Conure tail feathers what's wrong?

What's wrong with my conure tail feathers? He doesn't seem to be taking care of them. They are ragged and curled at base.

Birddie said:

What's wrong with my conure tail feathers? He doesn't seem to be taking care of them. They are ragged and curled at base.

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Sometimes they'll rub them against the cage as they're climbing around or playing. One of mine does it all the time, her tall looks awful sometimes. And it looks like there is a blood feather or something, so be careful of that.

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How old is he ? When they're young, they can be pretty clumsy. Kermit was down to 5 tail feathers at one point because she kept knocking them out D: Also yeh, be careful with the blood feather. If he damages it before it matures, you'll have to pull it out so he doesn't bleed to death :c

I believe he's 3 years old. Only had him for about two months. Just was worried if it was something that he was eating.

What is his diet? If it's something he is eating, it would only effect the feathers before they grow in, if that makes any sense. It's most likely that he is just hard on them.

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Or as they're growing in.

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Well, for starters, it is molting season so that could be part of it. Also, like Kendar said, they will often end up rubbing them against things (like the cage bars) as they are moving about.

How are the rest of his feathers? Ideally, their feathers (particularly the quill feathers that blanket the front and back of their bodies) should actually look 'painted on' as in they are tightly packed to one another.

The rest of his feathers looks fine .he also has been very moody biting a lot

His "moodiness" may be due to a couple of different factors, first it is molting season and if he is molting that can really make them act grumpy. Pin feathers are extremely itchy while they're growing in until all of the keratin sheaths are shed, and birds can really be affected by this itchiness because it's constant. They can end up constantly preening themselves all day long, every day, until the molt is over, which can take months and months. So if he's been "moody" lately and he's been molting then that's a good chunk of the cause. Have you seen him preening himself a lot? They actually can lose sleep if a molt is particularly bad, as they're constantly preening themselves and can't stop, not even at night to sleep. Has he been preening himself a lot lately? Have you seen bald spots on him or areas where his white/gray down is showing through? Have you found a lot of feathers in his cage or all over your house? The reason I'm asking is because If he is molting then it's very possible that he's actually been over-preening his tail in addition to the areas where he is molting and itchy. I've seen this before, where a bird is going through a particularly bad molt and they over-preen themselves by going at their tail feathers too, even if they don't need it.

Secondly, it's also breeding season! So this will definitely influence his moodiness! Do you know for certain what sex your bird is (has he been DNA sexed? That's the only way to know)?I'm only asking that because of the "moodiness" comment, that should not effect the feathers. You really should know for certain what sex your bird is, because you need to be prepared for eggs if it is a female. With females come egg laying during hormonal periods, and with egg laying, unfortunately, can come egg-binding. Egg-binding is a very, very serious condition where the bird cannot pass an egg from her body, the egg is generally down low in her uterus and is typically visible as a big lump in her lower abdominal area, sometimes the white egg even visible through her vent. A bird that is egg-bound will certainly die (100% certainty) if the egg is not passed within a short amount of time. All kinds of complications can happen when a bird is egg-bound, I won't go into that here, but since you've only had your bird for 2 months and I don't know your experience level with owning birds, I want to make sure you're aware of this issue. Some birds lay more eggs than others, some females never lay an infertile egg and some lay a large clutch of them twice a year. Most birds go into breeding mode twice a year, in early spring and in early fall, and this can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months. Both males and females go into breeding mode and can become very moody and even bite. A lot of people get very upset when their little bird that is usually very cuddly and sweet turns into a monster for the first time, especially if they start biting them. People take this personally, which is understandable, just know that it is not personal, your bird still loves you, it's just their hormones going crazy. There are natural ways to knock your bird out of breeding mode, which is very important if your bird is a female because you don't want her to lay eggs and potentially become egg-bound. If you search for "solar schedule" in the forum search bar you'll find a lot of very thorough explanations of how to knock your bird, male or female, out of breeding season, reduce its hormonal issues, and get it back to being your sweet little bird. It usually takes about 2 weeks or so of having your bird on a solar schedule to knock it out of breeding season. If you don't know the sex of your bird for sure (which means the prior owner had it DNA sexed and told you or you had it done yourself) I highly recommend having it done so that you can address any issues that might arise if it is a female. It usually costs between $20-$30 and can be done either at your avian vet or from several online companies that send you a test kit.

