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Lackluster plumage

Kay Bar

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Hello everyone, hope you are well, we just adopted Oscar the mealy amazon and I'm thinking he needs some diet help, he looks dingy and a little tattered. We will be taking him to an avian vet for a check up as well, but I thought I'd ask since he just came home this morning. Thank you for any info, this is our first amazon and I've already gotten a lot of questions answered reading threads. 1498431698548865164384.jpg
 

Clueless

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Mine started that way. I give them misting showers now once a week.....changed diet to pellets and fresh food.
 

rocky'smom

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red palm oil helps a lot.
 

saroj12

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sunshine
 

Rolanda

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All of the above and LOTS OF LOVE!!!!!
 

Lady Jane

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There is a great supplement called Featheriffic sold on Amazon.
 

Mizzely

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Sunshine, good diet, and baths :)
 

melissasparrots

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Well firstly, I believe he's a mealy amazon. They are known for having a rolled in meal "flour" look to them. Some orange wings also have that look. So, that slightly dusty look on his back and wings might just be normal for him. I kind of like that look myself. That said, amazons are notorious for having vitamin A deficiencies. I'd get him going on some pellets as a main diet with seed as a minor supplement. Alternately, you can do a sprouted seed based diet, but you'll have to do some research before you can do that safely. My first amazon had a Vit. A deficiency when I got her. I started out introducing pellets and cooked sweet potato. Over the course of 2 weeks, I drastically reduced the amount of seed in her diet and increased the sprouts, pellets and orange and green veggies. It was a night and day difference in the bird. Diet made a bigger difference in feather quality and color than multiple baths did. Amazons simply need vegetables and fresh food to be a significant portion of their diet. Pellets are better than seed, but nothing replaces fresh food. I'd shoot for fresh being at least 25% of the diet if not more. Mine get about 50% pellets and the remainder in about equal parts sprouted seeds and fresh or cooked veggies. At the moment, they are getting hardly any dry seed.
 

Kay Bar

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He was on a mostly seed diet, he loves the zupreem that I gave him, so far we're not too hot on fresh, hopefully when he gets to know and trust us more he'll accept some different food. I hadn't read that about mealys feathers being dusty, good to know, he is a handsome boy with a wonderful soft expression, very polite about warning without a bite and really likes attention. He was also very talkative at his previous home, he hasn't said much here, but that's not surprising, I think he's settling in well today. We are definitely enamored with this fellow!
 

melissasparrots

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I'm not sure they are dusty so much as they look dusty. All parrots are dusty but amazons aren't as bad as some. Some mealies just have a grayish tint to their back feathers. If he's been on mostly seed, then he probably does have a vit A deficiency and might be in the early stages of fatty liver disease. I'd shoot for keeping him on a low fat, low oil diet with pellets as a base and as much fresh as you can get him to eat. Consider a blood chemistry at his vet check.
 

Kay Bar

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That's what I was thinking, he's about 11, so probably a good time for a good check up and panel anyway. He seems to be getting happier by the hour, he's getting more animated and talkative. I don't know how many homes he's been through previously, but he has his furfeather home now ❤❤❤
 

macawpower58

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My Mealy also has a more drab appearance. Not a lot of shine on Mealy's, they have a more subdued color than other birds.

Lots of bathing and a good diet will keep him looking great, but you may never see that iridescent glow some parrots have.
 

Kay Bar

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Whatever color he is is fine as long as he's healthy :D
 
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