No Feathers

[nicole22]

My male lovebird has been losing his feathers for approximately
two months now. Does anyone know what I can do?
He was recently in the nestbox with his clutch and I'm wondering
if it was something in the nestbox. Any help/input would be greatly
appreciated.

http://s919.beta.photobucket.com/user/donnadee5/library/no%20feathers

[linda040899]

He's missing a lot of feathers, that's for sure! Hard to say if he's plucking them or just losing them. My best suggestion is to make an appointment with your avian vet and get a professional opinion. There could be any number of reasons for this and you need to rule out medical ones. If it turns out that he's simply plucking, having him forage for his food rather than making it readily available will take up some of his idle time that he could be using to pluck his feathering, if that's the cause.

[michael]

If thats rust all around his cage then it should be replaced ASAP. Not only is rust a danger to his digestive system, but also a source of heavy metal poisoning due to loose paint. .. Either way, he definitely needs a vet exam. ......Please keep us posted.

[nicole22]

Thanks for the input. I made an observation yesterday as I was moving the birds' cages around. All of the babies, including the male have missing feathers. Guess who's the only one who doesn't have missing feathers? Yup, the female (the mommy bird). I think I'm gonna observe everyone for a while more, but she may be the culprit. LOL.

[michael]

Very good possibility. Again, please keep us posted. .......:)

[Pips mom]

Even if she's the culprit, I'd get that cage replaced asap like Michael suggested. Someone else here got a cage exactly like the one I have for Pip very cheap......in fact, the price listed online is cheaper than what I paid for Pip's five years ago! Or, if you don't have a ton of money to spend on a new cage, look at used ones being sold on craigslist. I got my tiel's cage that way, just make sure to clean well and sanitize before using. Here is the link to the cage that someone posted here...........
http://www.petco.com/product/114152/Petco-Designer-White-Finch-Flight-Cage.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductListTopRated_Bird_4-_-Petco%20Designer%20White%20Finch%20Flight%20Cage-114152
of course you'll probably have to pay shipping too, but it's still very reasonably priced.

[nicole22]

I moved him out of the cage as soon as I read the post. Thanks for the concern.