Moulting constantly.

Cagzo

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One Pineapple Conure.
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Connie is moulting far more than she should.
Lots of pins round the back of her neck.
Her diet is Zupreem Fruit Blend flavour, also a daily chop of fresh and dried fruit,she refuses to eat veg except carrots.
She also has a mixed seed,called "Australian" she just eats this occasionally .

Will spraying her with warm water help?
 

saxguy64

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Thing is, some molts will be heavier than others. Are you seeing bald patches at all, or just lots of pins? Good news is, pins mean whatever is being molted out is being replaced. Never a bad idea to consult with your vet to rule out underlying issues.

I would personally consider weaning off the zupreme fruity stuff to something of better quality. Lots of birds like it. Yeah, it must taste good to them, but it's kinda like birdie junk food. You might also try mixing veggies in the chop and chopping it up much finer so there's less chance of just tossing things she doesn't want to try. Sometimes that helps. Of course, in my case, my two won't touch anything chopped up fine. Has to be big chunks or they ignore it. :( I keep trying though.

How often does Connie bathe? Spray/mist baths count too. Some prefer that, some like to dive into a water bowl. It's an individual thing. Mine love to come in the shower with me on a shower perch to get the spray that bounces off my shoulders. They don't want direct spray, and have never shown interest in bowls, dishes, or pans of water. They don't much care for spray bottles, but tolerate it in a pinch. Anyway, I think more frequent bathing might be helpful during molt time. My two cents...
 

Skarila

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I agree with Saxguy fully with all they said. Only I'd add from my side is to try to cut on the fruits because of the sugar, also something my vet suggested. with veggies I highly suggest trying with red or yellow california bell peppers, they're sweet on their own and the bird might accept it. Mine won't even look at the leafy greens, but anything crunchy and watery like peppers, cucumber or zuccini, he's on it.

Mine is also molting like cray-cray right now, poor guy is full of pin feathers everywhere. Happens. Baths should help a lot with it, but as saxguy mentioned, how the bird chooses to bath is very individual. Mine will bath only in his bowl. Also some birds adore bathing in icy cold water, some in room temperature... finicky little creatures.

Another recommendation from my avian vet is to keep the room air dampness (moisture...what's the word for it?! brainfart.) around 60% for conures, so I suggest to maybe invest in a water (ultrasonic) difusor, it works wonderfully for us, aaand it's bird safe. Also my orchids looooove it.
 

saxguy64

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Excellent suggestions above! I thought about the sugar intake after I posted as well, so glad Skarila mentioned it. Mine get very little fruit. Honestly, they don't care for much of it. They can also get hormonal with the sugar blast, and ekkies don't have a "season" so to speak, so I do my best to keep that under control. Also, dark fruits like purple grapes and blueberries tend to cause him to start toe tapping.

Yup, bathing preference is complicated for some of them. Everything plays into it. Temperature, types of spray, how hard or gentle, time of day, or if they prefer a bowl, size, shape, location, etc... Once you find what works, try to replicate it as close as possible, then slight changes later on (sometimes much later) in hopes of more options. Or, just go with what works and stick with that. :)
 
OP
Cagzo

Cagzo

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Jan 14, 2020
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One Pineapple Conure.
Hatched late 2018.
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Thankyou so much for your input. No bald bits,just neck pins.
when I rescued her she had been fed on a "big parrot" diet only. And I think she could only pick the small bits out of it. So since having her I tried every food going,at great expence as she just threw it out. Harrisons was the worst one,as it literally just fell out of her beak,also the use by date was ridiculous for one tiny bird. No one does samples here.

Shes not mad about bathing,usually dunks her belly in her drinking water,though I put a dish of water in her cage every 4 days.

i have sent for some vitamins in powder form to put on her food,also a feather conditioner to spray on the area. I will keep trying with the veg,and chopping it up very small.
Shes not stressed at all,still chatting and doing her tricks quite happily.
Thankyou all for your help.
 

Skarila

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✻RIP -Sunny the budgie
Thankyou so much for your input. No bald bits,just neck pins.
when I rescued her she had been fed on a "big parrot" diet only. And I think she could only pick the small bits out of it. So since having her I tried every food going,at great expence as she just threw it out. Harrisons was the worst one,as it literally just fell out of her beak,also the use by date was ridiculous for one tiny bird. No one does samples here.

Shes not mad about bathing,usually dunks her belly in her drinking water,though I put a dish of water in her cage every 4 days.

i have sent for some vitamins in powder form to put on her food,also a feather conditioner to spray on the area. I will keep trying with the veg,and chopping it up very small.
Shes not stressed at all,still chatting and doing her tricks quite happily.
Thankyou all for your help.
Oh no! Poor soul, so glad that you have taken her under your wing!

So interesting, my tiny Pascal is NUTS for Harrisons. I've primarily switched him to Roudybush (2nd best) which he accepted it 3rd day from the conversion, but surely prefers Harrisons, he actually sees it as a treat. Sadly I cannot order any more Roudybush so I'll have to switch him to the ever so expensive Harrison's, but I'm happy he accepts that. I was also given a sample of some spanish pellets by an acquaintance, but Pascal is having none of it, as you described, just throwing it down. If the feathers are in a very bad state, it's not a bad idea to sprinkle their food with some vitamins (if approved by the vet, I use Corvimin) every few days in between. Once she gets on the pellets, you can ditch the vitamins soon enough.

Try offering the bath every other day in this case. Mine always has his huuuge bowl of water ready, I mean it's meant to be water dish for BIG birds, but it's just fine for him for drinking and bathing :D He will bath every other day or so, usually dunks his butt in it (unlike doing head/chest first, it's hilarious).

I'd avoid feather conditioners/sprays, they really do not need it.

Glad to hear your little girl is otherwise happy and chirpy!
 

Laurasea

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all good advice above.
I will add that a bump in protein foods is needed and helps molt finish quicker. Like some boiled egg with a little shell, a thumb size piece of boiled plain chicken, a finger nail size dab of peanut butter, a couple pine nuts, walnut, or other nut, or some cooked beans, lentils, offer peas they have some protein.

Also weigh your bird weekly. A 3% body mass drop or more indicates a health issue. Also consider a vet check. As hidden chronic health issues can lead to a delayed or prolonged molt.

Dried fruit has undesirable stuff. Limit dried fruit to a rare treat only. Green checks as a species seem to seek fruit. So make those fruits count, feed cherry ( remove pit) , plum, pomegranate, blue berries, black berries, raspberry, cranberries, mangoes, deep intense color antioxidants packed stuff. Apples, grapes and banana as a rare treat only, don't count them as nutrition, more as desert.

Hot chili peppers, bell pepper are great and well liked have vitamin A. Keep working on veggies and leafy greens. Offer spread out on plate. Curiosity often leads to exploring. Offer some cooked, offer in hunks, whole, or mince, mix it up, ne etc give up. Cooked sweet potatoes are great, or other cooked squash

I do not recommend any added supplements or vitamins.
 

Stitchthestitch

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Every one has given you great advice, I just want to add that some of the zupreem line (the coloured pellets) are being discontinued in the uk as they colour used don't meet up to EU standards, so it would t be a bad idea to switch any way
 

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