Head Feather Concern

[miya]

Hi everyone! A couple months ago my budgies had their first molt and lost just about all of their little forehead bars. I noticed this week they've been having some changes around the face, mainly the forehead and eye area. These are my first birds so I'm not sure if this is something I need to worry about, so thought I'd check in with the experts on here before I drive myself crazy fretting over them

Unfortunately my little guys freak out if I get too close with a camera so I'm trying to (for now) just work on describing it. Hopefully I can get some decent shots to show you what I mean. But anyway, the birds are acting normal. Eating, poop is fine, lots of noise, flying fine, etc. I noticed that around the eyes (near the corner toward the cere/beak) they have some little feather patches that look.. I guess, for lack of a better adjective, rough? I can't tell if it's the start of more little black bar colorings or if it's a weird texture kind of thing. It has the same texture like the feathers on the top of their head when they stick up a little (doesn't lay flat like their other feathers), but has the coloring like someone took a pen and made a bunch of dots on a piece of paper. One of them also is missing feathers just a bit above the cere? Like a little v-shaped bald spot, I can see down to what I guess is skin because it's this little flesh colored v. They aren't molting right now, just a couple feathers here and there, so I'm not sure what's going on.

Edit: forgot to mention age just in case that may be a factor, I got them in June and they were estimated to be 3-4 months at the time. Had their first big molt in August/September-ish.

Any thoughts?

 

[Shezbug]

Not sure without seeing them but with Burt's newer feathers they seem to look a little iffy until ALL the sheath has come away. Some of his new feathers have a tiny bit of the sheath still on them close to the skin and that causes the feathers to not sit nicely and they look like there is something wrong with them as they are not all smooth and neat. Could it be that there is still a little bit of the sheath near the skin?

 

[Fergus Mom]

I'll have to leave this to folks with more experience on molting, etc. Maybe @PoukieBear @Budgiebonkers or @Lady Jane will be able to help. Honestly my vision is not 20/20, so sometimes I get the magnifying glass to check my budgies in the cage. I'm sure they think I am a real nut, with my one HUGE eye staring at them, but they seem to be more or less used to it by now!

 

[Lady Jane]

My male budgie has horrific molts on head and near cere. I took him to the vet it looked so bad. It was a group of pin feathers that bothered him so much he was rubbing the forehead area on perches causing his skin to bleed and scab over. Without a photo it's hard to tell about yours. Now I have to catch him when the pin feathers are mature and break them up so he won't rub. He hates me doing that. My birds do not groom each other.

Have you noticed your birds rubbing the area?

 

[JLcribber]

lost just about all of their little forehead bars. I noticed this week they've been having some changes around the face, mainly the forehead and eye area.

That means your bird is growing up into an adult. Nothing to panic about.

 

[miya]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Could it be that there is still a little bit of the sheath near the skin?

Ah, perhaps! I didn't think of that. To be honest, I haven't seen any iffy patches/little bald spots like this before even when they had their first major molt..

Honestly my vision is not 20/20, so sometimes I get the magnifying glass to check my budgies in the cage. I'm sure they think I am a real nut, with my one HUGE eye staring at them, but they seem to be more or less used to it by now!

Omg, I probably need to try this! I have suuuper crummy vision even with my glasses/contact lenses.

My birds do not groom each other. Have you noticed your birds rubbing the area?

I haven't really seen mine grooming each other either but sometimes they play this weird game where they boop each other on the beak On the plus side, I haven't seen them scratching a ton or rubbing their faces on things.

I did manage to get some photos! Not great ones, but it's at least a start. I noticed the little v-shaped bald spot on Kiwi's forehead now has little black dots within it so I think it's some feathers struggling a bit to come in.. PS, sorry for the giant hands! Had to use food as bait/distraction to get the camera into their faces

June's (blue budgie) isn't as bad but he does have a little patch of the same feather issue between the cere and his eye..

 

[Fergus Mom]

Awwww @miya - Huge hands or no, they sure are some cuties!
It looks like molting to me, but I am so unfamiliar with diseases, or other maladies that
I could be way off base, just to let you know!

 

[DancingBudgies]

I agree with @Fergus Mom that they look like their molting. My budgie has similer rough spots and when I look closely there are lots of small pin feathers. I'm not an expert but from the pictures it seems like pin feathers.

