Conure feathers look ratty...

[FiFee Fiona]

I don't know age ... so I can't say if he's moulted or how my times if ever...
But his feathers are looking really ratty. Dark edges and he is so rough. He's always preening.
He eats fresh veg chop ... pellets and he has a tropical parrot mix.
I do notice he's not eating the chop like he used to. He'd wolf it down. Now he's not so fussed. He does like berries .. pear and Kiwi fruit. I try not to give too much fruit. He likes coconut water.
He has had a few pin feathers. Lot's of fluff floating about. He also had an injury a while ago but seems to have recovered well. It's just winter now in Sydney.
I have been out a bit so he's been in his cage more.
Also he has frayed my temper with extra screaming. He always has screamed but it's bad at the moment. So I cover him sometimes.
Not sure if it's just him over preening. And if it could be how to tone it down.
He has no bald spots so not plucking. And I'm familiar with plucking with an eclectus... not sure if it's the same type of reasons.
The eclectus does it when left along for too long.
Could it be stress ?
I have been a bit cranky and I'm sure he picks up on it
Thanks
I'll add I'm sitting here with him. And he preens his wings all the time. I'm shocked I haven't noticed how often ... he sits on me and just continually is at his feathers.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Excellent question! Have you bathed him recently? Even just offering him a bowl of warm water? Could be that he just needs a good bath to help him straighten himself out.

Hopefully someone else will have something more substantial to offer you, LOL.

 

[FiFee Fiona]

Excellent question! Have you bathed him recently? Even just offering him a bowl of warm water? Could be that he just needs a good bath to help him straighten himself out.

Hopefully someone else will have something more substantial to offer you, LOL.

He loves a bath. It's getting cold now ... so for a couple of days he hadn't had one. We've had no sun to keep him warm. And I've not been home in the mornings. Tomorrow he will get a bath.
But he's ripping at the feathers and I think over preening but a bit bored too.
He's not easy to keep entertained and he's become really clingy. So he wants me all the time. And it's not possible. I'm thinking I'll give him some extra vitamins and watch what he eats more.

 

[Laurasea]

Cutie!
Tho looks like could be a little under weight..hard to tell from pictures . Would be good to track weight.

The feathers show sign of chewing off the ends . Which is in the feather destruction category.

I see his lovely big cage in background, so that's good.

Gcc do want to be with us as much as possible, and as flock creatures that's normal. And they do very much pick up on our stress.

With both screaming and feather destruction, points at him not being happy about something. Maybe what's needed is more interaction with you? Something in the environment stressing him? Possibly a little Hormonal right now?

This article might be helpful

Stress Reduction for Companion Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

To put it bluntly, keeping companion parrots is similar to trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. The fact that they do as well as they do is testimony more to their adaptability than it is to our husbandry efforts.

lafeber.com

It mentions doing objective observations. That has bern helpful to me in the past when I thought one issue was going on but observations pointed at different issues I wasnt aware of.

 

[FiFee Fiona]

Cutie!
Tho looks like could be a little under weight..hard to tell from pictures . Would be good to track weight.

The feathers show sign of chewing off the ends . Which is in the feather destruction category.

I see his lovely big cage in background, so that's good.

Gcc do want to be with us as much as possible, and as flock creatures that's normal. And they do very much pick up on our stress.

With both screaming and feather destruction, points at him not being happy about something. Maybe what's needed is more interaction with you? Something in the environment stressing him? Possibly a little Hormonal right now?

This article might be helpful

Stress Reduction for Companion Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

To put it bluntly, keeping companion parrots is similar to trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. The fact that they do as well as they do is testimony more to their adaptability than it is to our husbandry efforts.

lafeber.com

It mentions doing objective observations. That has bern helpful to me in the past when I thought one issue was going on but observations pointed at different issues I wasnt aware of.

So I'm starting to try different things with him. I can't the balance right. If he's out too long he gets silly and panic flies around. And starts biting. So I'm trying to give him time in and out of the cage. This morning the stove is on so he can't come out yet. He had a little piece of my toast so he was happy about that. Then he's calm for a while. Uses his toys has a nap talking to himself.
Once the stove is off he can come and have a bath.
The thing I'm realising is he rips at his feathers when he's out. In the cage he's not preening so much. So I'll have to try to change things around the rooms. He has a perch on the window. And we get lorikeets and other birds out on the balcony. I thought he liked seeing them. Then I started to think they were stressing him out. So I took it down. I'll put it back for a while and see
Compared to other conures he's not big. He is about the size of my daughters cockatiel. He thinks he's much bigger. He eats quite well and I haven't weighed him for a while. When he comes out I will but I think he's OK. Not thin at all.
I do worry he doesn't get proper sun. Only through a window. But he loves snow peas so he's getting his vitamin a.
He did have an injury a while ago. Which he seems to have recovered from. But who knows how he was affected and if he's more nervous now.
I've had stress myself lately and I think my being cranky has upset him. My patience with him has been thin. The biting and the screaming doesn't help. So he's had me trying to ignore him but being angry at the age time.
We will trying different things from now.

Just adding he's 70g so his weight is OK..

 

[Littlechris123]

Excellent question! Have you bathed him recently? Even just offering him a bowl of warm water? Could be that he just needs a good bath to help him straighten himself out.

Hopefully someone else will have something more substantial to offer you, LOL.

I run the tap and she sits in my hand and bathes she now has showers with me takes time also when she is on you and shes preening try to distract her with toys i have a box of toys on couch and i rattle them to distract ivalso give her kitchen toll to chew hope that helps x

 

[Laurasea]

When he is out for awhile dies have access to snacks and water? They do need to eat about every hour or so.
20 years ago I made that mistake with my first conure. After hours if being with me should would get so cranky and stressed. Then I added food and water bowls next to us and it was a huge help.

Also burds preen a lot when out of the cage and with us. That's normal because as a prey flock species they are more vulnerable when preening. So they like to do it with a watcher that can alert them to danger. Plus its a social thing.

Even if this is when feather destruction is happening, you do not want to negative re inforce or positive reinforce. Ignore completely.