Lovie bald spots

[mauvelia]

Hello guys. I'm new to the forum and I only joined because I'm worried about my lovie, Lucas. Lucas moulted for the first time this summer and soon revealed some feather loss at the belly. I naturally thought it was usual during moulting but the bald spot got worse and expanded even now in november, and just today I noticed Lucas developed a small bald patch under his eye as pictures show. I'm extremely concerned and I'm seeing a vet soon but can someone help me? I'm pretty sure he doesn't pluck and he doesn't seem sick, he plays around and is very active. Could it be malnutrition since he hates veggies and fruits? Are the feathers growing again? I'm so sad and worried Thank you! https://imgur.com/rrxDdKo https://imgur.com/d6hgSjk

 

[noodles123]

Have you tested for PBFD?
How old is he?

 

[mauvelia]

Have you tested for PBFD?
How old is he?

he's around seven months old and no, I am not familiar with diseases can you explain?

 

[noodles123]

I am not a vet, so don't assume I am correct...Based on age etc,I do wonder about PBFD, but that is not the only possibility.



It is a virus that gets progressively worse with each molt. It can be deadly for some birds and not for others, but if a bird has it, they can spread it to others in an asymptomatic way. It messes with their cells and leads to failures in feather re-growth and beak formation...it isn't always symptomatic, but it is very contagious. I would get your bird tested. There are chronic and acute forms, but once a carrier,always a carrier. The virus cannot be eliminated via standard cleaners (as these are dangerous and ineffective). It stays active on surfaces for a long time...and it is shed mother to child, as well as via poop, spit and airborne feather dust.

 

[mauvelia]

I am not a vet, so don't assume I am correct...Based on age etc,I do wonder about PBFD, but that is not the only possibility.



It is a virus that gets progressively worse with each molt. It can be deadly for some birds and not for others, but if a bird has it, they can spread it to others in an asymptomatic way. It messes with their cells and leads to failures in feather re-growth and beak formation...it isn't always symptomatic, but it is very contagious. I would get your bird tested. There are chronic and acute forms, but once a carrier,always a carrier.

oh god I hope it's not something that serious... I searched and I want to believe it isn't that cause I have other birds around him and they don't show these symptoms... I'm checking a vet asap but I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, this seems like it's getting worse...

 

[Owlet]

pbfd is also short for parrot beak and feather disease if I'm not wrong. But yeah it's an immune disorder if I remember correctly and birds that have it a very supseptible to becoming ill and eventually lose all their feathers. This is Rhea, a popular lovebird that was affected by it that passed sometime ago.

 

[Owlet]

When you contact the vet (and make sure it's a CAV) make them fully aware of your concerns for PFBD! It wouldn't be a good idea go bring a possible carrier for the disease into a clinic as it's an EXTREMELY contagious disease. The vet would likely be able to set up an alternative to testing the bird outside of the clinic. Hopefully.

 

[noodles123]

I am not trying to scare you. It is just a very insidious illness, as a large percentage of captive parrots are carriers. This means that boarding etc is very risky. The reasons why some birds show symptoms and other do not, are largely unknown. That having been said, the incubation window is huge, so a bird could take a fews days to up to 10+ years to show symptoms (if ever)..

 

[mauvelia]

When you contact the vet (and make sure it's a CAV) make them fully aware of your concerns for PFBD! It wouldn't be a good idea go bring a possible carrier for the disease into a clinic as it's an EXTREMELY contagious disease. The vet would likely be able to set up an alternative to testing the bird outside of the clinic. Hopefully.

will do! I'm definitely doing the test and hoping for the best... I don't know what I'll do if it turns out to be PFBD, I thought it could be something less deadly and serious but thank you so much for the help

 

[ChristaNL]

Get him/her to a CAV - this onesided featherloss is weird.

 

[noodles123]

Again-- it may not be, but if it is, you must be very cautious about transmission via your home/your bird etc.

 

[EllenD]

I agree that you need to get a full, routine blood-panel done on your Love Bird, and make sure that you request that they add the PBFD test to the routine blood-work panel, as it's not part of it. The reason you want to get an entire routine blood-panel done is because #1) They are going to have to take blood to do the PBFD test anyway, and #2) This way you'll also be able to rule-out things like an infection, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. It will also show if it's related to malnutrition or a deficiency of some kind. So you can find all of that out at one time if you get the full blood-panel done and add the PBFD test to it...

It is odd the way the feather loss is only on one side and not the other, typically they molt bi-laterally, but the one good thing I can see from the photo is that she does already have some pin-feathers growing back in in the bald area, so that means that she is growing some feathers back already. So this is a good thing...

Try not to stress-out, I know it's hard but your bird can sense that you're stressed, and then that stresses her out too...PBFD is always something that needs to be checked for any time there is a feather issue of any kind, but it's not the most-common reason of issues like this at all. It could be something as simple as a Fungal/Yeast or Bacterial Infection, or some type of parasite. So no need to rush to the absolutely worst-case scenario just yet at all...Many possibilities here...And if her only symptom is the feather loss and she's not acting sick otherwise, like she's not sleeping more than usual, she's not lethargic, she's not vomiting, has no runny/watery droppings, isn't coughing or wheezing, and is still eating normally, then that's good too...

If you need help finding the closest Certified Avian Vet to you we can help you with that too...You don't want to take a bird with a potential serious issue to an Exotics Vet, you need to find a CAV or Avian Specialist for this...