Feathers dropping?

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 4, 2013

Well yesterday, I found a full feather in Mango's cage. It didn't worry me until today I saw another one in his drinking bowl.
I noticed he does play with his tail feathers and chew them alot, but it doesn't seem like plucking. I mean, he could've plucked them since the very first day.
I also noticed that there is some sort of, white fur (it's not fur, but it looks like it) under his feathers and sometimes they can come between two feathers, and most of the times they're all around the cage.
Could it be molting? I'm not experienced yet, so I have no idea how that happens!
I will soon provide pictures of the feathers and the white thing.
Note: he is wing clipped, I don't know if his varies the quantity of feathers lost.
If you need specific pictures I'll be happy to provide.
Thank you !

MikeyTN · Jul 4, 2013

How old is Mango?? It is a big possibility that Mango is going through adult molt if he's a baby.

Merlee · Jul 4, 2013

Sounds like your bird is going through a molt. The white stuff you are seeing most likely are down feathers. I am seeing a lot of them myself with my amazon.

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 4, 2013

I'm not sure of his age, but he did pass maturity. He's probably 2 years old but I don't really know. I'll see if he'll drop more feathers but apparently he's not !

MikeyTN · Jul 4, 2013

He might be just going through his molt right now cause it's that time of the year they go through it....

goalerjones · Jul 4, 2013

Try Feather Club For Men, or you could get him some nice baseball hats.

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 5, 2013

But I can see these are the tail feathers, and I've read that these are the last to molt, yet they're the first in Mango's case

Merlee · Jul 5, 2013

I am wondering how many feathers so far has been dropped? Can you see any new ones coming in?

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 5, 2013

Today I saw a new feather, but it wasn't from the tail. It was different, not tall.. I can't see empty spaces so I can't even know where was it's original place.
I can't hold my parrot yet, he's not tamed

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 5, 2013

Merlee said:
I am wondering how many feathers so far has been dropped? Can you see any new ones coming in?

So after checking the cage's botton right now, they're 10 overall. I have them all, some are very small, some have normal roots and one of them have a really thick root, but seemed to be trimed. Possibly talking about primary and secondary feathers.
10 feathers is not considered as a partial molt, but a full molt, right?

HalfInsane · Jul 5, 2013

"Trimmed"? Are you meaning that some of the feathers appear to have been chewed through/broken? Perhaps it might be helpful if you uploaded pictures of the feathers Mango has lost. Should help people determine if they've fallen out/broken/been chewed

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 6, 2013

No no, I mean because he is wing clipped.. and I will try to provide picture of these feathers in different light conditions, so the roots will be easily observable.
Thank you, please wait for me and my pictures

birdy_numnum · Jul 6, 2013

Try and keep some toys or even a rope with something hanging from it for him to play with, may be hes just bored ,keep these toys in the cage and then after check if u find ant feathers, it should stop hopefully.

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 6, 2013

I have something movable, it's a kind of rope to chew and tear appart, he doesn't play with it unless I move it around him. 3 seconds after leaving it immobile, he stops caring about it.
I have two (safe) wood sticks inside but he doesn't chew them anymore even when their place is changed. He even stopped chewing his feathers much often. I keep a ball that makes sound on the top of the cage from the outside, he keeps on moving it for extra sound..
Here are the feathers pictures:

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 6, 2013

So now there are 6 new feathers. How much does a molt take? Will a new coloration appear ?

HalfInsane · Jul 6, 2013

Those feathers look like they've fallen out normally; no sign I can see of being plucking.

Since he is losing his flight feathers the molt could last several months. His coloration should remain the same. Do look to make sure the new feathers appear healthy, though.

Finally as for toys, a number of simple items can keep a bird entertained for hours. A cardboard box (just plain cardboard- no dye of course), Popsicle sticks, a pine cone, a branch from a bird safe tree with the leaves still on it (there's tons of lists online of trees that are safe for birds), a set of stainless steel measuring spoons hung in the cage, a loofah sponge... Birds are very inquisitive and can occupy hours with very simple toys.

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 7, 2013

Jardines tend to have more orange on the head and the wings/socks with age progression. That's why I thought the colours would change a bit.

He's just not interested in toys, I mean he plays for minutes and then he stops. The only time I saw him playing for a long time is when I've putted a paper in between the cage bars, he chewed it for hours. But something tells me that papers aren't a good idea.

Thank you everybody for the help, I appreciate it

Jayyj · Jul 7, 2013

Alice was starting on a molt when I brought her home. With all the information and warnings about feather plucking I would panic every time I found a new feather, particularly a flight feather, and she was constantly preening which really worried me. Eventually I took her to the vet, who very patiently went through pointing out all the new feathers coming through, and I slept easily for the first night in weeks that night.

Sounds like it's absolutely nothing to worry about, but I know exactly how you feel!

As far a toys go, have you tried out different types of toys? It seems very much trial and error figuring out what holds their attention - In our case toys with rough textures to rub her beak on and that can have treats hidden inside go down best, and foot toys that I can hand her are great. She also loves shredding anything with bark on it which might be a good thing to try if your bird likes shredding paper.

HusseinBerjaoui · Jul 8, 2013

Oh so we're alike because you can say that he's only been here since three months!
I will try to find more safe wood when I go to our house in the mountain. Here in the city I can't guarantee safety

MikeyTN · Jul 8, 2013

Yes find safe wood in the mountain, in the city they're not safe as they've been contaminated by fumes and such....

Feathers dropping?

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