Is this normal?

[NightScream84]

Hello, fellow parrot people, I have an almost 10-month-old dusky conure which seems to be starting his first molt a few feathers have fell to the bottom of his cage but something has me concerned. When he preens himself individual barbules are coming off, and it looks like a bunch of eyelashes when they fall on a white surface. Is it normal for molting feathers to do that before falling out? He seems to be healthy still, his droppings look normal he's still eating and drinking normally and he seems very happy and wants to spend time with me still the same as he did before he started molting. But I know birds also do there best to hide illness until it's too late. Any information would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[Flboy]

Hi! Bumping you back into the daylight!

 

[Laurasea]

Can you attached a picture of this? You can click the go advanced button under the text box, then paperclip. They will the attached under the text box when you post as thumbnail, whish we can enlarge.

Also buy a digital kitchen scale at Walmart that can weigh in grams. Under 20 bucks I think. Then you can out your bird right on to weigh, or put something for your bird to perch on and zero it out and then weigh. I use a little square glass dish that they can perch on the edge of. Start tracking weight of you bird and keep it in a notebook. Weight trends are a great way to catch problems!! Try and weigh at the same time if day each time, and there are some normal fluctuating of a few grams. For my GCC and Quakers it's about a 2- 4 gram fluctuating. Butt it's usually right on the money.

For molting birds , my opinion , and based on some research I've done, they need more protein during molts and a slight bump in calories. I use scrambled or boiled eggs, a tiny amount of boiled chicken or well cooked plain chicken, and some nuts, and a few extra seeds during this time. Last year I took my birds to the vets during molts because I thought they looked patchy, and crappy. The vet said they were fine, and healthy. I didn't except this. I never see wild birds looking patchy or what not. So this year after realize the need for protein I made the changes I talked about. What a difference!!!!! They molted faster, they looked fantastic, nevery patchy, they were not cranky! And when they finished they had the best featheres .

Also increase baths, and misting.

 

[Scott]

A pic, as Laura suggested, would be worth a thousand words. If your questions are not satisfactorily answered, a well-check with a certified avian vet would be informative and hopefully comforting.

 

[noodles123]

Face-value, it sounds like he is barbering his feathers but without a picture it is hard to know..The who eye-lash comparison is what makes me thinks he is chewing them, but if he is, the "why" could be nutritional, behavioral or something else.
Again, could just be a molt, but a picture would be very helpful.

 

[NightScream84]

Sorry about the delayed response further research on my own part has me thinking it's feather shredding I've been paying much closer attention to when he is preening and he makes a quite loud grinding noise with his beak... And as a couple suggested to do here are a few pictures. Also, he's on a pellet diet which has a high amount of protein it's Roudybush Daily Maintenance brand, though I'm going to get these for him instead https://birdtricksstore.com/products/all-natural-parrot-pellets as they look to be better ingredients and whatnot and that's saying a lot as I thought Roudybush was a good brand which it still is though I feel the birdtricks ones are better. Anyways I digress, I give him millet spray fairly often as well as it's his favorite treat he's a picky eater otherwise. I do try to get him to eat steamed vegetables and fruit as much as possible. Sometimes he eats them, other times he's reluctant it could be hormones because of his age. I didn't get him right when he was weaned as I wasn't looking for a parrot at the time. I got him in October and he was hatched in March. Which is probably part of the reason I'm having trouble getting him to eat more foods. They had him on the pellet diet ever since he was weaned. If needed I'll get a few pictures of some individual feathers he let's me lift them on his wings some and they do look fairly chewed I hope this is just a one-time thing. Anyways on a final note for this post I got him from a parrot shop that also breeds them. Need anything else let me know and thanks for the replies so far.

 

[noodles123]

As a safety precaution, I would take him to the vet and get a CBC and possible vitamin panel if he hasn't had either in the past. Definitely the CBC because they should have those at his age anyway...1x every 1-3 years depending on the bird.

If you are even wondering about hormones, make sure he has NO access to huts, tents, boxes, or shadowy spaces (in or around the cage), hollow toys that he can fit his head in, under furniture etc. Even if you don't think it is hormones, this advice is all important for preventing them in adult birds.
No petting anywhere other than the head or neck.
12 hours solid sleep at roughly the same time nightly (on a light/dark schedule)
Lots of time out of cage and plenty of toys (that he actually plays with).
Foods high in salt/preservatives etc can also cause feather/behavior issues.
No access to nesting-types of materials (piles of paper, piles of fabric etc)

In terms of other things---check humidity in your home and shoot as close to 55% as you can without going over that. Vet told me not to let it go below 35.
Make sure you aren't using any scented products/lotions that could be getting onto his feathers.
Try to bathe him a few times a week if he isn't too scared---don't do it if it scares him, but you can try misting him lightly (not in the face) with clean water as a bath substitute. Do keep him away from drafts after and make sure he is always totally dry before covering at night.

 

[Laurasea]

Definitely not normal looking feathers. Probably overpreening feather destructive behavior.. always good to start of with a health check as mentioned above.

On veggie, you don't have to steam them, give them a good wash and serve fresh. Chili peppers, and other peppered are well liked by the conure species, it's part of their diet in the wild. Eat the veggies in front of him, and share with him. Spread them out in a large shallow dish , like a casserole or serving dish do he can see them and pick at them. Don't give up on veggies and leafy greens!!

I like TOPS too, it's a great pellet brand.

How long have the featheres looked like this?

 

[NightScream84]

He only started doing this about 2 or 3 weeks ago I've had him since October 11th. There was no change in the day to day activities that would or should have caused it I've stuck to a strict routine since day one with him. Also, this is my 2nd conure my first one died earlier this year I had that one since it was a little over 10 weeks old he was 10 1/2 years old and the cause of death was a heart attack and I never had any kind of issues like this with him but I know every bird is unique. Anyway besides the feather shredding, he's still acting the same otherwise completely nonaggressive, he still wants to hang out with me the same amount. He just all the sudden decided to start doing this it's the only change that's happened. From the information I read about this kind of stuff is it's very hard to pinpoint the cause as there are literally no experts on the matter and there really needs to be even vet's can only guess as to why. There is a few approaches that various people tried that worked for some but not for others and I'm going to try some of those. And I had already planned a vet visit before this even starting happening so that will be done as well.

 

[Laurasea]

Yes you have a good grasp of the challenges of feather destructive behavior.... I'm glad you are starting with a vet, as there can be health causes.

I rescued a feather picker, so into have read lots of articles. I took her to the vet first. My vet recommendation was 15 miniuts outside ( travel cage) in light shade when weather permits, to aim for 6 hours of out the cage time , more when possible, improve diet, fluffy paper toys to redirect.

She has improved, is less obsessive, stopped mutilating her toes. She had stopped and started many times in the year and half I've had her. Recently her feathers had almost all grown back, but ..... She started again..

It seems that hand raising, improper weaning, not learning to fly, and then individual more sensitive to stress plays a big role. And ofcourse the basics, large cage, exercise, intellectual stimulations, good diet, out if the cage time, social interaction.

I have an article on stress in parrots, I link it a bunch because I really like it. Except for the clicker training section, I just say good birdie instead if clicking.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

I hope you will share what your vet had to say. And your action plan in dealing with the behavior.. it certainly is a challenging issue...