Is my meyers molting or plucking?

[vlad86]

So recently Ive noticed my bird looks ruff around the neck...on the upper chest and behind the head. After cleaning out the cage today which I do every Sunday. I found about 10-15 small feathers mainly which had the down feather look towards the end. I dont really know if my bird is plucking its feathers or molting. Ive kept my eye on it and it always does some self cleaning everyday. Any advice to tell the difference?


Thanks
Vlad

 

[Auggie's Dad]

If you don't know then it's probably just molting. Plucking leaves bald spots.

 

[Spiritbird]

AD is correct. As long as you are seeing pin feathers coming in and not bald spots, chances are the bird isn't plucking, but it's VERY wise of you to want to catch it early rather than let it go on too long.

 

[antoinette]

AD and SB are both quite correct, you would certainly have noticed bald spots.
Sure sounds like molting.
Well done, being so observant..... keep it up

 

[vlad86]

sometimes i think im a little to observant lol ~

 

[vlad86]

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-

 

[vlad86]

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

By vlad1986 at 2010-05-31

 

[vlad86]

So I decided to take some pictures for you guys and see maybe you guys can tell me more if you think this is molting or plucking.....? For some reason Im just not convinced my bird is molting by the looks of it but I dont want to be tripping out and then have my doctor put me out $100.00 and say well your parrot is just molting so dont worry....anyways! these pictures were not ez to take lol ~ have my finger nearly taken off about 3 times

 

[Auggie's Dad]

It's hard to tell from those pictures - he certainly does look scruffy. I'm still inclined to suspect it is just a particularly rough molt.

What kind of food does he get? A good diet will help a lot either getting through a molt or preventing plucking and getting his feathers back in condition. Also there are some mist sprays of a dilute aloe solution that are really helpful. Sadly even if this is plucking (which I am not too suspicious of at the moment) there isn't a lot a vet can do except advise you on a healthy diet and give soothing (often aloe) sprays.

Occasionally plucking is a symptom of a disease which a vet can treat, but if there are no other signs or symptoms this would be a bit of a leap.

So, again, could you tell us about his diet, and we can go from there.

 

[vlad86]

Auggie,

When I purchased the bird all she was getting fed from the previous owners was sun flower seeds and seed mix that from my vet said was very unhealthy (to high in fat) . When I took it to the vet the vet told me to feed her a specific seed mix called Hookbill and these pellets called Dr.D's. Unfortunately the bird only picks and throws the pellets on to the bottom of its cage. As far as veggies and fruits go the bird is pretty picky because it seems that the previous owners rarely fed her those items. It will eat grapes and broccoli but everything else it seems very uninterested in and I need to spend about 15-20minutes waiving it in front of her till she actually attempts to even give it a try.

 

[Spiritbird]

Your birds pics. look somethng like my Rosie and she is definately molting. It is actually a long process as they start at the head and work down to the tail. Rosie started molting about 4 months ago and has alot of pin feathers around the neck and upper body. Complete molting takes a long time. One should increase the protein in the diet and give them 3 nutriberries a day according to my vet. Have you felt any pin feathers? I do not see any bald spots in your pics.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww26e.htm

 

[vlad86]

Spiritbird thats one thing I dont see. I dont see or feel any pin feathers.....I just see and feel insulation feathers. Another place this is happening is behind the birds the head. Ive also noticed the bird preens itself alot more then usual. Another odd thing is that I dont know if it matters is my bird has one really long feather on one of its wings that sprung up one day out of nowhere. Its on the outter part of the wing and its basically longer then any feather on both of its wings.

