Cocketiel has strange feathers sticking out?

*I originally posted this is the wrong area, I will delete the other post as soon as I figure out how to lol

Rhino my cockatiel recently has me worried with these feathers that look a little funny. I'll start from the beginning first, sorry I'm a rambler
I bought Rhino from my pet store, his tail feathers had ragged ends (as did all of the other birds there) and I didn't think much of it until I heard online that it could be due to bad diet or stress. Is that true? He is only about 12 weeks so I assume they would fall out and new ones would grow back after his first molt. Also his cage was pretty small so I don't know if that could have been a factor.
As for the strange feathers, on his back it started with one feather on his back that looks exactly like a flexible piece of plastic or a stripped feather sticking out and curving a little. Actually it doesn't look like a feather at all. It is becoming more and more noticeable each day and curving more and now I can see smaller ones are starting to grow around it. Rhino doesn't seem to care much when I touch them or anything, he just kinda gets a little annoyed and preens whenever I touch them. I know for a fact them are not blood feathers, the big one just looks like a flexible thin plastic piece sticking straight out of the left side of his back and sticks out like a sore thumb. Will the stripped feathers fall out during his molt? And what exactly are they and what causes them? Rhino seems very healthy he sings chirps dances and his poo looks normal. He is also on a safflower seed diet with other important fruit and veggies included. I might be overreacting but I have never seen these plastic things sticking out on a parrot's back before. I hope it's nothing serious

Young birds often don't realize that their feathers are necessary for things other than keeping them warm and usually figure everything out after their first moult...

Depending on how many birds are kept in a small cage, that can attribute to ragged feathers also.....

Welcome to the forum & congrats on your new feathered friend.....

Bathes can also help with the "ragged feather" appearance as long as the bird knows how to properly preen themselves. Safflower seeds should not be the main part of the seed diet... he needs more variety than that.

Pictures would help, but when in doubt, a trip to the a-vet doesn't hurt!

Do the weird feathers look like miniature white plastic straws? If so, it sounds like a pin feather. Normal on molts. When it's dry and ready to fall off, you can help your bird by pressing on it gently- it should disintegrate.

Here is an image, sorry for the bad quality I had to take it with my phone. It doesn't really look like a pin feather to me... any ideas?

Babies typically have roughed up tails. The small cage won't help. They should be better after the molt.

Baby Cockatiels are really bad at keeping up with their tail feathers. They usually frill them or break them. It's nothing too unusual!