Dinosrawr
New member
- Aug 15, 2013
- 1,587
- 8
- Parrots
- Avery, a GCC born on March 5th, 2013 & Shiko, a blue IRN born on February 25th, 2014
I came home from work today and was ecstatic because my SO cleaned the place, did the laundry, and the bird cages were spotless. I went to go greet Shiko first, because he's the most demanding and chattery when I come home, and I was completely taken aback by Shiko's large patch of missing feathers on his head. It wasn't like that last night when I put him to bed.
I'm hoping someone more experienced with Ringnecks can tell me that IRN's always go through a heavy first moult, and that it's completely normal to be missing this many head feathers. Or to tell me that it's normal that when they scratch their head, fully developed feathers just plop out in large amounts. His wing moult didn't worry me, but the amount of feathers missing from his head are making me a bit concerned.
Shiko's droppings are normal, his behaviour is normal, his weight is deemed absolutely "perfect" by my avian vet, and he was considered in perfect condition just two weeks ago. He's active, eats, and drinks water. The only thing that's completely abnormal is the amount of feathers he's starting to lose around his head. It's exceptionally difficult to catch in photos, but here's what I got...
Here's how rough his head is right now:
The patch missing:
It's hard to capture just how much is missing, but it's enough that it gave me an absolute shock and I started crying because my first thought was PBFD. Now that I've calmed down, I realize I'm over analyzing his feather loss and that an experienced opinion would do my good before I go crying into the vet that my bird is dying from an incurable virus when in reality he's just having a hard moult. I'll be booking another vet appointment to have a blood test done anyways, but I'd love some input.
I'm hoping someone more experienced with Ringnecks can tell me that IRN's always go through a heavy first moult, and that it's completely normal to be missing this many head feathers. Or to tell me that it's normal that when they scratch their head, fully developed feathers just plop out in large amounts. His wing moult didn't worry me, but the amount of feathers missing from his head are making me a bit concerned.
Shiko's droppings are normal, his behaviour is normal, his weight is deemed absolutely "perfect" by my avian vet, and he was considered in perfect condition just two weeks ago. He's active, eats, and drinks water. The only thing that's completely abnormal is the amount of feathers he's starting to lose around his head. It's exceptionally difficult to catch in photos, but here's what I got...
Here's how rough his head is right now:
The patch missing:
It's hard to capture just how much is missing, but it's enough that it gave me an absolute shock and I started crying because my first thought was PBFD. Now that I've calmed down, I realize I'm over analyzing his feather loss and that an experienced opinion would do my good before I go crying into the vet that my bird is dying from an incurable virus when in reality he's just having a hard moult. I'll be booking another vet appointment to have a blood test done anyways, but I'd love some input.
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