Rescue cockatiel plucking

[kanth]

I just got a pair of rescue tiels, both female. One of them is lively, friendly, always runs out of the cage excitedly when I open it, etc. But the other one almost never leaves the cage & doesn’t really get excited about anything. I found a feather at the bottom of their cage yesterday, at first I thought it might be a blood feather because there was blood at the tip so I checked both tiels & they were fine, no bleeding. But I think one might be plucking. Her feathers are ratty/not full, and I found a scab on her wing where the feather was pulled out. I took them to the vet the day I got them & they’re both healthy, besides vitamin deficiency & the non plucking one is overweight. But the vet appointment was before the bloody feather & I realized she might be plucking, I thought her feathers were ratty from never being bathed at first so I didn’t ask about her feathers at the vet. The vet is an hour and a half away and the cockatiel hates the travel cage so I don’t want to go again right now, give her a break from the stress for a week or two. Any advice for a plucker? I have minimal experience with plucking. I have a pair of rescue lovebirds, one of them plucks on a very small scale from being hormonal in breeding season & a gcc who occasionally plucks feathers around his pin feathers during molting. But both of those are different from this situation- the gcc gets anti inflammatory meds as needed during molting & the lovebird gets lots of shredding toys, easy fixes.

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Your tiel’s feathers do look very thin in spots and unkept. What type of tests did the vet run? It doesn’t really look like plucking to me, but more like something else is going on. It could be a disease or something else like vitamin A deficiency. Maybe you can call the vet, show the pictures, and ask what they think. Congratulations on your new birds btw!

 

[rocky'smom]

What is their diet like?

 

[kanth]

The vet didn't run any tests. She usually does with first checkups but the bird was freaking out so we decided to wait, I've never done that but the previous owner told me she's never left the cage before, now shes being put in a travel cage & at the vet being closer to humans than she's ever been- I should've let them settle in for a few days or a week before the checkup. She has vitamin deficiency, she's never eaten anything except sunflower seeds & corn. Her & the other tiel are already completely adjusted to harrisons pellets, and they're trying some fresh foods & tops pellets. Since the original post I have seen her pluck. She's starting to trust me and let me look a little closer, and there are little bald spots hidden among her wings & back. The other cockatiel looks a bit unkept but no bald spots/thin feathers.

 

[sunnysmom]

I'm wondering if her feathers look bad due to her diet, etc.

@enigma731 ?

 

[enigma731]

That doesn't look like a plucked feather to me, it looks like one that got caught on something. Are you finding other feathers? Does she have bald spots?

 

[kanth]

Update..I named them Evey & Padme. The one I thought was plucking is Padme. I separated them, I can’t 100% tell if they’re bonded yet but I don’t think so, just good friends/playmates. I think evey was overpreening padme or something like that. They’re doing much better now, their cages are stacked on top of each other so they still see each other a lot. Padme still hasn’t left her cage but she sits by the open door, and evey always comes to play with her. They’re both eating a lot more than they were before, I had 2 food/water bowls so they were getting enough food before, but only really eating pellets and there was usually some leftover. I left for a few hours and came home and both of their food bowls were empty. No veggies, fruits, pellets, or seeds left. Obviously I’ll start putting more in the food bowl but it’s a good sign. They’ve been bathing, foraging, and playing more. Padme’s feathers still look a little ratty/thin but it hasn’t been very long, I think they’ll get better soon. I did find a couple more bald spots, so there’s 3 small ones on her wings & one medium one on her chest. She has a vet appointment soon, I’m getting her used to the travel cage so she won’t freak out so much this time.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Great update!