Bloody Head Feathers

[miya]

Hey all. So not too long ago Kiwi was having a bad molt. He got through it okay but recently he's starting shedding head feathers again. When I pulled their cover off this morning I noticed his head feathers looked a total mess (on the back of his head they're sticking out at an angle and won't lay flat) and later today I noticed he has some dried blood on his head feathers. I'm not sure if he scratched the blood out of himself by accident or what..

Is there anything I can do to help him? He isn't actively bleeding. Unfortunately I've been having severe issues getting my budgies to bathe. They're scared of the shallow dish I use unless I set it on top of their cage and if they do perch on it, they only drink out of it, not get in it to wash

 

[saroj12]

Are they caged together? Some bullying going on?

 

[miya]

Yes they are caged together but they get along very well for the most part, only some occasional squabbling that's never gotten bad.
He has been scratching his head a lot lately with his feet so I'm thinking it's related to the head feather molt..

 

[miya]

Forgot to mention he's also shedding some feathers on his back and some of the shorter more downy-like feathers on his wings at the moment. No bald spots. Behavior is normal (flying, singing, eats typical amount etc). Neither of them like to be scratched but he did let me briefly gloss over the back of his head with my finger to feel the spot where there's some dried blood before the "no touchy" attitude kicked in. I figured this is all just bad molt = too much itching = scratching = blood.. I don't THINK it's mites? But of course I'm no expert..

 

[Gazimon]

My budgies don't seem to dunk in water dishes either, so I mist them with a spray bottle.

 

[Lady Jane]

Two things. Please get a close up photo of his head to post here for us to see. When my male Murphy was molting head feathers he would rub is head on perches or anything else he chose to relieve the itching. He rubbed so hard he scratched the skin and make it bleed, thus bloody head feathers. What did I do? I made a weak solution of aloe and water and put it on his skin when he had lots of pinnies on his head and gave him more spritz baths. Would also catch him and pinch the pinnies that were dry to get the sheath removed. Yes, he hated this but it had to be done. Have not had to do this for a good while now but it seemed to solve the problem.

 

[miya]

I will try to snap some photos of him later tonight once I'm home! I'm surprised by how sudden it is, he looked fine the day before then the next morning he had those dried bloody spots Poor guy, I know it has to be uncomfortable at the bare minimum. I'm stopping by the store after work to get a spray bottle so I can work on misting him. @Lady Jane , what type of aloe did you mix to use on Murphy? Does it need to be fresh aloe or would something bottled or a gel be sufficient?

Also, can you explain the pinching a bit more? I've read a bit about it but I haven't attempted it before. Is the feather plucked out entirely to remove the sheath? I'm worried about potentially hurting him or making him bleed (or making the issue worse) if I don't do it correctly..

 

[Lady Jane]

If you bird has never been spritzed before go slowly. Have a bottle with a fine mist spray like the ones sold for lizards and such. They are small bottles. At first just let the bird hear the sound of the spray and look at the bottle for a while. The with warm water let your bird watch you spray your arm a bit and then try to get a bit of spray on him or her. Its a process and eventually the birds will like it. I noticed when I got Murphy's head wet the skin irritation looked worse but after drying it was better. I suggest aloe from a leaf if you have the plant. If not I used aloe gel sold in the drug store. Used a Q tip and stirred a few drops into a tsp of water. Then I went over the area where the skin is irritated. Aloe can help to relieve the itching and heal the skin. I think I did this at least twice a day for a few days.

When a pin feather is in a sheath it is very sensitive to the bird. At this point it is not ready. When the sheath dries out you can roll it between two fingers and you will see the flakes fall like snow from the sheaths.

Trained Parrot Blog - How to Scratch Open Parrot Pin Feathers

 

[saroj12]

Don’t pluck the feather out

 

[miya]

Don’t pluck the feather out

Thank goodness, this was the answer I was hoping for

I found a small sprayer bottle on the way home and I've tried using that with some lukewarm water; it comes out as a mist when you spray on its own. They aren't used to being sprayed unfortunately so I think this may take a while.. I did spray a couple times when I got home near them (not in the face) and got a bit on the top of the head/on the wing in the process so they have experienced it now.. They did scurry away after a few sprays but at least they didn't freak out, so that's better than I was expecting. They started scratching a lot after that bit of mist so I think they're super itchy

Tried snapping some photos but they didn't turn out very nice and weren't super close-up, but hopefully they will help even a bit. Will post momentarily.

 

[miya]

Where he has that little "mohawk" on the side of his head is the area where the feathers are sticking up on their own on the sides/on the back of his head and where a lot of the dried blood is.

 

[Lady Jane]

Hard to tell. Can you get photos in natural light?

 

[miya]

I figured! I'll keep trying. I've been using lamplight since it's dark outside at the moment but I can hopefully get some new pics in the morning since I'll have some actual sunlight to work with

 

[Monica]

Baths may help, too. You just have to figure out how they like to bathe!

You could try providing bathing opportunities in different ways. Here's some ideas!

• Try luke-warm water
• Try cold water
• Try ice-cold water
• Try a spray bottle
• Try a plant mister
• Try in the sink with the water running or just some water in the bottom
• Try in the sink with the sprayer
• Try in the tub with some water in the bottom
• Try a casserole dish or similar with some water
• Try the dish with ice
• Try the dish with foot toys
• Try the dish with some small rocks or pebbles
• Try the dish with some leafy greens like endive or other types of lettuces that may create a "natural" bowl
• Try the dish with a vacuum cleaner running
• Try in the shower with you - watching you having a blast getting wet!
• Try dancing the bird into the shower with the water already going
• Try spritzing yourself, and have fun doing it! Then spritz the bird
• Try outside in an empty cage large enough to spread wings during a nice rain shower
• Try outside in an empty cage using the hose with a mist/shower attachment
• Try playing videos of other birds bathing

Budgies in particular may enjoy a bowl of leafy greens, or leafy greens attached to the side of the cage and misted or perhaps a bowl on the inside of the cage. Below is a video of a budgie taking a bath with greens in the water. You can also try using toys, ice cubes, running the vacuum, putting on a video of the sound of rain...