Ziggy starts molting!

[littleredhen77]

i do believe...that Ziggy has started to molt! my cockatiel has been slowly replacing all his large and important feathers for a couple months now, and i *think* my ekkie is now starting too! not with his large feathers, but for the past week or so, ive been finding 3-5 small "body feathers" on the ground in his cage. the tips look whole and closed up, the feathers are intact and not shredded, and theyve all been about the same size. most of them are his green ones but ive found 3 that have some red on them like theyre coming from near his 'arm pits' ive also found 2 near matching small wing feathers, the little 2 inch long blue ones near the tops of his wings, and the fact that there are 2 matching ones makes me really think that this is the beginning of a molt. i believe things like wings molt out fairly symmetrically..? he dosent appear to have any thin looking patches so i hope theyre coming out on their own from random places across his chest and shoulders.. ive also found 2 large quills that were left in when he chewed the rest of the feather off weeks ago. he hasnt been chewing his feathers in half for about a month now so maybe these quills came out from matching places on his wings as well, no way to tell with those really...

but im excited! im hoping that eventually, he will molt out the quill stumps hes had where his tail should be and maaayyyybe he will grow a tail! ive never seen his tail since he was already missing it when i adopted him but when hes all wet in the shower i think i can see that the ends are still there and they just need to fall out.

 

[Anansi]

Sounds rather "molty" to me, too! Yes, they do molt fairly symmetrically. Especially as regards the flight feathers.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ziggy in full feather. You've been working so hard to get him there. I'd be happy for both of you to see it happen.

 

[littleredhen77]

thank you i have been trying my best to create the best environment for him my animals are the most important things in my life!

 

[littleredhen77]

Update on Ziggy!
He allows me to flip him upside down while he's on my finger and I do this daily to check his wings. He has 4 big fat pins growing in, 2on each wing! He grew a new 'coverlet" mini blue shoulder feather and when he shakes off after a shower I can see several small pins on his neck and head. He hasn't molted out any feathers in the past week, I figure he's going to take a break and grow these in first. Fingers crossed that he leaves these wing feathers alone once they're unfurrled! ����

 

[camo]

That's great news, fingers crossed he leaves them be. Flipping upside down is pretty cool (a lot of trust with that). The shower is always a good time to look, my girl Pebbles is still growing some feathers, but she hides it well, but a good shower is a good way to see what's coming through. Keep us updated.

Cheers,

Camo

 

[littleredhen77]

scary new update! every time i come home i check the bottom of his cage for chewed feathers, and today i found 2 plucked out pins! this scares me to death because id imagine he would bleed from this! his feathers are all clean with no blood on them, and they look like they were neck pins. ahh! just when i get my hopes up! he hasnt been chewing feathers but these look like the ends were pinched quite hard and they were snipped right off at the base. anyone else ever seen this happen?

 

[littleredhen77]

upon closer examining him, he seems to have cut them off a little above where they would have been coming out, or theyve grown out a small amount since he chewed them off, because i found where one of them was near his shoulder on his upper back and there is still a stump of pin but instead of green sticking out theres a little white puff of down. i cant imagine a down feather growing in would have that thick of a pin so i *think* i found one of the ones he damaged. the white down has no traces of blood on it at all. i found one more of these on the floor after i posted this but it was a little red one from under his wing. same thing, chewed off a pinched closed at the bottom. i can still find 3 green pins intact on his neck and there may be more but its hard to find them all. his 4 large wing feathers appear to be coming in nicely still, but when he preens his wings hes rough about it and ive seen him try to bite the pins a little but only to come away with some of the 'sheath' in his beak. maybe he was just trying to take the sheathing off and hes just too rough? i work long shifts the next 3 days in a row and im worried sick! ill be making him extra shredders tonight to try to distract him.

 

[Anansi]

I really hope these are isolated incidents. Making the shredders sounds like a good idea. I'd also increase the frequency of his showers. Since he's in the midst of a molt, his skin might be feeling especially itchy. This could potentially exacerbate his plucking habit. So increased showers might provide some relief.

 

[littleredhen77]

ive upped his showers already to once every other day since i started finding molted out feathers. he hasnt been enjoying himself flapping around as much in the water but i let him get a nice soaking while i sit with him and talk to him awhile. his humidifier is on full blast all day too. i made him about 20 shredders tonight to occupy him. i really hope he stops as well, i was excited for him to mold and now its scary!

 

[camo]

Sounds like your doing all you can, I wouldn't be afraid to go daily on the showers if possible. My guys like a good shower, but they really get stuck in when they are molting, so it must make them feel better.

My fingers are crossed for you

 

[Anansi]

Cameron's right on both counts. You're doing all that you can - and doing a wonderful job at that - and you should probably kick it up to every day. You never know what will make the difference.

