Kermit has it out for her tail feathers

She's lost so many lately.

About a month ago she twisted one and I had to wait a few weeks for it to fall out on it's own. She damaged a new blood feather slightly at the same time, but the damage wasn't near the end of the shaft so I let it be. It grew in just fine, with just a small hole in the barbs.

You'd think Kermit would have learned.

Nope. She's clipped, but likes to think she can fly. Well today she launched herself off my arm and instead of landing horizontally like airplanes do, decided to land VERTICALLY. ON HER TAIL FEATHERS. One was an old side feather and popped off immediately. The other was the ex-damaged blood feather. And that one twisted, just like the other one did before.

I very gently pulled it to see if it had any give and it came right out. She didn't even squeak. But it did have a small amount of blood in it since it was a newer feather.

Now her butt is pretty bare. She's missing all her long tail feathers. She has two new blood feathers growing in... I really hope they come in okay. I really don't want to have to pull a fresh blood feather on her Maybe I'll pull a few toys from her cage to make it less likely she'll bump them.

Bah. This cluts. She's only 8 months so I hope she learns some grace.

My cockatiel is a female, 5 months old, and her tail is horrendous. It's embarrassing, lol. She doesn't pluck or even preen herself that much, except for her tail. When I brought her home she had the fullest, most beautiful tail I had ever seen on a cockatiel, which was awesome because she is a gray and white cockatiel, that's it, nothing fancy or flashy, but her tail made up for it. Then she broke a couple tail feathers on bad landings, and that started the chewing. She leaves the outermost feathers on each side alone and chews all of the ones in-between, so she has 1 really long feather on each side, and the middle feathers are half as long or shorter, and their ends are completely frayed and ratty. I keep telling her she'll end up alone and frustrated if she doesn't knock it off..


Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Bah, naughty birdies D: ! I've heard many cockatiel owners struggle to keep their tails nice since they're a bit clumsy XD (and especially since they're so long!). I feel like birds aren't as concerned by their tail feathers as we are, haha.

I frequently read that GCC are acrobatic and athletic. Which is true. Unfortunately, Kermit just isn't a good acrobat :X

The Rb and I fight over his tail all the time...
At its best, it's 12-plus inches of neon golden-green beauty... but he constantly scruffs it up... I constantly smooth it... and he constantly cavorts snd crashes and crimps it. Sometimes he pulls one or two when it gets really crooked.
I feel your pain!

P.S.
And he's an agile flier. But he delights in scrambling in obscure corners and under drapes and under pillows, making his beautiful tail a scrounge-y mess!

Babys are alwys tough on feathers, esp tail feathers

wrench13 said:

Babys are alwys tough on feathers, esp tail feathers

Click to expand...

And eternal clueless-delayed-development toddlers like my Rb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope your darling grows out of it!!!!!!

Yep! Little Beebs is murder on his tail..there is always one or two that are screw-gee, off to one side,or poking up in the air..seems like he just gets a nice new one in and a day or two later its crooked or bent


Jim

I didnt think Sheldon would make it through his first year. He'd play so hard and then fall off a toy or the top of his pen while hanging upside down. He's three years old now and doesnt fall anymore. When you mention tail feathers, sheldon will grab a hold of his and pull them around to the top of his head and run the tail feather through it. I keep thinking it's got to hurt his back side. He ends up with curled tail feathers and then they will eventually fall out. I wish he wouldnt do that. I try to distract him when I can.