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Are these stress bars?

Raven234

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I had my little conure for about 3 months now and I started to notice his feathers are turning black in some areas. So I looked at pictures from when I first got him to now. I dont know if it's his diet or if he is stressed. I feed him pellets and fruits. H Snapchat-391708756.jpg e refuses to eat his veggies and sprouts.
 

painesgrey

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They look more like bronzing (damage to the edges of the feather). Stress bars usually occur within the length of the feather as it's developing, whereas bronzing is caused by damage to the edges of the feather.

Bronzing happens for a few different reasons. It can be due to normal wear and tear from activities - playing on their backs, rubbing up against cage bars and toys, etc. It can also be due to a bit of over-preening of some feathers. Poor feather structure can exacerbate these and make the bronzing occur more rapidly.

In all three of my birds, their first feathers were always a bit more ratty. Once they went through their first major molt with me, their feathers came out looking fine.

Have you taken your little guy to the vet? A vet can usually quickly determine whether this is normal wear and tear or if it's indicative of a nutritional or other problem.
 

Raven234

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They look more like bronzing (damage to the edges of the feather). Stress bars usually occur within the length of the feather as it's developing, whereas bronzing is caused by damage to the edges of the feather.

Bronzing happens for a few different reasons. It can be due to normal wear and tear from activities - playing on their backs, rubbing up against cage bars and toys, etc. It can also be due to a bit of over-preening of some feathers. Poor feather structure can exacerbate these and make the bronzing occur more rapidly.

In all three of my birds, their first feathers were always a bit more ratty. Once they went through their first major molt with me, their feathers came out looking fine.

Have you taken your little guy to the vet? A vet can usually quickly determine whether this is normal wear and tear or if it's indicative of a nutritional or other problem.
Thank you for responding. I have taken him to the vet and they are happy with his diet. They told me he is healthy but I am still concerned. Maybe I'm just being a birdie mom and worrying for nothing
 

Fuzzy

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Looks like bronzing to me too. Kobe (Pionus) used to get that when I handled him too much. If you must handle him, make sure your hands are clean and free of handcream since oils on the hands can be responsible.
 

Shezbug

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I agree that it looks like bronzing.
 
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