Is this normal for my 10 week old conure?

[Arielleann]

Attached are photos! So I got my conure last Thursday and he’s about 10 weeks old! One side of his face is completely pin feather free (bottom pic) but this side I am worried about. He does have a vet appointment next week but I’m just wondering if the side that still looks strange is pin feathers or something else? They are hard to the touch and not oily at all the ones above his eye are almost matted together and he will not let me touch them! He lets me preen him on his face and so I’ve tried to get some of these feathers to fluff but it’s still looking pretty rough.

 

[zERo]

Is his face wet in the photo? Or maybe the feathers are dirty?
He’s very pretty! Most babies look quite rough and patchy, especially conures, I’d say it’s probably nothing to worry about but I’d still ask your vet when you go, just in case.

 

[Arielleann]

Is his face wet in the photo? Or maybe the feathers are dirty?
He’s very pretty! Most babies look quite rough and patchy, especially conures, I’d say it’s probably nothing to worry about but I’d still ask your vet when you go, just in case.

It’s not wet! I’m wondering if I should wipe him down with a warm cloth on that side tomorrow and see if helps! That’s why it’s so weird, it’s just permanently like that lol will deff ask the vet just wanted a little piece of mind since this is my first conure and I wasn’t sure if one side can be messy while one looks nice. Thank you for responding and for the advice !

 

[clark_conure]

ten weeks? He's fine.

It will go all fluffy in a bit. Then you will be posting pics of how fluffy.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

It's normal for baby conures to look rather ragged at 10 weeks. It's usually because they've been hand fed and they've not learned to groom properly yet. . I agree , tho- wipe him down a bit and talk to the vet when you see them.

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Babies don't know how to look after their feathers and they seem to learn as they moult and get pins which seems to trigger the news to groom more frequently.

It took Albie a while to figure out preening and she certainly had many a rough looking day when she was under a year old. Now she is very particular about her feathers. Nova ,my cockatiel has also gone through the baby scruffiness and is only becoming more fastidious about keeping her feathers looking nice ,she's 10 months old and has just gone through her first moult so now she spends half her time preening.

They can be especially messy and gross when eating. I know nova certainly did and I'd have to wipe her down regularly. Now she's pretty good at keeping clean.

Have a chat with your vet when you see them and they can give you more advice as needed