Plucking hair or molt?

[Mohitgaur088]

Hi guys,
It's Mohit Gaur here from India, I adopted " shine" a month ago, she's an awesome lutino cockatiel and when i got her, she was having lice issue already! :-( We used bird safe anti lice solutions and that really helped, we used it twice, but I don't think lice are gone completely or maybe eggs are there! She was preening more than normal though it wasn't too much, and now we got a big cage for her, shifted her location and new toys! And in new cage we noticed a few little feathers, for last 3-4 days 4-5 little feathers at the bottom of the Cage! I found her chewing one and immediately took it out! Today when she flew around the room one feather came out...a big one, and then when we let her come out of her cage again later in the day, another big one feather came out! I am attaching pictures of her feathers- Are they plucked or is she molting? Do lice have a role in it or new changes? And what should I do?
https://ibb.co/m9b8VU
https://ibb.co/c2chqU
https://ibb.co/bWrLc9
https://ibb.co/jJgaAU
https://ibb.co/mrHqAU

Edit- Title was supposed to be "plucking feather or molt?"

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Hi and welcome to the forum! How old is she?? It looks to me that she is molting. Do3snt look to me as she chewed them. You're finding little underflufffy feathers too?



Jim

 

[Mohitgaur088]

I don't know her age but I believe she's under 1 year! Will you please clarify what you mean by underfluffy feathers?

Hi and welcome to the forum! How old is she?? It looks to me that she is molting. Do3snt look to me as she chewed them. You're finding little underflufffy feathers too?



Jim

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

LOL sorry about that with the "underfluffy" thing..those would be the little body feathers you are finding in the cage. I would assume it is her first molt if she is about a ear old. That was about the time BB started his first molt too. I got him when he was 4.5 months old.
Yes I'd say she is doing a molt.




Jim

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I see no evidence of her "barbering" (chewing) her feathers.. looks like they just fell out on their own. Can you post a picture of Shine? We love cockatiels here







jim

 

[Mohitgaur088]

LOL sorry about that with the "underfluffy" thing..those would be the little body feathers you are finding in the cage. I would assume it is her first molt if she is about a ear old. That was about the time BB started his first molt too. I got him when he was 4.5 months old.
Yes I'd say she is doing a molt.




Jim

Yes, I am finding little body feathers so I do believe it maybe her first molt! If she's molting then a lotsa preparations need to done and I will start that extra care immediately Just a thing, what you think about that lice angle? Isn't it a possibility that she's plucking them out because lice still hurts!

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[Mohitgaur088]

And I am uploading her pics rn [emoji4]

I see no evidence of her "barbering" (chewing) her feathers.. looks like they just fell out on their own. Can you post a picture of Shine? We love cockatiels here







jim

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

LOL sorry about that with the "underfluffy" thing..those would be the little body feathers you are finding in the cage. I would assume it is her first molt if she is about a ear old. That was about the time BB started his first molt too. I got him when he was 4.5 months old.
Yes I'd say she is doing a molt.




Jim

Yes, I am finding little body feathers so I do believe it maybe her first molt! If she's molting then a lotsa preparations need to done and I will start that extra care immediately Just a thing, what you think about that lice angle? Isn't it a possibility that she's plucking them out because lice still hurts!

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I suppose lice could be a factor. I'm no expert here,but I'd think Shines feathers would look chewed if she was hurting or in pain. There are commercial bath/remedies for lice available.
Then again,a trip to a CERTIFIED Avian Vet would be best,to do a "wellness check" on Shine,then he/she can determine exactly if Shine is infected with lice,or anything else.


Jim

 

[Mohitgaur088]

I see no evidence of her "barbering" (chewing) her feathers.. looks like they just fell out on their own. Can you post a picture of Shine? We love cockatiels here







jim

Here are some pics of shine with my younger brother [emoji16]
https://ibb.co/g72WX9
https://ibb.co/f2JGzp
https://ibb.co/jBmfQU
https://ibb.co/gFq75U
https://ibb.co/mLhn5U
https://ibb.co/dVsyC9


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[Mohitgaur088]

Also, We have visited Vet twice in this period of one month They called her perfectly healthy and recommended lice treatment and we tried those sprays too (they were bird safe ofcourse) but at that time these falling feathers weren't there they started almost two weeks after that!

LOL sorry about that with the "underfluffy" thing..those would be the little body feathers you are finding in the cage. I would assume it is her first molt if she is about a ear old. That was about the time BB started his first molt too. I got him when he was 4.5 months old.
Yes I'd say she is doing a molt.




Jim

Yes, I am finding little body feathers so I do believe it maybe her first molt! If she's molting then a lotsa preparations need to done and I will start that extra care immediately Just a thing, what you think about that lice angle? Isn't it a possibility that she's plucking them out because lice still hurts!

Sent from my YU5010A using Tapatalk

I suppose lice could be a factor. I'm no expert here,but I'd think Shines feathers would look chewed if she was hurting or in pain. There are commercial bath/remedies for lice available.
Then again,a trip to a CERTIFIED Avian Vet would be best,to do a "wellness check" on Shine,then he/she can determine exactly if Shine is infected with lice,or anything else.


Jim

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Shine is a beautiful Cockatiel! I still think she is going thru a molt and wouldn't be too concerned about that. Was the vet that you saw a BIRD vet? You shouldn't take Shine to a "regular" vet ( One that sees all sorts of critters,like cats and dogs and pigs and rabbits...) birds are made a lot different than other animals lol.

How long have you been giving Shine her lice treatment for?




jim

 

[Mohitgaur088]

Yes, he was an avian vet who has helped even rescued birds from PETA! Also, we used an spray and used it twice with some gap in between as recommended by vet! I don't think lice are that much big issue now, I should rather focus on planning that extra care for her molt [emoji4]

Shine is a beautiful Cockatiel! I still think she is going thru a molt and wouldn't be too concerned about that. Was the vet that you saw a BIRD vet? You shouldn't take Shine to a "regular" vet ( One that sees all sorts of critters,like cats and dogs and pigs and rabbits...) birds are made a lot different than other animals lol.

How long have you been giving Shine her lice treatment for?




jim

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Not a lot you can do with the molting process...does she like a shower? Try giving her a misting shower..a squirt bottle set on mist and spray it in the air so it falls on her like rain drops would. That could help in relieving any itches she may feel from the molt.
also if you can touch her..like scratching her head...they get pin feathers on their head and neck and you can GENTLY try to break the sheaths the feathers are in by messaging them in between your thumb and forefinger, but as I said,do this GENTLY because you could cause pain!





Jim

 

[Mohitgaur088]

She doesn't like shower much but we are trying to get her like it slowly and gently, Also I'll be doing as recommended with her feathers during the molt, she loves head scratches...a lot! Thanks for your help, you were really helpful [emoji4]

Not a lot you can do with the molting process...does she like a shower? Try giving her a misting shower..a squirt bottle set on mist and spray it in the air so it falls on her like rain drops would. That could help in relieving any itches she may feel from the molt.
also if you can touch her..like scratching her head...they get pin feathers on their head and neck and you can GENTLY try to break the sheaths the feathers are in by messaging them in between your thumb and forefinger, but as I said,do this GENTLY because you could cause pain!





Jim

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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Glad I could help And my BB loves to have his head scratched too

Good luck with Shine,and keep us posted on how she makes out about her condition.




Jim