My grey cockatiel is balding?

[CYNToronto]

To cap everything, he came in with a full head of hair, I think (I don't remember). When I first brought him home, he had a lot of difficulties readjusting. He was untamed and extremely skittish, because he just came from a home with children.

He flew toward the windows a few times, hit his head, and was bleeding. So I rubbed antibiotics over the back of his head, and I think (I don't remember) I pulled off some of his feathers to get the medication on his skin.

It's been about 3 months now, and he's still bald. Although his flight feathers that I trimmed at around the same time are not grown back either. Do you think he's bald if it's still a smooth patch after 3 months, or how long does it take for cockatiels to grow their feathers back? (I remain optimistic because his flight feathers haven't moulted either; I'm worried, because my budgies grew their feathers back in no time)

 

[Psittaciformes]

Where did you get the antibiotics from, and did you make sure it was bird safe?

Please don't pluck your bird's feathers, you can move them aside like when you give them scritches.
If you pluck your bird's feathers and rubbed unsafe antibiotics on there, perhaps it stopped or slowed down or stopped feather growth there, I have no idea if it works like that, at all, so don't take my word for it. Do you see any pin feathers growing there at all?

 

[Allee]

Is it possible the bald spot was there all along? I ask because a lot of cockatiels have a small bald spot behind the crest, it's even more common in mutations.

If your bird was fully feathered, I'm surprised the missing feathers haven't been replaced with new ones after three months. It doesn't sound like the accident was enough to cause permanent damage to the follicles, but it's possible.

Carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A. Dark green veggies such as kale, broccoli, and parsley are rich in calcium and also help with feather growth.

Good luck with your cockatiel.

 

[Psittaciformes]

Is it possible the bald spot was there all along? I ask because a lot of cockatiels have a small bald spot behind the crest, it's even more common in mutations.

If your bird was fully feathered, I'm surprised the missing feathers haven't been replaced with new ones after three months. It doesn't sound like the accident was enough to cause permanent damage to the follicles, but it's possible.

Carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A. Dark green veggies such as kale, broccoli, and parsley are rich in calcium and also help with feather growth.

Good luck with your cockatiel.

I apologise for going off-topic, but so, parsley is bird-safe? Some websites say they're not, some say they are, so I'm really confused.
Same with asparagus...

 

[CYNToronto]

Is it possible the bald spot was there all along? I ask because a lot of cockatiels have a small bald spot behind the crest, it's even more common in mutations.

It's possible, because this is my first cockatiel, and he was completely untamed back then. The problem is that he is a GREY cockatiel, and not a mutation at all. As far as I know he's not pied either.

 

[RavensGryf]

I *thought* all Cockatiels and Cockatoos had a bare area behind the crest where no feathers grow.

 

[Allee]

As far as I know, parsley is perfectly safe, I feed it to my birds. If you aren't comfortable feeding parsley, there are a lot of other choices. Green peppers, beet greens, dandelion greens, cabbage, brussel sprouts are all good sources of beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A.

I *thought* all Cockatiels and Cockatoos had a bare area behind the crest where no feathers grow.

Julie, I think you are right about the larger, crested Toos. U2's have a place on the top of their head inside the crest that is completely bald. Cockatiels, I'm not sure about, I've never seen even a tiny bald spot on the top of a cockatiel's head. Sweet pea doesn't have one, I checked, haha, she didn't appreciate it, but I was curious. Some cockatiels have a bald patch more to the back of the head. It's more common in mutations, but it does occur in grays as well.

 

[MikeyTN]

Male grey cockatiel don't have the bald spot behind their head, it's caused by genetics. Mainly Lutinos and Albinos (Lutino Whiteface). Thus you don't breed them with another one of the same color together cause it makes it worse for the offspring. Is he rubbing his head against something??? It wouldn't be a bad idea to take him to the vet if your really concerned.