Confused PLEASE help!

[buddy]

My 6 month old masked lovebird is loosing feathers all over the place, is this a normal first molt they go through :confused: (hes my first lovebird), he has a small grey area on his breast and his face is scruffy and full of pin feathers, overall feather is pretty scruffy looking, not so neat and full.

I have watched for self mutulation because of the grey breast area but they are just simply falling out before my eyes, he seems happy and normal, but i would like to know whats going on?? :)

[akira-shakira-the bruce]

Oh, yes. My baby went through that, I nearly died because I would get a handful of feathers if I petted her. Her tail feathers especially would just come out. Make sure he's getting fresh water and veggies along with his seed diet, and just watch. Akira spent about two days losing feathers (approx.) and then over time she got all fluffy again. I wouldn't worry too much as long as it doesn't keep going and he doesn't go bare.

If you're really worried, take him into a vet on monday.

And remember, NO AVOCADOS. :)

[FuzzyAga]

If his face is full of pin feathers, will he let you groom them off? They must be very uncomfortable or itchy.

I think it's important to help your singleton with grooming around his/her head, eyes, neck, and beaks by training him to accept head scritches. When my Juanita was a singleton, I helped her get rid of those pesky keratin covers, while evading bites. Sometimes, just running a slightly wet finger along the top of her brow would leave my finger coated in keratin flakes.

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

My first lovebird, Peachy, was the only lovie I had that went thru an ugly first molt. He was sooo scruffy looking and his feathers were all patchy. We didn't know the first thing about lovebirds & we were so worried we took him to the vet. The vet, of course, assured us he was molting & not to worry.

We learned how to skritch his head & gently remove the coating on his pin feathers. Other molts never got that bad.

The rest of my lovies have never ever gotten as ugly/patchy as Peachy did. I think it might also have been diet related. Peachy had the worst diet of all our lovebird bc we didn't know any better. He was pretty much on millet only the first year with us & we also let him eat anything he wanted off our plates -- including sips of soda. I cringe just thinking of it.

[Chickobee]

I am constantly sweeping up feathers. It's just one part of having birds. They will lose feathers just the way you lose hair and replace them with new ones year round.

If a feather is damaged and removed they will immediately begin growing a new one in it's place.

Once or twice a year they will go through a molt and over a period of a few weeks they will gradually lose and replace many feathers. I don't know if it is all of them, but it sure does seem like it.

They will never lose so many all at once that they appear to be bare or get cold. If you pay close attention you will notice that when they lose a feather on one wing they will also lose the corresponding feather on the other wing. This keeps them balanced when they fly.

Sometimes there are so many feathers on the floor that I wonder how there could still be any on my birds!

[linda040899]

Do you have any photos of him that you can share with us? I'd like to see what you are seeing.

[buddy]

Hi everyone I lost track of this post when my lovie got sick and its been about her most of the time lately, but she's much better, buddy the molting lovie went through a messy ugly patchy itchy molt hahaha, but he's looking much better now and I think hes nearly done......boy does he love those scritches from us, even the budgie has joined in on the pruning, which wasn't aloud before but buddy has realized just how great it is when someone else scritches for you!!
Thanks everyone :)

[michael]

.......... buddy the molting lovie went through a messy ugly patchy itchy molt hahaha, but he's looking much better now and I think hes nearly done......boy does he love those scritches from us, even the budgie has joined in on the pruning.......

This can be a good thing!....How long has he been molting?.....Depending on several factors, some birds can develop an extensive and/or heavy molt. Patchiness on the other hand, is something well worth keeping an eye on. Glad to hear Buddy is now filling in quite well. .....Give him a few extra scritchies for us. Thats if you can move everyone else out of the way!..........:)

[Enko_chan]

glad to hear he's doing well!

[Pips mom]

I have noticed with my birds that from time to time somebirdy will go through more of a molt than they do normally, lose tons of feathers, seem more itchy, and I think it takes quite a bit out of them because during those tough molt times, my birds even seem more tired and napping more. I have also noticed what Chicobee said with the loss of one wing feather, I see the other one, same feather from the other wing....this is alot more easily noticeable in my cockatiels. Pip went through one molt like this since we've had him and since then he never seems to lose too many feathers at once. My Boss girl just went through a molt like this where she lost tons of feathers and her face ones looked a little ratty for a little while. It's more noticeable with her because her feathers are always so beautiful.

[buddy]

Thanks everyone, micheal the feathers were only falling out for about 4 days but he still has some pin feathers coming through, they seem to be easing up now though...........finally! He was such a grumpy bum when they first started poking through! He is a masked and his masked face seems alot blacker than it was before the molt. :)

[personatus]

My birds all tend to moult together, and when over 50 birds decide to start moulting there's alot of feathers to sweep up! They are just coming to the end of a moult now, and boy was this a bad one, they all looked scruffy and itchy. I helped them along with a multi supplement high in amino acids and vitamin H to speed up feather growth and improve the condition.

[michael]

Thanks everyone, micheal the feathers were only falling out for about 4 days but he still has some pin feathers coming through, they seem to be easing up now though...........finally!..........


My birds all tend to moult together, and when over 50 birds decide to start moulting there's alot of feathers to sweep up!.........

4 days along with a few lingering pins doesn't seem too bad. ... I'm sure as far as Buddy's concerned, thats long enough! .. At first, my Goofy lovebird would drop feathers for about a week. Now the duration seems to be around 3-4 weeks once a year. ..... 50 lovebirds worth of feathers?!!.....:omg:.....I think i'll stick to 2!........:)