Sun Conure with feathers like "Cotton balls?"

[Woodcutterron]

Hello,

We recently got 3 Conures (Sun Conures?) from a feed store. Not sure where they got them but they needed to get out of there. Anyway, two appear perfectly healthy, but one has what look like tiny cottonballs over about 35% of his body. Never seen a molt like this, but then again I have no experience with parrots, other than a cockatiel I had decades ago.

Is this normal? I've spent an hour searching the net and some of these forums, but couldn't find any pictures that showed anything similar, or even talked about it. The little guy seems otherwise healthy and happy, even a bit of a show off.

He's not real cooperative for pictures, but can any of you tell anything from this pic? Notice around his neck. His belly is like that too. It seems to be "filling in" slowly, but is it something we should be concerned about?

We're trying to find a home for them with someone more experienced with conures, we only bought them because they really needed to be out of that feed store.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Conurekidd]

Aww that poor baby his feathers were plucked and it looks like a cave mate did it.
Yea those are the down feathers you see.

 

[Woodcutterron]

Thanks for the quick information! Since I don't know the history of these birds, I don't know if the other two he's presently with did it or not. They seem to get along fine now anyway, maybe they got their differences 'settled', heheh.

So should they come back on their own? I read somewhere on this site I think, that I should lightly mist them daily when molting, which I've done. They seem to be okay with that actual misting, though they clearly don't like it when I get the misting bottle near them though. I guess they don't understand the concept of "cause and effect" heheh.

If something about what I'm doing doesn't seem right, or if there is something else I should be doing, I'd appreciate any input. Also, my sweetie just pointed out that while they seem to get along, the two with 'good feathering' seem to pair off and kinda more like "tolerate" the 'knappy' looking one. He seems perfectly fine with the arrangement though.

Again, thanks for the help!

 

[suebee]

his feathers should grow back, or will start next molt

a daily misting shouldn't hurt, just try keep the mister away from the cage, so dont put nozzle to cage bars, this way its less threatening

what are you feeding them?? what sex are they?? you might have eggs arriving as i've a feelin the paired off two might have done that to him, as they were pairing lol so might be a good idea for a vet visit for a good check up

i've only experiance with the one bird, lol you got yourself a flock in one go and congrats and thank you for giving them a home

 

[Conurekidd]

Best bet is to put the plucked one in his own cage close by. Suns can be very territorial and won't tolerate a peeker. Even if there friends. It breeding and nesting instinct for them to warn off intruders. His feathers will grow back. Give em 6 to 10 months.
And yes misting helps. Keeping it awy from the cage is good advise.

Has the pair mated?? ( conures mate side by side FYI )

 

[Pedro]

The plucked one could very well be the male bird & the parent to one of the other birds. It's also possible the hen has plucked him as well. I also had a breeding pair where the hen started to pluck her mate & it's usually done while both are in the nest box. Or like mentioned the 2 are the parents & the plucked one is their chick???? So really their is no way of knowing what's going on with the three of them.

Another possibility is one of the parent birds has died or flown away & you have a parent bird & 2 young ones. Because you don't know the back ground of the trio at this point i would not separate them. You need to have DNA'S done to know what sex they are.

How friendly are they, can they be handled.

IMO even though 1 bird is plucked they should all stay together until it's determined whether or not there is a pair &/or if they are related at all.

It would be great if you could find out the birds history by contacting the store. They may have some back ground on the previous owner.

A plucked bird does not mean they have been neglected.

 

[Woodcutterron]

I have no clue as to is paired off, heheh. I know the two that have nice plumage hang together, and one seems more than willing to "share" food with the other, in what I'd call a "beak to beak" transfer, if that makes any sense.

As for their history, I was told he just took them in exchange for a feed bill because someone told him they were worth a lot of money. They didn't seem to know any more about them than I do . .which ain't much.

I'd love to be altruistic enough to claim I've rehomed them, but I really have no desire to raise Conures. We just felt it best to get them out of their existing situation at the time. That's why we put them on bidbird, which I kind of regret now, since I'd rather be at least a little "choosy" and at least make sure they went to someone who had experience with parrots. On the other hand, I don't know enough to know if others would know enough.

We're feeding them African Grey food right now, all they had around here. We've given them fresh fruit like grapes, orange slices, etc, but they pretty much ignore those but seem to love the African Gray feed.

Something tells me these birds have been handled in the past, but it kinda "feels" like they just don't quite trust us. Being for sale in the feed store might not have helped on that note, I'm not sure. They do seem to prefer one of us to be in the room, and pitch a fit if we walk out of the room. I guess that's a "good sign" All of my "personality assessments" are pure conjecture on my part, I admit.

I hate seeing animals mistreated, but I'm just not a parrot person. We just bought them to get them out of there. Wish I knew more, and could do more.

I don't mist them through the bars, I reach in the cage and do it. Like I said, they don't seem to like the mister itself, though once misted, they seem quite contend doing the preening and such.

They don't seem to get too upset when I reach in the cage, haven't attacked or anything, but I have no intention on pushing the "handling envelope." I also don't have another cage to split them up either.

