the huge ear holes in the first pic. im wondering if he has some kind of genetic problem.






any advice is helpful, i am afraid he has a major problem. will take him to vet asap.

ConureLady said:

at first i assume he was plucking to being bullied, then i noticed it was just skin..

Click to expand...

Wondering... have you seen any feathers in cage or wherever he hangs out that match the sizes of the missing ones? Pritti plucked about 16/17 years ago due to traumatic time and all that could be seen was (is) skin in those spots. Althouh he hasn't plucked in well over a decade, still has no feathers in the plucked areas due to the permanent damage of multiple plucks. I don't know enough about very young birds (am just assuming yours is very young) to know if they would pluck like that vs. having some other illness or genetic problem. I'm glad you are getting to the vet asap - due to the other issues you mention too.

Keep us posted.

he has them in identical spots which is really weird.. its almost like he never had feathers in those spots to begin with.

Louis had some spots but now he has feathers there. He had some bigger ones under the wings but wight now he is covered up, he is almost 6 months now and I've got him when he was 3 months so maybe your baby will grow some feathers there?

If he's four months, he is full feathered. First off the ear holes are normal. The second pic concerns me as it appears reddish like he is itching and scratching or maybe being picked at. What does he weigh? Consistently weighing him is the best way to determine if your bird is healthy or getting sick. It would be nice to see a few pics of him while he's dry so we could see if his feathers look good. Did you take him to a vet when you purchased him?

I went to the vet today and she categorized his bald spots as either medical, spontaneous, or plucking, non behavioral..
she said that it just looked worse than it is because he was wet because you cant even tell when hes dry. the bald spots have no follicles at all, so either thats where he lost downy fluff, or he just has very thin feathers.
she also noted he has huge feet, abnormally large ear holes, and he weighed 1.2 oz.. but his keel isnt showing or anything. so because he can from a petco mill, he is most likely genetically inclinced to have these abnormal differences. she suspects that he was picked on as a baby, causing permanent baldness in certain spots. it could even be from messy feedings as a baby, causing irritation. and if it ever shows up on his head, immediately go to her.
she thinks, because its symetrical, hes either doing it to himself when he cuddles up to sleep, or the female is doing it to him whenever shes next to his side..
she said that if it becomes more severe after his first molt, theres a medical problem.
she did however say that he appears perfectly healthy, with beautiful feathers, and healthy follicles, so she ruled out that nasty feather and beak disease.
it could also be hyperthyroidism.. which she told me not to test for because its toxic to parrots and can cause leukemia.
for now she wants to wait and see how his first molt goes..
i didnt get any testing done because i'm inbetween paychecks, but i will.

The bald spots are normal....

Grams is far more accurate than ounces are...


Ears look fine to me...


1.2 oz/34 grams sounds half the weight a GCC should be... give or take... any way to re-weigh him using your own gram scale?