I'm worried...

veimar

New member
Feb 5, 2014
1,150
4
Chicago, IL
Parrots
gcc Parry; lovebird Coco; 3 budgies (Tesla, Franky and Cesar); cockatiel Murzik, red rump parakeet girl Onyx
I posted here about the most wonderful little budgie boy Tesla I adopted on January 1. He has been doing very well except his wing and tail feathers. :( He was reportedly from a local shelter and had a leg band which he chewed off later, and I assume he was tested for PBFD, polyoma and other bad stuff. According to his previous owner he was 3,5 mo old when I got him. He was also pretty brutally clipped. He is extremely active and likes rough play, so he always breaks his tail feathers - I even saw it happen a few times. He also fearlessly takes off flying and even rolls on the carpet after he glides down! :) There is soft cloth on the bottom of his cage for that reason. It has been almost 3 months since I have him, and I didn't notice any new feather growth in his tail. He started growing two beautiful new wing feathers, and suddenly one of them was gone today! :11: I examined his wings closely (it was very difficult to do!) and noticed that all his clipped primaries were chewed, and apparently the new feather was chewed off in the middle as well! It was nowhere in the cage, so it couldn't have fallen out. Here are a few pics. I'm at loss now what to do. Is that normal, and the new feathers come during his next molt? Should I have him tested for PBFD and polyoma just in case? My other birds don't have any feather problems, so I'm kinda freaking out right now... Otherwise he is healthy and fun guy, and overall his feathers look nice and have vibrant color. The only thing that has changed is that we are very busy right now, and I don't spend as much time with him as I used to. But he is housed with my tiel and one other budgie, so he has a company.
 

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Oh Tesla is so cute! It's so hard to say what is going on. The only sure way to find out would be to take him to the vet. I would never assume a bird has previously been tested for any viral diseases. Many people don't request it, and I think many vets who advertise themselves as avian vets don't do enough educating on it IMHO. Especially when a bird is second hand or you don't know the origins or history, I would for sure recommend testing. Crossing my fingers Tesla is okay, and the feathers not growing back is just a result of rough playing as you say.

I know this sort of thing is impossible not to worry about once it gets into your head, so just make an appointment ASAP. Good luck and hang in there :). Please keep us posted!
 
Tesla is adorable! I'm very fond of green budgies.

You mentioned Tesla had a brutal clip. That makes me wonder if he's pulling the new feathers because they're coming in a little wonky. Just a thought, my tiel pulled out new wing feathers through two moults after a bad clip, she only removed the feathers that were clipped.
 
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Oh Tesla is so cute! It's so hard to say what is going on. The only sure way to find out would be to take him to the vet. I would never assume a bird has previously been tested for any viral diseases. Many people don't request it, and I think many vets who advertise themselves as avian vets don't do enough educating on it IMHO. Especially when a bird is second hand or you don't know the origins or history, I would for sure recommend testing. Crossing my fingers Tesla is okay, and the feathers not growing back is just a result of rough playing as you say.

I know this sort of thing is impossible not to worry about once it gets into your head, so just make an appointment ASAP. Good luck and hang in there :). Please keep us posted!
You are right - I'll get him tested. I found a few websites through this forum that offer it online which is several times cheaper than at our vets office. And I really don't trust my vet that much. I was able to make much better bandages fro Parry than she did! LOL
 
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Tesla is adorable! I'm very fond of green budgies.

You mentioned Tesla had a brutal clip. That makes me wonder if he's pulling the new feathers because they're coming in a little wonky. Just a thought, my tiel pulled out new wing feathers through two moults after a bad clip, she only removed the feathers that were clipped.

Allee, that's exactly what I was thinking too! Probably the one long feather which didn't line up with the clipped ones could bother him, and he chewed it off. He only chewed off one feather, and I'm more worried about his tail that doesn't grow. Or maybe he chewed off more on his tail as well, and I just didn't notice that... Little weirdo. :greenyellow:
 
For the reasons mentioned above I strongly advise testing. I do it through avian biotech for $19.50 per test, cheaper if you use the same sample for multiple tests. I test for polyoma, PDFD, and psittacosis on all new birds.
 
It's also possible (since you didn't find the chewed off feather) that he is chewing them for extra calcium, which is apparently A Thing in birds that have a calcium deficiency.
 
Don't mean to hijack but silver sage how do you collect the sample?
My DNA test went to avian biotech so I had compared the disease testing cost and it was 1/3 of what the vet I went to was planning to charge.
 
I you can order blood cards and blood veils, you snip a toe nail just a tiny bit too short and collect the blood. It might seem mean, but the vet does it the same way, and it is less cruel than letting them suffer from a disease.
 
My vet is very renound. Dr. Kitty Remington she has many birds herself and breeds some. Avian Biotech is located in my town. Which I find suprising because its a small town well population wise at least with very few birds and bird euthiasiasts. I wonder if I could come to them and let them pluck my tiels feathers for the DNA sexing test. I cant bring myself to do so. Anyways I would take them to the vet and/or testing ASAP. Your budgie is very pretty.
 
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Oh I'm terrified to cut his nail - can I pull out a feather instead? I also wonder if it has to be a big one or just any.
 
Oh I'm terrified to cut his nail - can I pull out a feather instead? I also wonder if it has to be a big one or just any.

When I did it before, they said it had to be breast area feathers. About 5 or so. Just do it :) he'll be fine.

I think it's smarter to do feathers on a tiny bird, unless you're very experienced with budgie nails and have great eyesight lol. Some years ago when my mom got her Princess of Wales (little bigger than Cockatiel), I cut his toenails and did one accidentally too short, and styptic powder even took a while to work. I thought he was going to bleed out. It was horrifying. Now I'd be very nervous to cut nails on a bird tiel size or smaller!
 

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