I do plan on seeing them through, but would like to find them an owner who actually knows what they're doing with parrots. In the mean time, I do appreciate everyones input. I want to make their lives as stress free as reasonably possible.

 

[bigmamaconure]

I raise sun conures and I thought I might be able to help you out a little.
My suns really don't like to be misted but love to splash around in a bowl of water or in the sink with the faucet slightly running.
I have never had one to have feathers that came in looking like cotton balls but it could have been from plucking. Just make sure , he is not plucking his own feathers out.
Suns are very territorial and can really hurt or even kill another bird. One of my male suns attacked a Amazon that was five times his size and I had to break them up. The sun would not quit fighting the other bird and the sun is a loving pet of mine. Just make sure the other two don't attack him when your not around.
If the paired up ones are in mating mode, they won't accept the other bird even if it is one of their offspring. If they are feeding each other, the hen might be ready to lay because the male feeds her when she is sitting on the eggs and they seem to do this to prepare for nesting.
Hope this might help a little.

 

[Woodcutterron]

Hey Bigmammaconure,

Yea they really don't seem to like the actual mister. Problem is getting them to the sink . . . and back in their cage without stressing them further. I just don't feel comfortable handling them until/unless they become comfortable with it first. I simply don't have a clue how to go about that.

I put my hand in the cage, and just kinda leave it 'hanging' there for a few minutes. They don't seem as alarmed by it now after doing that about a dozen times, but they also show no inclination to 'hop aboard' or anything.

There isn't any sort of "nesting" arrangement in this cage, I suppose I should look into that. So far, all three seem to get along okay, I haven't seen or heard anything that resembles any fighting or aggressive behaviour to each other. But then again, I'm definitely no expert.

Thanks!

 

[Pedro]

Ron, by the sounds of things your trio are cage mates & that's fine. If they are a breeding pair plus a spare or are from an aviary situation they would be unsure of being in a small cage or handled & would prefer to stay out of your way. So i very much doubt that they are pets although they may have been hand reared & then placed in an aviary.

All my breeders were at one stage H/R & placed into a their aviary. Although they will take food from my hand they will not come to me anymore & once they start to breed i have no worries checking the nest box.

Do the 2 that are in good feather have the same coloration as the plucked. For instance are they as yellow on the wings of have a degree of green still through their feathers. Would it be possible to post some pic of the 2. I am just wondering if the 2 are actually siblings.

 

[Conurekidd]

what if the parents are split. theres a varitity of sun conure mutations...

also i care for a sun and yc zon. my sun will attack him at any possable chance he gets.. but nothing bad has ever happened. there good at staying on there own gym and stand
but i 100% agree, suns will attempt to kill to defend there boundries, to nest, and rear young. its just the suns wild genes in play.

Ron, by the sounds of things your trio are cage mates & that's fine. If they are a breeding pair plus a spare or are from an aviary situation they would be unsure of being in a small cage or handled & would prefer to stay out of your way. So i very much doubt that they are pets although they may have been hand reared & then placed in an aviary.

All my breeders were at one stage H/R & placed into a their aviary. Although they will take food from my hand they will not come to me anymore & once they start to breed i have no worries checking the nest box.

Do the 2 that are in good feather have the same coloration as the plucked. For instance are they as yellow on the wings of have a degree of green still through their feathers. Would it be possible to post some pic of the 2. I am just wondering if the 2 are actually siblings.

 

[Woodcutterron]

Ron, by the sounds of things your trio are cage mates & that's fine. If they are a breeding pair plus a spare or are from an aviary situation they would be unsure of being in a small cage or handled & would prefer to stay out of your way. So i very much doubt that they are pets although they may have been hand reared & then placed in an aviary.

All my breeders were at one stage H/R & placed into a their aviary. Although they will take food from my hand they will not come to me anymore & once they start to breed i have no worries checking the nest box.

Do the 2 that are in good feather have the same coloration as the plucked. For instance are they as yellow on the wings of have a degree of green still through their feathers. Would it be possible to post some pic of the 2. I am just wondering if the 2 are actually siblings.

I have them covered right now, (11:00 p.m.here) but the two fully feathered ones seem to have about the exact same coloring, and I think the one with the cottonball looking partial feathered, appears to be about the same, though I'll have to look tomorrow. I'm guessing it best not to disturb them once they're in for the night?

I'll try to take some better pictures.

They do seem to want to avoid my hand, though they appear to enjoy me being nearby. They don't "head for the hills" to the back of the cage as vigorously as they initially did a week ago, (but still move back on approach) and will even 'come back' to me a bit when I'm standing there clicking and whistling and generally talking to them. (to try to put them at ease) They get "ansty" and SERIOUSLY noisy when I walk out of the room, and seem happy when I come back.

When I leave they do come to the front of the cage and pitch a fit. I saw it in the mirror, but interestingly, they figured out I can see them in the mirror. and they look right at the mirror now when I walk out of the room, and only pitch a fit when I walk out AND don't look in the mirror. SMART little buggars!

Their cage is something like 22Dx32Wx36 inches tall, is that adequate? NO "nesting" facilities in there either, though I can easily build them a box or whatever, being a cabinetmaker.

I thank ya'll for bearing with me.