So now that the grumpiness of your bird has been addressed, let's address the tail feathers. First off, it's unfortunately not uncommon for birds to have scruffy tail feathers for any number of reasons. The most common (and benign) reason is because they bang them off of their cage bars, drag them all over the place, and basically the feathers take a beating because they are long and the bird cannot feel it when they are rubbing them on everything. Also, if your bird is housed with or spends out of cage time with a second bird, they often end up chewing on each other's tail feathers. These are the most common reasons and there is no harm from this, just an ugly, scruffy tail. Now tail feathers can also look that way from a number of serious health issues, but the most common is a poor diet. What is your bird's daily diet? A seed-only diet will cause this, your bird should be eating a high-quality, natural (non-fruity/colored) avian pellet as its main, daily staple food, rather than a seed mix. There are several really great natural pellets available, but the healthiest and most highly recommended are Zupreem Natural (not the fruity, multi-colored Zupreem filled with sugar and dyes), Harrison's, Roudybush, Lafeber, Totally Organic Pellets (TOP), and lastly the newest high-quality brand that seems to be very highly recommended by certified avian vets and a lot of breeders is Tropicana. Tropicana makes a large family of natural, organic pellets and seed mixes, and I switched all of my birds over to their "Tropimix" seed mix for their daily supplemented seeds, they had been on a Higgins seed mix with no sunflower seeds that was great, but they seem to really love the Tropimix and it's a bit cheaper. I have been feeding Zupreem Natural pellets to all of my birds for the last 3-4 years, I switched them over from Roudybush, only because the Zupreem Natural is just as good as any pellets out there, and it's available at my local Petco. I live in State College, PA, which is a pretty large city in central PA where Penn State University is located, and we now have exactly 1 pet store, a Petco. That's it. And Altoona, PA, which is an even larger city and a shopping Mecca that is only a 25 minute drive from State College, now has only 1 pet shop, a newly built Petco (Altoona has a fish/aquarium shop and a few weird little boutiques that sell dog clothing, that's it). It's bizarre. State College used to have a few really cool little pet shops but no more, so Zupreem Natural and Lafeber are the pellets available through them, along with the new Tropicana line. Anyway, your bird should be on a daily diet consisting of a high-quality, natural pellets as the main staple food, with a very small amount of a high-quality seed mix supplemented daily (no sunflower seeds in the seed mix, they should be a treat only), then lots of fresh veggies, whatever it will eat. The best way to do this is to provide a large variety of fresh veggies and allow them to try them all and pick what they like. Then a very small amount of fresh fruit either every day or every other day, fruit is full of sugar and is mostly water, so provide it sparingly, although if your bird is ever sick and/or dehydrated and will not or cannot drink water, if they really like a certain type of fruit then that is a great time to allow them to eat a lot of their favorite fruit to get the water. Whole- grains and plain, unsalted, unroasted nuts can be given as a treat or, in the case of the whole-grains, as a daily part of their diet, such as quinoa, flaxseed, oatmeal, grits, etc. There are a lot of theories on bird diets and this is just the diet I feed my birds, the main thing that will effect your birds feather quality diet-wise is if you are feeding him an all-seed mix diet.

Now all of this being said, there are several medical/health issues that can cause scraggly, dull, thin, frayed, and specifically CURLED/CURVED feathers. I don't know the past medical history of your bird, but do you? Where did you get him, from a pet shop, a rescue/shelter, or from a private owner? Did they provide you with your bird's medical records, test results, etc.?

Since you've only had your bird for 2 months, I would suggest that you find a certified or qualified avian vet, if you haven't already, and take your bird in ASAP for a complete wellness checkup (good idea to do this whenever you bring home a new bird anyway), and have the avian vet look at the tail feathers while you're there. Trust me, with birds you are ALWAYS better safe than sorry.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."