Is this a massive molt?

Flboy

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My JoJo looks like he swallowed a firecracker! Eating well, everything normal, flying and bathing as usual! He is 6 years old and I have never seen this before! In Googling photos of molts, he looks similar, a mess of fluff!
 

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sannwi

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My JoJo looks like he swallowed a firecracker! Eating well, everything normal, flying and bathing as usual! He is 6 years old and I have never seen this before!
Looks like it to me, but you may want to just take him to the vet for good measure [emoji106][emoji178]

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LordTriggs

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His cage must look like a parrot exploded!

taking a quick look at google that molt (if it is) looks particularly heavy.

Being this is new for him to be molting like this and with the way his wing looks disheveled with the down poking through his flights I'd opt for a check-up, the only thing it can hurt is your wallet. Or maybe ask if your vet can look at the pictures if you email them? That way you can hopefully get an answer from the source and not need to fork out for what could be nothing.

Also always check the lost feathers to see if they've been barbered or plucked instead of coming out on their own
 

EllenD

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How long did it take him to look like this? If you haven't seen him plucking/over-preening then it probably is just a really massive molt (my Quaker is going through one too right now, she looks like one of the birds I see in the rescue who has been outside for a month, lol), but I'd still take him to your CAV just to be sure...it's definitely a large molt, but it is the season for it....
 
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Flboy

Flboy

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How long did it take him to look like this? If you haven't seen him plucking/over-preening then it probably is just a really massive molt (my Quaker is going through one too right now, she looks like one of the birds I see in the rescue who has been outside for a month, lol), but I'd still take him to your CAV just to be sure...it's definitely a large molt, but it is the season for it....

Definitely not plucking, about a week or a little longer!
 

EllenD

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Sure looks like it JoJo is gonna be exquisite once the molt is completed!

Right? Sometimes I actually wish that my birds would go through a molt like this, specifically my Quaker. I don't know why, but every Quaker I've known/seen multiple times have all looked pretty scruffy at some points. They just have a tendency to look ratty, and they have a huge amount of down underneath their actual feathers, more-so than most other parrots. So I wish she would just do one of these massive-molts every year, then she'd probably look much better, longer.

If Jo-Jo has only been like this for a week, and you've not seen him plucking/over-preening at all, I'd absolutely get him to your CAV and see what they think, because that's an awful lot of feathers to lose so suddenly and so quickly like that. Even when they molt normally they don't drop their feathers that quickly, and it looks like Jo-Jo has actually lost most of his outer feathers, and has almost all-down showing...So you want to make sure that he doesn't have some type of parasite, like some type of mite, such as feather-mites, scabies, etc. There are a ton of things that can cause their feathers to fall out, but usually they don't all just fall out in as short a period of time as a week...So it's best to just make sure that he's okay...

He also might be a bit cold without most of his outer feathers, so be sure to watch for him shivering/shaking or trying to "fluff-up" what he has left, as you might have to turn your heat on or up, or at least cover his cage at night if you don't already...
 

EllenD

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Hey, can he still fly? It looks like he still has most of his primary-flights, but all of the outer feathers on his chest/belly are gone, most of the feathers on his back are gone, and a lot of the secondaries and most of the smaller feathers on his wings are gone, plus the ones on his head...I just looked at those photos again, and actually now that you said this has all happened in the span of only a week, that's a bit scary...How old is JoJo?
 

Laurasea

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Flyboy, I've never seen anything like that in my GCC abd I have had them for 17 years... My rescue Quaker picks her feathers but I never catch her at, she seems to do it after lights out... I think you are right to be worried, it is unusual
 

SailBoat

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Most of North America's Parrots will likely have extensive molts this year. The hot Summer has foretold this event as our Parrots have lost downy and body feathers near all Summer long. As we transition into Fall weather and more importantly temperatures, new feathers are coming in.

As Scott stated: "Sure looks like it, JoJo is gonna be exquisite once the molt is completed." And, that will be true for the majority of healthy Parrots this Fall.
 
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Flboy

Flboy

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Hey, can he still fly? It looks like he still has most of his primary-flights, but all of the outer feathers on his chest/belly are gone, most of the feathers on his back are gone, and a lot of the secondaries and most of the smaller feathers on his wings are gone, plus the ones on his head...I just looked at those photos again, and actually now that you said this has all happened in the span of only a week, that's a bit scary...How old is JoJo?

Now I am scared! He isn’t loosing feathers! This fluff is over his feathers! Even belly, under fluff is his normal growth! Nothing falling off! He is 6 years old!
Calling our vet in the AM!
 
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Inger

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Good call. Please keep us posted.


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LaManuka

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What a very worrying (and a little bizarre) situation.

I'm sending lots of positive vibes your way Flboy and JoJo and hopes for a full recovery from whatever this is, I know how worried you must be for him!
 

ChristaNL

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I am still going with extreme molting.
(innocent untill proven guilty etc.etc.)


Sunny does not really count: being selfbarbering almost plucker- but her head is a mass of pinfeathers atm where they outnumber the usual feathers at least 2:1 and maybe even 4:1 in spots.
And I know she is disease free (according to all recent tests anyway) and that combined with the news that more and more northern hemisphere birds go through the same heavy molting ...


I laughed so much at "swallowed a firecracker" -> the feathers may be flying, your sense of humor is intact!
 

EllenD

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Ohhhhh....So he hasn't actually dropped any feathers at all? This is just his down feathers growing out OVER his feathers? Wow, that's a new one. I can honestly say that I've never once heard of that or seen it.

Could just be that since it's molting season his down has decided to "grow out", and it just needs to come out, kind of like the "undercoats" on some dogs (Australian Cattle Dogs do this once yearly, they get a fluffy coat of what could be called "down" under their actual fur, and you can literally pull it out in huge clumps and it doesn't bother them; I have balls of it floating everywhere and stuck to everything all over the house)...

This is interesting...I've not ever seen it in any bird/parrot, not in any of the Green Cheeks I've bred or that my mom bred or the older breeders...But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Interesting actually...I'm voting for it's just JoJo dumping his old down all at once...(I apologize, I didn't realize that he actually had all of his outer feathers underneath all of that down, lol).
 

Laurasea

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Keep us updated, sorry for the weirdness!? I've never seen this in mine for sure. We had big momts here recently, and saw nothing like that .
 

LordTriggs

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how strange, it could very well be him pushing his down feathers out all at once (get ready for the downy feather explosion!)

All I can say is don't panic yet, he's still being himself and being playful. A quick inspection by the vet and I'm sure you'll have an answer, try not to panic unless the vet gives you reason to!
 
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Flboy

Flboy

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Our appointment is for 3:45 E today.
I have stumbled across a possible external cause, but do not want to speculate beforehand!
He just took a bath, and I can see skin under the fluff! A good 50% of his feathers have blackened around the edges!
This black is is a new development! It wasn’t in the photos I posted the other day!
 
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LordTriggs

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how interesting, that could be a key sympton of whatever is going on with him to solve this mystery

appendages crossed the vet gives him an all clear
 

ChristaNL

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Keeping fingers (and toes crossed) for you.

Suddenly chancing colours make me a bit nervous.
(He being a bird and not a cameleon.)

Really interested in your CAV's diagnoses.
 

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