Macaw missing/short tail

[parrotlover94]

Hello all I hope everyone is having a great day. I was planning on purchasing a 5 month old blue and gold macaw, however, it seems to have no tail feathers. I am worried thats a problem. Is that so or will it grow back in time? Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read.

here is a picture for reference.

 

[LordTriggs]

they do regrow feathers. Every year in fact.

But to lose the entire tail at 5 months seems strange. I'd ask the current owners how the tail went. they don't lose the whole tail at once even when molting, so it would either be plucking (which is worrying at 5 months) or it was cut off for whatever reason. The tail helps them in flight, so to lose it will impede them greatly making them clumsy and prone to injury.

Are they fully weaned?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi thanks hope you are having a good day too?

The only thing I can suggest is that he/she is not 5 months old? Keep asking questions!

 

[wrench13]

Young parrots play HARD, and loose tail feathers or break them off in play , frequently.
Unusual for one to break off or loose all of the tail feathers though. I would check to see that the macaw is not being held in a too small cage, which only contributes to the parrot damaging those tail feathers, which are so long in macaws. Salty went thru bappy-hood ( baby parrot hood) with only 2 undamaged tail feathers, the rest looked like the Butcher of Boston had been at them. He plays hard, still does to this day. So. Check with the seller/breeder(?) to see how big his cage is. Ask to see some of the missing feathers to look at the ends and see if they came out relatively whole or were barbered ( bitten ) off.

He does look odd with out those majestic long Macaw feathers, kinda like some cross between a macaw and a amazon!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Got a name if you have him LOL = Stumpy! LOL

 

[Anansi]

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family!

We wouldn't be able to tell you from pics if his/her tail feathers will grow back in. LordTriggs is correct about parrots molting regularly, but if the tail feathers have been plucked often enough there could be follicle damage. Longtime pluckers have been known to damage their follicles to the point that feather growth is no longer possible.

Now this isn't very likely to be the case at 5 months, but unfortunately there are less than scrupulous breeders out there who will say the bird is younger in order to increase the chances of a sale. Not saying that's the case here. Just that I can't discount the possibility.

If the tail feathers were cut, however, they should grow back somewhere between a few months to a year from now. But that would raise some serious red flags about this breeder and his/her practices. Tail clipping is NOT an acceptable practice. I'd question the breeder closely to determine if there are any other questionable practices at play in the raising of this bird.

 

[parrotlover94]

Thank you all for your responses the parrot owner has sent me a video and the macaw was in a rather small cage which i believe might be the issue. If that was the case would that mean they just fell off and they will re-grow eventually? the current pet owner does not seem to be taking care of it very well so I very much want to take it off his hands

 

[wrench13]

If they were not plucked out by the bird himself ( and damaging the follicles from doing that several times) they will grow back. Eventually. B&G macaws need a BIG cage, the biggest ones available. Rule of thumb - cage needs to be wide enough to open his wings up fully , in any direction, or bigger, and lots of room for those long tail feathers.

 

[parrotlover94]

If they were not plucked out by the bird himself ( and damaging the follicles from doing that several times) they will grow back. Eventually. B&G macaws need a BIG cage, the biggest ones available. Rule of thumb - cage needs to be wide enough to open his wings up fully , in any direction, or bigger, and lots of room for those long tail feathers.

Noted I'll provide him with just that. Thank you very much for your help. I have one more question, do you have any advice on what to look for when I see the bird so that I know the difference between plucking vs small cage?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Feather Plucking in Parrots

Hope this helps.

 

[SailBoat]

Lets roll this back a bit and make sure you have a Real Seller of a Real Parrot and not just a Scammer or Black Marketer!

First: Today's Date is 1, September 2017, which is the start of the ninth month of 2017. You are being told that this Blue and Gold is five (5) months old, correct? That being all correct, your Parrot was born long after 1, January 2017

Second: A Blue and Gold Macaw is covered under CITES II Classification and therefore requires a specific set of Paperwork for the 'Breeder' to sell this Parrot to a Reseller or to you! A Birth Certificate if you will. This requirement went into effect 1, January 2017, which because of the stated age of this B&G MAC requires that those papers exist and that you must get them as part of the sale including a Receipt of Sale.

Third: If this is in fact a Breeder, they haven't a clue what they are doing, since the Price of a MAC is greatly reduced with the loss of 'all' of its tail feathers. For that reason, I do not believe you are communicating with a Breeder. For the same reason, Resellers are faced with the same realities and take great care not to have a MAC in a cage that would cause that level of damage to a MAC's tail feathers. That leaves it to a stupid Owner or a flipper /scammer.

What to do:
Unless this individual has CITES II Paperwork for this Parrot - RUN!!! This does not sound like a proper (legal) sale to me! But hey, that's me. Its your choice!!! May You Choose Wisely!