• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Is it feather plucking and should I be concerned?

Ninato

Moving in
Joined
6/12/21
Messages
12
Hii my pet, an baby Indian ringneck (he’s almost 4 months now) has been preening quite a lot and in the last 4-5 days he has been losing quite a lot of feathers (about 6 small feathers a day), there’s no bald spots or blood, he’s been active and acting as he always does, is this feather plucking or a possible illness and should I take him to a vet? I honestly tried to research a lot since I’m a new parrot mom but I dont think he Can molt this young.
 

Attachments

Elysian

Jogging around the block
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
7/27/20
Messages
911
Location
Kansas City, Missouri
Could be just molting?
 

Mizzely

Lil Monsters Bird Toys
Super Moderator
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
8/9/11
Messages
39,969
Location
Northern Mitten Michigan
Real Name
Shawna [she/her]
4 months is not too young to molt. Molting is a continuous process of feather replacement that starts as soon as they have their full set of feathers! So while sometimes there will be Big Molts where you wonder how he has any feathers at all, hell consistently lose feathers throughout the year too. Different things can encourage molting too - accidentally breaking a feather, a better diet, etc.

It's quite rare for a baby bird to pluck unless there is a health issue.

If he's never been to the vet, it's not a bad idea to go just do you can get established (especially since do many vets aren't accepting new patients or have 3 to 4 week waiting periods).
 

Oscarbird

Sprinting down the street
Joined
6/24/21
Messages
559
If he's never been to the vet, it's not a bad idea to go just do you can get established (especially since do many vets aren't accepting new patients or have 3 to 4 week waiting periods).
That is a great idea. It could also be dry skin. Maybe check your humidity levels they should be about 40-60%, from what I've read online.
 

Ninato

Moving in
Joined
6/12/21
Messages
12
4 months is not too young to molt. Molting is a continuous process of feather replacement that starts as soon as they have their full set of feathers! So while sometimes there will be Big Molts where you wonder how he has any feathers at all, hell consistently lose feathers throughout the year too. Different things can encourage molting too - accidentally breaking a feather, a better diet, etc.

It's quite rare for a baby bird to pluck unless there is a health issue.

If he's never been to the vet, it's not a bad idea to go just do you can get established (especially since do many vets aren't accepting new patients or have 3 to 4 week waiting periods).
Oh thank god! Thank you so much! I was kind of worried. I have an appointment with the vet soon, I’m searching for an avian vet but for now they’ll do.
 

Ninato

Moving in
Joined
6/12/21
Messages
12
That is a great idea. It could also be dry skin. Maybe check your humidity levels they should be about 40-60%, from what I've read online.
Where I live we’ve been having quite a lot of rain so the weather is mostly humid, I do check that he drinks water and has his showers.
 
Top