Stress Bars?

Hello,

Yoshi is about 7 months old. Just noticed what appears to be stress bars? Have attached a picture. Can someone confirm they are stress bars? He has a few more on the opposite side.

I feed him a mostly fruit diet with about a medium teaspoon of sunflower seeds and some vegetables. He also likes to nibble on the stalks of of leafy vegetables like spinach, herbs etc. I havent yet fed him any pellets. Reading about them in nature they seem to be frugivores and survive mostly on fruits so I didnt really think I needed to give him pellets.

He has quite a large cage which is always open and I take him out for some sun on a daily basis and most days he even gets a car trip which he seems to love so I dont think he is stressed out in his environment.

Although a couple of weeks ago when I had Yoshi in the backyard he was attacked by a small Asia Minor bird. The bird basically swooped down on Yoshi but didnt actually touch him. That was the only time anything like that happened.

Maybe its just his diet? Should I start to give him some pellets?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

At only 7 months old many of those feathers are still from when he was a baby and babies can get those dark stress bands or discoloration to some developing feathers and then molt them and never get them again. I would continue feeding plenty of fruits and veggies, dark leafy greens are very important and keep a look out for ones you know for certain are new. Also eclectus benefit from frequent baths so make sure he is getting plenty of showers.

Can you tell us what kind of Bird Yoshi is?

Timothy said:

Can you tell us what kind of Bird Yoshi is?

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Timothy, Joshi is an Eclectus.

labell said:

At only 7 months old many of those feathers are still from when he was a baby and babies can get those dark stress bands or discoloration to some developing feathers and then molt them and never get them again. I would continue feeding plenty of fruits and veggies, dark leafy greens are very important and keep a look out for ones you know for certain are new. Also eclectus benefit from frequent baths so make sure he is getting plenty of showers.

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Thanks for the advice Wendy. Yes, I was also thinking it could be from when he was younger. Hopefully that is the case. In the mean time I might try to feed him more vegetables to round out his diet.

Regarding the baths, this is one area I have had a problem with as Yoshi never baths himself and I am forced to give him a bath every couple of weeks and he hates it.

suley said:

labell said:

At only 7 months old many of those feathers are still from when he was a baby and babies can get those dark stress bands or discoloration to some developing feathers and then molt them and never get them again. I would continue feeding plenty of fruits and veggies, dark leafy greens are very important and keep a look out for ones you know for certain are new. Also eclectus benefit from frequent baths so make sure he is getting plenty of showers.

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Thanks for the advice Wendy. Yes, I was also thinking it could be from when he was younger. Hopefully that is the case. In the mean time I might try to feed him more vegetables to round out his diet.

Regarding the baths, this is one area I have had a problem with as Yoshi never baths himself and I am forced to give him a bath every couple of weeks and he hates it.

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The dark leafy stuff is the most important imo and also the yellow and orange types foods, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peppers. For greens I use kale, collard, chard, mustard greens, parsley, cilantro, mine also love fresh herbs such as mint and basil mixed into their chop.

None of mine ever get in their water bowls except Jillie sometimes when I vacuum but all have learned to love and enjoy their baths. I started out light misting every few days when they were younger now they all enjoy a good soak, some more than others but it was something I knew was essential to eclectus feather health so I really never gave them a choice. My eclectus get a minimum of 4 a week sometimes more, just keep at it and he will learn if not to love them then at least tolerate them.

My husband built me a great shower perch, I take them each into the bathroom and use a spray bottle (I would rather contain all that water then spray them in their cages or stands.) I just spray them either a light mist or in Jolly's case he loves it and I spray him until my hand gets tired.

Mango has sime of those bars too. They will go away after his first big moult, is what my breeder told me. As for the pellets, I would avoid them if he hasn't been introduced to them yet. Fresh veggies and COOKED beans are very important to Ekkies health. They absord too much added vitamins from man made pellets. I wouldn't give him sunflower seeds to him everyday, I worry about liver disease.
As for showers, just recently Mango follows me into the shower to take one. He used to not care for them, but in my house, my rules. NO SMELLY ANYONE STAYS HERE! Besides, I know he feels better afterwards. Now that he is starting to look at ALOT of girls, he wants to impress with his bright hair like feathers!

My boy (also named Yoshi) just turned one last saturday, and i've had him since approx 4 months. He was covered in stress bars when i got him and his tail feathers were a shredded mess, someone was a crazy baby. He went through a big moult over the past few months and is like a brand new bird with his perfect green shiny feathers and beautiful whole tail feathers. give it a few months and your Yoshi will be the same.
As for baths, I currently give 2-3 showers a week, he often lets me know if i've been slack by trying to bathe in his water dish (and spraying the walls/floor in the process hehe) so i follow up with a good soak. It took a couple of months to start enjoying his showers. I have a shower perch in my bathtub and use a shower hose attached to the bath taps (my shower is horrible, shoots out needles of water). He used to sit there and just barely tolerate them but now he flaps around and gets right into them. I also find when using the shower hose temperature seems to matter to him, if its too warm he doesn't like it. has to be cold, but only just. Fussy little things

Hehe, Zephyr's the same way. He does -not- like warm water. It has to be just chilly enough that I wish I weren't in there with him

And he flaps his wings all over and sticks his butt up in the air and gets generally very excited. He'll do the bath-in-a-bowl thing too if he feels like I'm neglecting his showers.

Yep, cold water seems to be the thing, Maya, my B&G must have the water straight from the pipes, no heat added (In fl the water temp is like 75F ish it ranges)