Odd Feather Behavior?

[drlisaort]

Hi Everyone!

My precious Oliver (SI) is now one year old and is as awesome as they come. Over the last few days I'm finding some feathers but I'm thinking this is a normal part of the molting process, but today he went down to the bottom of his cage (something he normally does not do) and went after a loose feather and carried it back up to his perch and was chewing on it like it was the most prized possession. Is this normal? He has toys and tons of outside time and his coloring and feathers are gorgeous.


Also, I'm wondering what kinds of things my little guy will do this next year. For instance, how does the molting phases span out over the year and what about sexual maturation--when does this begin?


Thank you in advance!


Lisa

 

[weco]

Does anyone around your house use/chew toothpicks? What about use a back-scratcher?

Our feathered friends do both of these things.....I have seen 'zons use pencils, tooth brushes and discarded feathers as scratching tools...and...I almost fell over the first time I saw my Patagonian conure stick a toothpick in the feathers on the side of her neck.....you see, I have a habit of keeping a toothpick behind my ear.....

 

[drlisaort]

Oh wow, how interesting! My husband once in a while will use a toothpick but otherwise nobody does. So are you saying he is imitating my husband by chewing on his own feather?

 

[weco]

I don't know that that is the reason, but it is a possibility.....

 

[drlisaort]

Well, the odd behavior continues and of course I'm worrying this could lead to plucking. I was hoping to get some feedback to prevent a problem. And of course I wanted to know the forecast for his next year--patterns and behavior of the one year old male parrot. Any thoughts out there????????

 

[rbreck]

Maui turned a year Aug 10th. He is losing some feathers too. He is also getting very cranky with my boyfriend. He is getting super affectionate with me. If we are together he will that nothing to do with my boyfriend and will bite him!!! Softly, but he is warning him

If I give him pellets, more than a couple of times a week i notice he gets cranky.

Our second year should be a learning experience