Question about my pet cockatiel?

Question

i have the sweetest little latino cockatiel who is moulting o pulling out her feathers. She seems to be stressing for some reason. Is there anything i can do or feed to her that would help?

Answer 1

Molting is a hard job.  As feathers age, they tend to fray and generally wear out.  Molting is the natural process of replacing each feather.  As the new feathers are growing in, the old feathers are being pushed out.  You can tell if a feather is naturally molted by examining the feather itself.  If the feathers shaft comes to a natural point, it has been molted out.  If a feather has been chewed you won't see a point but will see a feather that just ends somewhere in the middle with barbules around it.  

During the molting process you should see no bald or naked patches on your bird.  Feathers are molted in "tracts" so that the bird never loses its ability to self-regulate its own temperature and never loses the ability to fly.  If you are seeing feathers that are broken and/or chewed or if you are seeing bald patches on your bird, she may be chewing her feathers.  If you see no bald patches and are finding that all the feathers are intact, she is likely just molting naturally and is just removing feathers that are already (and naturally) loose.

During molting it's good to give your bird extra protein.  Boiled or scrambled eggs are usually readily eaten.  You might try a small dab of peanut butter, some cooked beans and rice (no sauce, no spices) or some lean, cooked chicken as well.

Hope this helps!  (As far as a CD of cockatiels, you might contact a cockatiel breeder and see if he or she will record the sounds of their aviary for you!)

Colette

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Parro...  

Answer 2

moulting is normal i believe. You should monitor her though to make sure she isn't intentionally trying to pull them out. A good way to tell is if she has big patches missing. Cockatiels need stimulants. Toys are great. Millet is great too. Make sure you play with her a lot outside of her cage.

Good luck to you ^-^

Answer 3

i wouldnt be concerned about moulting it is normal but to a certain extent.

There is a lot of things that can cause stress. Has she been getting enough of sleep? .  IS  her cage in a big trafic area.    

  Birds are sensitive But its not hard to fix things. Let her get at least 9 hours of sleep and move her to a low traffic are in the house. Just for a few days untll you see how she doing.

    Good luck and keep me posted.

    

Answer 4

there is some moulting vitamins available at the pet store.  it may also help to hold her and lightly stroke her feathers,  the new feathers come in wrapped in a tube like substance,  this will flake off when the new feather is ready, but it is very itchy when coming in.  check out info web sites below.

Answer 5

buy her millet              they love this        heres how it looks

http://www.petsathome.com/Assets/PetsAtH...

Answer 6

When that do that a lot of times its because they are board and that stresses them out try spending more time with her they are very social animals and they love people take her out of her cage make sure the doors are closed and ceiling fans off for safety reasons then let her be with you my little guy likes to sit on my shoulder or if I am in the recliner he goes and sits atop my big toe and sings to my other toes its so cute but they need lots of interaction also give her some time by the window sunlight is very good for them the key is stimulation and lots of it.