Budgie plucking?

[Wannabirb?]

It has been 2 weeks since I brung my budgies home, they seemed quite normal until 3 days ago my female budgie started plucking (at least I think she is). She became more scared of me than she was in the first 2 weeks but now she only comes near me when I have food. She also became more aggressive towards my other budgie and tries to fight him when she sees that he’s getting more food and they aren’t grooming each other like before. Is there any to prevent plucking and is plucking necessarily bad for their health, how do I make her feel more comfortable? Will extra treats and space help? This is my first time owning birds and I don’t know what to do, any help would be amazing.

 

[Sparkles99]

We need pictures of the birds & suspected plucking areas & pictures of the supposedly plucked feathers. That way, some members here who are experienced in plucking can say for certain whether or not it is plucking.

It’s possibly plucking, of course, but in a budgie, especially a young one, it’s more likely to be moulting. All of mine are moulting right now! I’ll sweep, turn around & there on the floor will be an explosion of feathers.

 

[Wannabirb?]

Shes plucking under the feathers and I don’t think I can take a picture, I am not 100% sure if she is plucking but she is also way more aggressive towards my other budgie. Whenever I give them treats, she sometimes bites him, I don’t want this behaviour to become to extreme especially since they sometimes still preen each other.

 

[Sparkles99]

Sounds like she’s preening & may be grumpy. Just a photo of both of them would really help!

 

[LiveLolBrd]

If the female is being mean to your other budgie I highly suggest putting them in separate cages. Also, if your female is molting that could be why she is grumpy because she is using a lot of energy on her feathers.

 

[Wannabirb?]

Sounds like she’s preening & may be grumpy. Just a photo of both of them would really help!

If the female is being mean to your other budgie I highly suggest putting them in separate cages. Also, if your female is molting that could be why she is grumpy because she is using a lot of energy on her feathers.

Thank you so much, the female is only mean to the other budgie when it comes to food or when they are stepping on each other.
I’ll try to get a picture of both of them tomorrow.

 

[LiveLolBrd]

Thank you so much, the female is only mean to the other budgie when it comes to food or when they are stepping on each other.
I’ll try to get a picture of both of them tomorrow.

do they have their own food bowls or do they share one?

 

[Wannabirb?]

do they have their own food bowls or do they share one?

They share a food bowl but I haven’t seen them fight about it, it is only when I am giving treats and when they get into each other’s way they start nipping. Then after they finish they act like they love each other dearly.

 

[LiveLolBrd]

They share a food bowl but I haven’t seen them fight about it, it is only when I am giving treats and when they get into each other’s way they start nipping. Then after they finish they act like they love each other dearly.

My two birds did that as well. I found that is helpful to separate them but put cages close to each other. Or if you can't buy another cage right now, Get another food bowl and when giving treats be sure you give equal amounts to both birds.

 

[erynez888]

Extra space could help, but also try spending some quiet time near her without forcing interaction. She might feel more comfortable if she can approach you on her own terms. Offering healthy treats and variety in their diet can help too, as well as making sure they have enough toys and things to keep them busy. It’s important to keep the environment calm so she doesn’t feel threatened.

 

[AussieBird]

Moulting budgies can be grumpy budgies. Female budgies also tend to be bossy.
Do you see pin feathers on her? That's your biggest indicator it's moulting, along with the floor looking like a feather explosion
Plucking in budgies is not really very common, and honestly if you truly believe it is plucking, then you need a vet check up to be sure there's not a medical cause.

 

[GreenThing]

Shes plucking under the feathers and I don’t think I can take a picture, I am not 100% sure if she is plucking but she is also way more aggressive towards my other budgie. Whenever I give them treats, she sometimes bites him, I don’t want this behaviour to become to extreme especially since they sometimes still preen each other.

When you say "biting" do you mean making actual contact, or is she making open-beaked lunges to drive him away from the thing she wants? Does he obey and back off? A little pushiness from females (or pushy budgies in general) is normal. Every night my boy thinks he's going to get the good perch, and every night I hear flapping and waaahing as Margo tells him, "You fool".

Plucking will become obvious eventually because it will leave bare spots and, as someone mentioned, you won't see pin feathers. You can also look for bits of translucent dust/flakes (the shed keratin from the pins) at the bottom of the cage.

 

[Wannabirb?]

Sounds like she’s preening & may be grumpy. Just a photo of both of them would really help!

Sorry for the late reply, they probably were just preening or molting (may have over reacted). Thanks for the reply

 

[Wannabirb?]

My two birds did that as well. I found that is helpful to separate them but put cages close to each other. Or if you can't buy another cage right now, Get another food bowl and when giving treats be sure you give equal amounts to both birds.

They seem much more peaceful with the food, I am trying to give both of the birdies equal amounts of treat but green is much more friendly with me so he usually finishes most of the treat before blue has a chance to take some. I’m working on joining with blue right now.

 

[Wannabirb?]

When you say "biting" do you mean making actual contact, or is she making open-beaked lunges to drive him away from the thing she wants? Does he obey and back off? A little pushiness from females (or pushy budgies in general) is normal. Every night my boy thinks he's going to get the good perch, and every night I hear flapping and waaahing as Margo tells him, "You fool".

Plucking will become obvious eventually because it will leave bare spots and, as someone mentioned, you won't see pin feathers. You can also look for bits of translucent dust/flakes (the shed keratin from the pins) at the bottom of the cage.

Thank you for the reply! Blue usually just lunges at green and hisses at him, not really biting though green doesn’t get the hint that she want him to share treats (he hogs it all). I do think that they are just molting and there has been so much feathers sticking to everything. They have been ‘plucking’ less and fighting less.

 

[Wannabirb?]

Extra space could help, but also try spending some quiet time near her without forcing interaction. She might feel more comfortable if she can approach you on her own terms. Offering healthy treats and variety in their diet can help too, as well as making sure they have enough toys and things to keep them busy. It’s important to keep the environment calm so she doesn’t feel threatened.

I like feeding them out of my hand and softly talking or humming tunes to them, to my surprise I’ve seen green bobbing up and down and their bond with me had definitely gone up !

 

[Wannabirb?]

Really sorry about the late responses, I’ll be taking a break from AA.

 

[Emma&pico]

Really sorry about the late responses, I’ll be taking a break from AA.

Hope your ok