 

[littleredhen77]

well, i came home to one pin on the ground. i guess thats better than i was picturing all day, but i wish there hadnt been any. i cant find where this one came from which i guess is a good sign that he hasnt been bleeding after theyre snipped off, there arent any stained feathers. i gave him a shower and now hes on my shoulder drying off. the large wing feathers are still coming in nicely and they havent been destroyed so far. i also found one further down his back that i hadnt seen yet. so, with the 4 hes chewed, there are still 3 body feathers coming in that ive seen and are intact. maybe more but he doesnt sit still long he didnt shred his toy today but it looks like he nibbled the top a bit, and he devoured the millet sprig i gave him this morning. hopefully tomorrow i come home to a pin-less cage floor! thanks for the advice guys! ill try anything to keep these feathers growing!

 

[Anansi]

Every day the majority of his new feathers remain intact is a victory. We're all pulling for you and Ziggy!

Please keep these updates coming!

 

[littleredhen77]

I gave him a shower last night and let him dry off while snuggling me.. I don't want to leave him all wet in the morning when I go to work so nights work better sometimes. No pulled pins today when I got home! He's currently on my shoulder drying off, and I'm hoping for the same tomorrow. His wing feathers are getting just long enough to poke out from under his secondaries! Adorable! :-D

 

[Anansi]

Yeah! That's it, Ziggy! You can do it!!! Keep those flight feathers coming!

 

[camo]

That's great, my fingers and toes are crossed. If he does remove them, it will be disappointing I am sure, but by the sounds of it, it won't be due to lack of effort.

Keep us posted.

 

[littleredhen77]

quick update-
well, i dont know if im winning or not, but tonight and last night ive come home to one wing feather chewed in half. not a new one and not a pulled pin, but hes chewed his wings one feather a day, but i feel like chewing mature feathers is safer than pins that could start bleeding while nobody is home to help. hes had daily showers, and high humidity..extra toys and treats..hopefully if these feathers can come out the rest of the way he wont bother any more. ugh..its still sad to see such beautiful feathers chewed up on the floor, but im glad hes not bleeding. ill take what i can get at this point, safety wise. :/

 

[chris-md]

Parker did this to a tail feather the other day. Chewed it right in half. I might up his protein a tad to see if that helps.

I know how frustrating this is. I'm rooting for you!

 

[littleredhen77]

update! so, ziggy has gone through his second wave of molting. last week he lost around 20 small feathers and 2 large wing quills that were remaining from chewed feathers. he appretly also lost one of his tail quills as he has a little sprout coming from his butt with a yellow tip! this is the first tail feather ive seen on him since i got him last summer! its adorable! hes done much better with leaving his growing pins alone this round, hes chewed off 6 of them but compared to the amount of feathers he lost this time, it seems like hes getting better at leaving them alone.

ive been showering him every morning, providing shredders daily, and running his humidifier full blast while im at work.

lately, as in the past couple days, i think ive noticed some toe tapping? but im not sure if its that or if im just overly paranoid and hes just readjusting himself..he seems to do it mostly when hes on his shower perch after i turn the water and let him drip a bit. he will flex his toes on one foot maybe once every 15-30 seconds. he doesnt seem to do it when he sits on my chair or shoulder, only his shower perch when hes sitting there seemingly bored, waiting to be picked back up. there have been no diet changes, aside from offering him kiwi this week instead of pomegranate since they didnt have any at the store this time. he loves kiwi and i make sure to scrub the whole thing with a brush before offering it whole. he doesnt eat much of it, mostly tears it open and crunches all the seeds leaving a slimy green mess in the bowl. i really hope im just paranoid and hes fine, since i figure that if hes toe tapping for real, then its something he would do all the time not just on certain perches/at certain times.

he gets vitamin A in vegetable form, baked sweet potato with each dinner and raw carrot in his chop, and he has a cuttle bone for calcium but he has yet to touch this one. his last one went untouched for weeks before one day being pulverized all at once. hes had this one about 2 months and it looks untouched. i make sure to wash out his bowls every time and i sniff his sprouts before serving, making a new jar every 3-4 days.

ill keep an eye on him in the mean time, im anxiously waiting for that single tail feather to grow out and mayyybe he'll leave it alone! itll look funny being just one but itll be adorable!

thanks to anyone and everyone reading these updates! hope you all are happy and well!

 

[littleredhen77]

heres a video i just took, in it you can see him do the toe thing 3 times, while he sits with me before bed, he seems content, cooing and grinding/clicking his beak which, correct me if im wrong, but thats a "content" behavior?

[ame="https://youtu.be/TeRm2NB3rx4"]https://youtu.be/TeRm2NB3rx4[/ame]