Cockatiel feather problems??

[Halo&Nova]

Hi there,
I'm new to the Forum, I hope I'm doing this right haha. I have a 7 month old whiteface fallow cockatiel named Halo, she is a great eater and is full of energy but from the day I got her I noticed her feathers were very sparse! She has a bald spot on her head which is common in some mutations but she also has baldness on her legs and her feathers overall are very sparse to the point where you can see her skin sometimes...... she was tested for beak and feather disease and thankfully came back negative but I don't know what would be causing this sparseness. She has been molding on and off for a few months but she hasn't dropped any feathers for a while now.
If anyone has any idea im all ears!
Thanks

 

[Zoruace]

Hi there,
I'm new to the Forum, I hope I'm doing this right haha. I have a 7 month old whiteface fallow cockatiel named Halo, she is a great eater and is full of energy but from the day I got her I noticed her feathers were very sparse! She has a bald spot on her head which is common in some mutations but she also has baldness on her legs and her feathers overall are very sparse to the point where you can see her skin sometimes...... she was tested for beak and feather disease and thankfully came back negative but I don't know what would be causing this sparseness. She has been molding on and off for a few months but she hasn't dropped any feathers for a while now.
If anyone has any idea im all ears!
Thanks
View attachment 34646View attachment 34647View attachment 34648View attachment 34649

Hello and welcome!
Pretty bird must i say!
My Tiel also has some bald spots (chest, some in her wings..) but I’ve never seen a Tiel that lacks THAT much feathers..
Ill be honest i was gonna say PBFD but she is already tested negative..
Im afraid i cant help much 🙁..

 

[Halo&Nova]

Hello and welcome!
Pretty bird must i say!
My Tiel also has some bald spots (chest, some in her wings..) but I’ve never seen a Tiel that lacks THAT much feathers..
Ill be honest i was gonna say PBFD but she is already tested negative..
Im afraid i cant help much 🙁..

Thank you for your reply! Yeah I was very worried about PBFD so that was the first thing we tested, you could imagine my relief when the test came back negative especially because she isn't my only tiel.
Thanks again 😊

 

[texsize]

It looks to me like she is almost completely lacking in down feathers. The small fluffy feathers that are underneath the main plumage.
never seen that before and I would be concerned about her ability to retain body temperature.
Perhaps some kind of avian heater could be added to her cage.

sorry I can’t be more help.

 

[Halo&Nova]

It looks to me like she is almost completely lacking in down feathers. The small fluffy feathers that are underneath the main plumage.
never seen that before and I would be concerned about her ability to retain body temperature.
Perhaps some kind of avian heater could be added to her cage.

sorry I can’t be more help.

Thank you for your reply, yes she is definitely lacking almost all her down feathers on her neck area, that's the main spot where she's sparse.... she did have some at one point, but she molted them out.....
the rest of her body is pretty covered.
Thanks for the heater suggestion, I make sure to keep their rooms temperature consistent especially because of halos nakedness haha.

 

[Owlet]

Any chance she was plucked by her parents?

 

[Halo&Nova]

Any chance she was plucked by her parents?

I asked the breeder I got her from and they said that she wasn't plucked.... but I think she might have been because when I first brought her home I noticed a small patch growing in on her chest, this was when she was 3 months

 

[Laurasea]

I know you had a negative PBFD test....but that's what I'd be worried about.....as down feathers can be first to go, and it's a disease found a little more frequently in cockatiel ......


But maybe this linked with this mutations

 

[Halo&Nova]

I know you had a negative PBFD test....but that's what I'd be worried about.....as down feathers can be first to go, and it's a disease found a little more frequently in cockatiel ......


But maybe this linked with this mutations

Thank you for your reply,
Yeah I am a bit worried about it too, if things start to get worse ill definitely get another test done, especially since I have another cockatiel.... but when I took her to the vet they said she might just be developing a little slower because of her mutation.

 

[HeatherG]

I am also wondering if the feathering problem is related to her albinism or inbreeding. I know there are feather changes related to inbreeding that can occur in budgies and canaries. Cockatiels have not been managed as long but perhaps this comes up in them as well.

 

[Halo&Nova]

I am also wondering if the feathering problem is related to her albinism or inbreeding. I know there are feather changes related to inbreeding that can occur in budgies and canaries. Cockatiels have not been managed as long but perhaps this comes up in them as well.

Thank you for your reply!

Yeah I was suspecting that maybe it was a genetic issue aswell.... but she also came to me on a seed diet so it could also be vitamin deficiency, I spoke to an avian vet and she suggested it could be a vitamin A and or calcium deficiency, so ill definitely get her levels checked to see if that has anything to do with it

 

[Owlet]

It might be genetics but I don't believe its due to being albino, i cannot find anything about albinos having sparse feathers like that.

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

Hi there,
I'm new to the Forum, I hope I'm doing this right haha. I have a 7 month old whiteface fallow cockatiel named Halo, she is a great eater and is full of energy but from the day I got her I noticed her feathers were very sparse! She has a bald spot on her head which is common in some mutations but she also has baldness on her legs and her feathers overall are very sparse to the point where you can see her skin sometimes...... she was tested for beak and feather disease and thankfully came back negative but I don't know what would be causing this sparseness. She has been molding on and off for a few months but she hasn't dropped any feathers for a while now.
If anyone has any idea im all ears!
Thanks
View attachment 34646View attachment 34647View attachment 34648View attachment 34649

One thing I may mention?

That color is super hard to see in dark mode, please stick to the normal text that changes automatically.

I'm really sorry about your tiel, I hope you find answers

 

[Halo&Nova]

It might be genetics but I don't believe its due to being albino, i cannot find anything about albinos having sparse feathers like that.

Yeah I haven't been able to find any info about albinos and feather issues too.... I spoke to an avian vet and she said its most likely not related to her being albino which is good.

 

[Halo&Nova]

One thing I may mention?

That color is super hard to see in dark mode, please stick to the normal text that changes automatically.

I'm really sorry about your tiel, I hope you find answers

Thank you 😊

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

Thank you 😊

You're very welcome!

 

[HeatherG]

Yeah I haven't been able to find any info about albinos and feather issues too.... I spoke to an avian vet and she said its most likely not related to her being albino which is good.

I just mean that birds can be inbred to get special colors and sometimes then feathering problems can get passed on. But I really can’t say much because I don’t see the bird very well on my phone and of course it needs to be professionally checked to get a better idea.

 

[Halo&Nova]

I just mean that birds can be inbred to get special colors and sometimes then feathering problems can get passed on. But I really can’t say much because I don’t see the bird very well on my phone and of course it needs to be professionally checked to get a better idea.

Yeah that would make sense, she is going through a heavy molt at the moment so we'll see how her feathers look once her molt is over..... hopefully there is an improvement 😊