Budgie ruining tail and wing feathers...?

[Astrixs]

Hi there. I got a new budgie roughly 3 weeks ago now and unfortunately in the time we've had him the poor little guy has started snapping and pulling at his wing and tail feathers. Ezio is a young aviary bird that we bought from a local pet shop who showed no signs of plucking or anything like so when we got him.

The first week we had him there were no issues besides he would seemingly try to escape from time to time but around the second week he started pulling at and snapping his tail feathers. When we initially noticed this we figured maybe he was stressed because we had taken him from a cage filled with budgies and put him by himself so we bought a second budgie, a female named Aveline from the same place hoping she would help the situation but sadly he's started pulling at and snapping his wing feathers now too. Aveline has been perfect, she hasn't showed any signs of being stressed and even sings in the mornings now more frequently but poor little ezio really doesn't seem happy. They have a large cage with natural and store bought perches, a couple rope toys, wood toys, bridges and ground toys, they get fresh fruit everyday even though they haven't seemed to take much interest in it as well as they get millet and a budgie seed mix daily.. We really don't know what to do to help the poor little guy and everyone feels awful!

We have a rainbow lorikeet who we've owned for nearly 2 years now and the only real problem we've had with her is a bit of biting but she's handraised and out of her cage more than she is in it so this is all new territory for me aha. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a bunch - Danni

 

[noodles123]

One thing I would suggest is limiting fruit and adding a pellet to his diet--- a healthy (non-fortified seed-mix can be mixed in with the pellets).
Vegetables and fruit are important, but fruit contains a ton of sugar and can cause issues when given in excess.
Is he sleeping at least 10 hours nightly?

 

[Astrixs]

I can definitely limit the fruit and veg and introduce pellets into their diet, it certainly can't hurt. I wouldn't say they necessarily get too much fruit as everytime I give them any they totally ignore that it's there, I've not actually seen them eat any since I got them because they just haven't seemed to have had much of that before.. I'll certainly make sure I'm keeping an eye on overdoing it with the fruit when it comes to all of my birds in the future though so I do appreciate that! He sleeps roughly 12 hours? We cover our birds up at about 7:30pm and uncover them at about 8am but they're usually making noise on and off at around 7am. Sadly once they're up ezio spends the rest of his day on and off trying to escape and pulling at his feathers....

 

[Laurasea]

Budgie can have PBFD and it affects their wings and tails. I have a link to an article that talks about this , I will look for it. I would be worried about that. As it's very rare for a budgie to pluck... Can you post a picture?

 

[Astrixs]

I've never actually owned budgies before now so I've never even heard of that.. I would really appreciate it if you could find it but I'll make an effort to find out more on that subject myself as it's very clearly something I should know about anyway so if you can't it's not a problem.. we're all awfully worried but at this point it's a case of how can we help the poor little guy, we've never seen anything like it before. He doesn't even seem to be pulling his feathers out but just totally snapping them off. I'll open their cages up in 5 and post any before and after pictures I do have and whatever new ones i take.. Thanks!

 

[noodles123]

I had my cockatoo tested for PBFD about 2 years abo--it's a blood test. If he has it, your other bird likely has it as well (but they can be lifelong carriers and never develop symptoms in certain cases).

 

[Astrixs]

So I've taken some pictures and after looking at the before and after shots I'm appalled... I like to think we look after our birds quite well and I can't for the life of me get what has gone so wrong but it's heartbreaking.. first pic is the day we got him the 29th of December and the second and third are from today, the difference between pics is astounding..

 

[noodles123]

Have you had him tested for PDD or PBFD?

 

[Astrixs]

We haven't even had him 3 weeks yet.. I guess that's something we should have instantly done but ezio is my first personal bird and I guess I just didn't even think to get him tested as I assumed everything was fine at first.. ezio was an early 17th birthday present so I'm trying to figure these things out as I go, i just don't have the experience. The pet shop we got him from couldn't even give us his age so all we really know is he's a young budgie and that's kind of that....

 

[Laurasea]

Here is an article. I'm not sure if the one I read before. BTW your Budgie are so beautiful.
Please keep them in a different room from your other parrot, wash and change clothes before going from the Budgies to your other bird.
I hope PBFD is not the case. But budgie seem to be able to handle this infection better than other species, and often recover but remain carriers that can infect other birds, and those could perish from the disease. Sorry to talk about scary stuff!! It's good to have the information though, and get them checked.
Parrot Beak and Feather Disease in Budgerigars

 

[Laurasea]

So I've taken some pictures and after looking at the before and after shots I'm appalled... I like to think we look after our birds quite well and I can't for the life of me get what has gone so wrong but it's heartbreaking.. first pic is the day we got him the 29th of December and the second and third are from today, the difference between pics is astounding..

