If she was a plucker .....

[cece4]

Wouldnt I have seen her doing it by now? Ive had her a week and not a feather on the bottom of the cage nor have I seen do anything but what appears to be normal preening..Maybe just a really heavy molt not sure how to account for all the tail feathers off, they look broken off not plucked though.
Anyone got experience with this?
I still havent found an Avian vet aside from K State.

 

[atvchick95]

you can usually tell when its plucking VS molting
Even if they were a plucker in the past and had stopped and the feathers are growing back, it'll look like peach fuzz on them where they pluck instead of feathers,

Tails being broken off is common Speically with conures since they play so much and love to hang up side down

one of the main causes of a tail breaking off is a cage is too small, but I've had birds in cages 5xs bigger than the recommended cage size and they still broke their tail feathers from playing hard. and one was a budgie who'd prefer to Mate the cage bars then his woman.

 

[Tielygirl]

how big is her cage?
You wouldn't always see her doing it. when Shadow started I only saw bald patches she would never do it in front of me first.

Could it be that maybe she feels that shes in a new environment and so wont pick until she gets comfortable. its possible. I would try getting a bigger cage, adding more toys, etc modifying her diet (add more fresh into it if not as many now).. Then wait and see how it goes. with plucking you wont have any instant answers at all. everything will take time. Expect months, not days.

 

[cece4]

The lady had told me that she was mating with her ladder and thats why her tail was bare.I didnt really know if I believed her but maybe that was true.I didnt put the ladder back in her cage.I have no idea what size cage she was in.I dont know if she gave me a cage she had kept outside(full of leaves and dirt) or if the bird was kept outside.So many things dont add up.I guess I will wait and see and hope every thing works out.Im pretty happy with her progress as far as trusting me goes though..Not the nipping part.Bean never ever nipped from day one.Gabby doesnt nip either she just rips into me like im her dinner(LOL)..

When I first got Bean from the petstore he was 4mnths old and all his tail feathers were broken off plus he had those black stress bars.It didnt take him long to get good and healthy and have a full tail though so Im hoping Tink will be just as easy.

 

[atvchick95]

the tail could very well be messed up from mating a ladder

this is my budgies tail - the one I said would rather Mate the cage bars than his mate - when he does it he puts his tail through the bars and proceeds to mate the bars which in turn rubs his tail feathers against the bars of the cage

Once he's out and not in a breeding cage usually in a couple weeks he has his nice pretty long tail back But give him a woman and he does not have a clue what to to lol( he did mate with her once then went straight back to the cage bars when he was done

this pic is taken after removing him from breeding - the bars in the breeding cage go Up and down not side to side

 

[CeddysMum]

The lady had told me that she was mating with her ladder and thats why her tail was bare.I didnt really know if I believed her but maybe that was true. ...

Anything is possible. Alexandrines are supposed to have very long tails. Ceddy's cage is large enough to accommodate it. It took me quite a while to realise why her tail keeps breaking half way up ... for a long time she slept with her tail sticking out the cage bars, no matter where she decided to sleep . She hasn't done that in a while so I'm hoping that her tail will be 'normal' for at least while longer after this current moult .

 

[cece4]

Birds sure can be wierd cant they..I guess we take them out of their natural enviroment and they just adapt best they can and sometimes develop strange habits.Gabby always does her mating thing in her tent thingy, we call it her "Happy hut" now(LOL).First time she did that I thought she had her claws or something caught in the fabric but when it kept happening(she gets loud) I figured it out.Kinda embarrassing to explain to the kids too.

 

[NikkiLS]

Out Tiel Elmo and our other tiel Snowball both broke all of their tail feathers off. I guess young Tiels are known to beat up their tails. They are just now starting to grow new tail feathers which I found pretty exciting!