Dandruff

[TheNamesLuna]

Luna has dandruff!
she is molting and has lost 2 tail feathers this week.
I have been helping her with the back of the neck and she has been loving it.
question is - is there anything else I can do apart from rubbing to help the pin feathers at the back of her head?
She is not wanting to bath, is this because of the new feathers??
Thanks in advance for advice

 

[ChristaNL]

Mine absolutely want to soak whenever there is a pinfeather coming through, so that does not sound familiar.

Sunny loves a scalp-massage: moving the skin on her head around a bit, the greys are more comfortable with the neck-area.
Anything that soothes an itch I guess

(I think macaws are slightly insane anyway- she lets me peel her beak and even manipulate the skin around her eyes etc. - I met a goffin once who absolutely loved that so I am quite surprised to find another one with this preference)

btw I really love that picture!

 

[noodles123]

Showers can help but, in excess, this can make their skin dry.

 

[Laurasea]

Spritzing water helps. There are plenty of flaking from pin featheres, but she shouldn't have flaking skin, that might indicate a problem. Pictures help .

 

[EllenD]

If you're finding the white dust all over her, that means that the pin-feathers are dry and coming through, which is good, but it's also the itchiest time of the molt...A bath/shower/spray-down will help, but if the bird doesn't like water, the other thing you can do is go to Petco and buy a bottle of Ecotrition "Molt-Ease", which is simply Purcellin-Oil and Aloe Vera...Purcellin is the same oil that is naturally excreted by their preen-glands at the base of their tails, it's what they rub their beaks in and then rub all over their feathers when they're preening themselves...So the Molt-Ease is all-natural, safe, and helps their itchiness/pain from molting quite a bit...

 

[GaleriaGila]

A good spritz can be a great thing!
The Rb has never been a reliable bather. During molts, he gets very cranky, so I spray him with a gentle nozzle. He screams bloody murder but five minutes later, he's feeling better. Kinda like my dog. She fights baths, but feels wonderful afterward!

 

[TheNamesLuna]

I think its just the pin feathers that are flaking - she does not have dandruff all the time, mainly when i am giving her a good rub to help her feathers.
She is a bit more cranky this last couple of days - i am putting it down to the new pins she has coming through at the base of her tail - which i am not going anywhere near! I value my fingers too much! lol

 

[noodles123]

The dandruff you are describing is actually most likely the keratin sheath that covers emerging feathers when they are developing. As the blood recedes, the keratin coating is shed and the feather emerges (little by little). Pin feathers look like feathers shoved into transparent coffee straws (the straw part is the coating).

 

[LeslieA]

Well, I must be the luckiest ever! I have 3 CONURES with pins simultaneously and they bathe 3- 4 times daily then preen each other dry or wet. I hung a washcloth on a perch inside each cage. They rub on it to dry or rub any missed feathers.

Many owners think this is dangerous but I've never had problems. My birdsitter and his wife have 2 GCC's with a little stuffed animal wired to the cage for them to rub on. Effectively it's doing the same thing.

 

[LordTriggs]

one thing you could do is bring her into the bathroom when you have a warm shower and let the place really steam up, it's a good way of softening the sheaths without having to get them wet per-say

and who knows they may decide to dive in

 

[Kiwibird]

Dandruff is pretty normal for birds- both feather sheaths and dead skin. Some species, such as cockatoos, even produce EXTRA dust! My bird gets multiple baths a week and still leaves a little trail of bird detritus wherever he goes, especially visable on dark surfaces It's actually pretty disturbing when you see him ruffle his feathers (puff of 'dust') or moves around in direct light. Reminds me of a little green "Pigpen"

 

[Scott]

Amazing how we generally tolerate bird dander but get grossed-out by human dandruff!

 

[EllenD]

Amazing how we generally tolerate bird dander but get grossed-out by human dandruff!

Right? Especially since most of the dust in our homes is actually dead human skin floating around everywhere...