U
View attachment 23547 View attachment 23548 View attachment 23549

It is a big difference. Do you see him destroying his feathers?
Are there other pets like cats that could be stressing him?
Do you have more than the dowel in the cage for him to perch in? Dowels long term are hard in their feet, they need perches that vesry in size diameter, some thick so feet are almost flat, and then some that 3)4 of the toes curl around.
Where is the cage placed. And what is the diet? I have link on stress in parrots that I will get for you, incase this is feather destructive behavior. What a situation,, definitely get checked by an avain vet as well. .. something us going on.
The previous page I have the li k in PBFD,
Here is the link on stress in parrots.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

 

[Astrixs]

Thank you so much! They're awfully pretty I do agree. I'll read over the article and we'll really have to get them tested as soon as possible. I briefly looked over the symptoms and such and they dont appear to have many of them at all. That doesn't mean very much at all but none of his feathers are falling out or anything so fingers crossed that just isn't it.. Thank you so so much for the advice, my budgies cage has been sitting directly next to my lorikeets cage for the last few days but before then they had been separate. I'm sad that this is the direction we have to go in but if that's what needs to be done until things get figured out than you know.. I really hope that isn't it for the sake of our birds.

 

[Laurasea]

PBFD can make the feather shaft very brittle, so when they preen it breaks off. But like you I very much hope that isn't what's going on. Good luck honey!

 

[Astrixs]

So I've taken some pictures and after looking at the before and after shots I'm appalled... I like to think we look after our birds quite well and I can't for the life of me get what has gone so wrong but it's heartbreaking.. first pic is the day we got him the 29th of December and the second and third are from today, the difference between pics is astounding..

U
View attachment 23547 View attachment 23548 View attachment 23549

It is a big difference. Do you see him destroying his feathers?
Are there other pets like cats that could be stressing him?
Do you have more than the dowel in the cage for him to perch in? Dowels long term are hard in their feet, they need perches that vesry in size diameter, some thick so feet are almost flat, and then some that 3)4 of the toes curl around.
Where is the cage placed. And what is the diet? I have link on stress in parrots that I will get for you, incase this is feather destructive behavior. What a situation,, definitely get checked by an avain vet as well. .. something us going on.
The previous page I have the li k in PBFD,
Here is the link on stress in parrots.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

He sits in his cage on and off everyday just pulling at them and literally trying to snap them, everyone's seen it. We have two dogs but they don't come anywhere near the birds as they stay outside so it isn't that. They have a couple of natural perches as well as the dowels you see, so there's probably 3 different sized perches in there? The cage is upstairs placed against a window next to our glass doors so they get lots of light and can see outside. Whenever they like. They usually just eat a budgie seed mix and they really like blocks of millet but otherwise we can't get them to try anything else, they get fruit and vegetables daily that they show no interest in and we tried them with some millet sprays but they don't seem to want to try those either.. I'll read over the article and hopefully that will help.. we figured maybe he was bored so we changed some of the toysin there since I don't often see them touch them but no change..

 

[Astrixs]

PBFD can make the feather shaft very brittle, so when they preen it breaks off. But like you I very much hope that isn't what's going on. Good luck honey!

That makes much more sense! Thank you so much for your help xo

 

[Astrixs]

Not the best pictures but this is what he does..

 

[Laurasea]

That second one really looks like he is trying to pull it out!!! What the heck?;?! Perhaps he was part of a bonded pair, and is devistated to be torn from her???? Can you ask at the store if they rember him being part of a pair?????
Try the soothing music. Still see a vet, there can be a medical reason still..... It's just so rare for Budgie to becime that feather destructive so fast..

 

[Laurasea]

I found this , even though it was talking about a cockatiel. I would really and see if his mate is at the store, I'm seeing that as a real possibility!
Feather Plucking
Cockatiels pluck feathers from boredom or illness, and they can begin doing it out of loneliness. This activity is common in birds mourning the loss of a mate or companion bird and can become a permanent problem. It's known as "psychological feather plucking." If your grieving cockatiel begins to pluck his feathers, he is desperate for more attention, affection and activity. You must provide these to keep him active and content until he is past his mourning period. While you can introduce another bird to keep him company, cockatiels often bond for life, so your surviving one may have nothing to do with a new cage mate. Give your friend the additional attention he craves, stroking and talking to him and having him out with the family. Make sure he has plenty of things to occupy him in his cage -- add new toys or treats frequently during this time.

 

[Astrixs]

Okay so that is an awfully good suggestion.. I'll find the number for the pet shop and give them a call because I'm really at a loss at this point. Both ezio and aveline have been getting friendly as they sleep next to each other now and they often sit with each other but I haven't really heard them seriously talking to each other. I've been trying to talk to them and get them friendly with me and I've had ezio eat off of my hand twice now but in general they keep to themselves.. I will say I have noticed that a few times he's been perching and he's seen me come into the room and has instantly started plucking, it's awful...

 

[Laurasea]

Thanks for the great pictures. I'm really thinking he has a mate, and I hope so much you can get her!!! Did you remember him sittig next to another bird?? They would have stayed close. Oh please let her still be there!!! I could be wrong...but he us an adult male, I feel so strongly this is the answer,!!! Fingers crossed!!!