15 month old molt... normal ??

[picklesandjesse]

Sonny is now 15 months old and has been losing the odd feather most days. They are being replaced on his tail and wings slowly. However, on his neck he's getting progressively balder, I keep waiting to see some pins coming in but so far nothing is happening. This started about 6 weeks ago in this area. He still has his fly outside each day for up to an hour and seems quite happy. I saw somewhere that sweet potato is good for feathers so he's offered that each day.
Can anyone tell me if I should panic please ?? trying not to at this stage. Thanks John

 

[Owlet]

Yuuup. It's what we call a 'mojo' molt. Rather common in eclectus, especially younger ones.

Though just to be sure; has he had any blood work done lately and what's his diet? Just to be sure it's not something more serious I would bring him in for a full blood panel and test for PBFD

I wouldn't offer sweet potato daily either, I have honestly never heard it's good for feathers?

 

[picklesandjesse]

He's never been to a vet yet. We live near a country town with no avian vet that I know about. Might make some inquiries if you think it could be serious. All the local birds that he flies with and sits in trees with seem healthy at the moment. I notice that some of the rainbows molt in the same way at times. I would hate to confine him to the house as he really enjoys his now daily flights in the wild. He sometimes chews branches and leaves on the trees around here.

Diet is, mixed sprouts, carrots, spinach, beets, snow peas, corn,broccoli,red and green peppers, asparagus stems,peas,beans,grapes, apples, bananas, paw paw, guavas, longans, grapefruit, cooked egg, chicken bones ( eats the marrow ), passion fruit, mandarins,Paradise pellets ( for Eccy's ) split mung beans, adzuki beans, macadamia nut, almonds etc ( not too many ) plain muesli, fish oil gel, rainbow lory wet mix, and sometimes food that we leave around by mistake as he's free in the house. We've learnt not to leave stuff around.There are probably some foods that I've missed here. And some of these are only in season.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Owlet nailed it with the mojo molt. If you don't see any pin feathers in the next couple of months, then a vet visit is warranted. Our little guy got pretty sparse around his head/neck when he was 12-16 months. I was so thankful when I saw little pin feathers coming up. Hard to judge at first if it's a mojo moult or a fungal skin problem or even a disease. It's really just a matter of keeping an eye to see if he's scratching there more than usual, double-checking to see if the feathers are clear versus bloody and if his skin looks inflamed or not, and making sure everything else seems normal.

Just fyi, I know Sonny loves free flying with the lorikeets, but it does mean he is at higher risk of disease from their population. Do keep a close on his health - any unusual behaviours (scratching more, sleeping more, less flying, etc) should be investigated.

My avian vet refuses to take any free-flying birds because they're a health risk. PBFD spreads too easily - you basically have to have an isolation ward and even then, the littlest of dander can easily be transferred via clothes or touch. And washing doesn't really kill it; F10 has a chance. And things like chlamydiosis - he can be a silent carrier until something like stress triggers it (my vet says it is possible that Cairo might have it since he was a free-flyer; if his mysterious illness comes back, we'll send a blood test over to Australia to confirm).

I'm not saying you should stop Sonny from free-flying. Definitely not. Am just saying you might have to be more vigilant than the average non-free-flying bird owner.

Long story short - don't panic (just yet)

Here's a link to some info about mojo molts.

 

[picklesandjesse]

Thanks for the info. I've found an avian vet a few hours drive away and sent the photos to her. Given all the details to her. He is a very happy bird and is eating, talking, flying etc as normal. I hope to hear something back maybe tomorrow.
His skin looks fine and his other feathers are good. The new ones are beautiful especially the ones on his tail, these are blue with green and yellow tips. He flies like a demon and was chased by a magpie the other day and lost him/her with no trouble. This was more for fun I think as he came back 30 seconds later and sat and talked on the roof but had no interest in flying to me..... he was having too much fun. he amazes me every day.
I've never had a bird like this and I've had birds for 40 years now. All my cockatoos that I had are back in the wild as I believe they should be in this country.
Sonny however belongs much further north, The woman that bred him has some that are free during the day and she said that they find food around here. He has come come back a couple of times with juice from berries on trees that he must see the other birds eating. I do get nervous when he's out though and enjoy the days when it's too windy or very wet as I keep him in those days, also when the resident wild birds spot a raptor, Sonny knows about them too.