 

[miya]

Awwww @miya - Huge hands or no, they sure are some cuties!
It looks like molting to me, but I am so unfamiliar with diseases, or other maladies that
I could be way off base, just to let you know!

Aww shucks, thanks a ton!! They're honestly a mess.. but I love them so much and don't know what I'd do without them I'm definitely not a pro at diseases either! That's probably why I partial-panicked, like, omg this doesn't look like their previous feathers during a molt aRE THEY OKAY GOTTA ASK THE INTERNET.

I agree with @Fergus Mom that they look like their molting. My budgie has similer rough spots and when I look closely there are lots of small pin feathers. I'm not an expert but from the pictures it seems like pin feathers.

Well it's good to know mine aren't the only one! Is there a point at which I need to be worried about pin feathers? Like I'm assuming the new feathers will grow out.. But is there a "okay this getting prettyyy bad" point that I need to be aware of?

Also, these two are so much smarter than me!! I let them out of the cage this morning while I did some cleaning and such, left the room for a sec to go throw something away.. I came back and they landed on my dresser where I had left their millet bag. I had left it open since I had just fed them a few minutes prior.. I came in and they had stuck themselves halfway into the bag to chow down! Like a birdie buffet

 

[JLcribber]

But is there a "okay this getting prettyyy bad" point that I need to be aware of?

Nope. They can't grow more feathers than they have follicles.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Also, these two are so much smarter than me!! I let them out of the cage this morning while I did some cleaning and such, left the room for a sec to go throw something away.. I came back and they landed on my dresser where I had left their millet bag. I had left it open since I had just fed them a few minutes prior.. I came in and they had stuck themselves halfway into the bag to chow down! Like a birdie buffet

That is hilarious! I just knew that would be the ticket to getting mine in that dang travel cage (eventually)... So I covered it in millet and am still hoping. So far, they get ON it, but not IN it!

Birdie Buffet - now that's funny!

 

[DancingBudgies]

Well it's good to know mine aren't the only one! Is there a point at which I need to be worried about pin feathers? Like I'm assuming the new feathers will grow out.. But is there a "okay this getting prettyyy bad" point that I need to be aware of?

Also, these two are so much smarter than me!! I let them out of the cage this morning while I did some cleaning and such, left the room for a sec to go throw something away.. I came back and they landed on my dresser where I had left their millet bag. I had left it open since I had just fed them a few minutes prior.. I came in and they had stuck themselves halfway into the bag to chow down! Like a birdie buffet

From what I understand, there is no bad point in molting. As long as their not pulling pin feathers out or damaging them, molting is just a normal stage of a birds life. So no worries! Also, if they will allow you to, please give them regular baths, and scritches to help them with their possible ichiness, also, thats what my bird does every time! I tell my older sister to keep watch of her and when I come back, there it's already too late to save the millet stalk...

 

[miya]

Good news is, it looks like you guys were all right, it's just been a crummy molt for them! The spots are finally filling in and not looking as rough.

Also, if they will allow you to, please give them regular baths, and scritches to help them with their possible ichiness

Oh man! I really wish mine liked being scratched. I'm still trying to get them used to being petted but they don't seem to like it (I've managed to brush against their wing or chest a couple times but any head-touch attempts get my fingers nipped!). Any tips for bathing too? Mine drink out of their water dish but otherwise have very little interest in water in general

 

[DancingBudgies]

Oh man! I really wish mine liked being scratched. I'm still trying to get them used to being petted but they don't seem to like it (I've managed to brush against their wing or chest a couple times but any head-touch attempts get my fingers nipped!). Any tips for bathing too? Mine drink out of their water dish but otherwise have very little interest in water in general

Well, if they nipp softly then they might just want to not be touched then. I would recommend to try to scritch them when they are trying to scratch themselves, like when they are scratching their heads with their feet. That's the only time my bird will let me take over. Also, for the bath part, parrots know when thry want a bath. You could know they want a bath if they are sitting in their water bowl. Or if you don't think they will show any signs of wanting a bath you can look for if they are getting their feathers dusty/dirty. At that time you could take some lukewarm water in a shallow plate and put it on the bottom of their cage. Parakeets are naturally curious so they should check it out sooner or later, if they want to bathe they will, if they don't, you can't force them (but you could bribe them by putting things in the water like millet, nutriberries etc.) If your birds like being outside, you could do the same thing outside, just make sure the room is warm so that the birds don't get a cold. Good Luck!