 

[vlad86]

Been a long time since Ive been on here. Anyways....I came on here because my bird was attacking its feathers out of the blue and I couldnt really figure out why. A lot of people said it was molting by the pictures but my bird had no pin feathers when this was happening and would spend most of the time preening itself or I would find it chewing its feathers. I did mention to people I took my bird once I bought it from previous owners to a local avian vet...basically the only one in Orange County, California that is just for birds (The BIRD Clinic - Bird Vet Dr. Larry Nemetz Avian Vet Orange CA Pet Birds). I decided this vet was credible after reading so much about the doctor on the website. Well long story short...when I went in there after a blood test he said the only problem with my bird is that its diet was to fatty and told me to purchase a seed mix & pellets (all natural, and the seed mix was only flack seeds) that he specifically designed and has stocked at the bird supply store he owns next door. Well sure enough I decided to go buy these (Cost about $50 for both and pellets looked like as they were for a rodent) Well when I put these in my birds cage it had no problem eating the flack seeds but it would not eat the pellets if its life depended on it. I didnt put much thought into this but about a month after I purchased and started feeding my bird these seeds and pellets the feather plucking and chewing began. Sure enough as time went by I ran out of these seeds and pellets....I read on the internet that changing the birds diet could cause my bird to do this but I was thinking more like changing its diet from seeds to pellets only. Well I went to a Petsmart and bought my bird a seed mix with all types of seeds, nuts & pellets. Sure enough after about a month or two I noticed my bird had stopped attacking itself and started to notice the holes it had created filling up. So now that my bird looks like a normal healthy bird again I really am wondering if my vet just tried to upsell his so called pellet and seed mix to me to make some extra money off me without considering that this could happen to my bird.A light bulb went off in my head especially when he told me he owned the bird supply store next door......anyways I felt I should share this and want to thank all the people that tried to help me out.

Vlad

 

[SharonC]

I'm glad it's worked out, Vlad. I actually recommend a varied diet...some seeds, some pellets, fresh fruits and veggies. I think a pellet only diet may cause the bird to become bored or unenthusiastic about it's food. With a variety, chances are it gets what it needs and enjoys it!

 

[ejeffay]

I'm sorry to hijack this persons thread and i know it's been a while since the last post but unfortunately im beleive my Myer Parrot "Humble" is infact plucking and not molting and its worrying me
His entire tail area (with the exception of 2 tail feathers) is now bare. I recently just got Humble from a friend who said that her new dog and Humble weren't getting along. And she said that the plucking was due to the startling dog.
I've looked into this a bit and the possibility of Humble being sexually frustrated came into play. I have a video of him doing unusual behaviour to which i think is related to him being sexually frustrated but am not sure of how to get it from my iphone to online for everyone to see but it involves him lowering his wings, starts regurgitating and sounds like he's giving mini-kisses

 

[Mandy60]

:41: He/she could be plucking because of boredom try changing it's toys or you can just take it to a certified vet for a diagnoses.

 

[ejeffay]

hmmm out of boredom, we have plenty of things in his cage to swing on and play with. But one thing i've noticed people mentioning are squeeze toys. I thought only larger parrots like African Grey would have a squeeze toy. As for taking him to a Vet, I've got him booked but im trying to do as much research on my own as i can. I'm going to upload a pic of his cage.

 

[ejeffay]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO_ZIF6RMH0"]video on behaviour[/ame]
pic of cage
Pic of bare parrot

 

[Pedro]

Yes he is doing what comes natural. But as far as the tail thing goes from what i can see in the video really needs a Vet to look at. To many feathers missing to be just molting.

Normally what i do with my Eclectus that wants to have his wicked way with my hand, is as soon as he gets that funny look in his eye i put him back on his stand. I never encourage that behavior. He now knows it's not acceptable so over time he has stopped.

Have you tried giving your bird a fruit & veggie salad, cut everything up in little pieces & make the platter as colorfull as possible. Also hang a kabab thingy with all colours of fruit & veg threaded on it. A lot of problems with our parrots is simply diet related. By giving our feathered friends a well balanced diet usually keeps them happy & healthy.

 

[ejeffay]

thank you for the suggestion, the Vet appointment is coming up but i'm willing to try this in the mean time. This is my first time owning a parrot and i've been trying to do as much as i can to learn as much as i can. I know this is off topic but i just wanted to confirm that Avocado is infact NOT good for parrots. Would you happen to know anything else that would fall under the same category?

Again i appreciate you're help and am in your debt.