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Molting advice?

HeatherD

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My pionus is almost a year and a half old, but she hasn't gone through a "big" molt, and she's not really moulting right now. She replaced some feathers in the past 1-2 months, but not as many as I would've expected.

The last vet appointment was about 2 months ago. She was in good shape for the physical exam, no issues with CBC or chem profile. Not overweight. But she has some black-edged feathers that worry me, so I'm anxious to see if she goes to normal feathers with a few diet changes I made to hopefully address that. Even more worrying that she's not molting them out.

Should I be worried? Is there something that's recommended (besides adding more protein, calcium, vitamin A to the diet) that could help with this?

Thanks for your help
 

expressmailtome

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Shezbug

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The black bits on the edges of the feathers is often where the feathers have been worn.
If you can get a picture and post it then maybe some members could let you know if the black you’re seeing is bronzing or something else.
 

HeatherD

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Yeah I would imagine the black is from feather wear, especially since pionus parrots don't have a preening gland. However, my understanding is that most birds will not have significant black feather edges unless there is something wrong with health or nutrition. She molted out some of the bad chest feathers, but her wings still seem to have an unusually high amount of the black. The blue feathers coming in at her crown look good, though. Maybe I just need to wait longer for it to normalize, I don't know. Attached is a photo from today. She's really active and she passes the vet exams so maybe she's completely fine, but the feathers still worry me.
Clover_Feathers.jpg
 

Jussara

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[QUOTE = "HeatherD, post: 3141044, membro: 27633"]
Meu pionus tem quase um ano e meio de idade, mas ela não passou por uma "grande" muda, e ela não está realmente mudando agora. Ela substituiu algumas penas nos últimos 1-2 meses, mas não tantas quanto eu esperava.

A última consulta veterinária foi há cerca de 2 meses. Ela estava em boa forma para o exame físico, sem problemas com CBC ou perfil químico. Sem excesso de peso. Mas ela tem algumas penas de gume preto que me preocupam, então estou ansioso para ver se ela vai para as penas normais com algumas mudanças na dieta que fiz para, esperançosamente, resolver isso. Ainda mais preocupante que ela não esteja mudando.

Eu deveria estar preocupado? Existe algo recomendado (além de adicionar mais proteínas, cálcio, vitamina A à dieta) que possa ajudar com isso?

Obrigado pela ajuda
[/CITAR]


Olá como vai você? Olha, meu papagaio também está pegando as penas, elas ficam pretas, descoloridas, a princípio as penas verdes ficam azuis e logo aparecem manchas pretas. Estou estudando muito sobre isso, sei que eles geralmente vêm da falta de nutrientes ou são da Stress Bar, e as penas estão aumentando a cor preta. Mas tento alimentá-lo da melhor maneira possível e ele aceita bem as variedades. (cenoura crua é sempre uma peça variada, fatia, fatias ou ralada. Pepino, couve, couve, batata doce pré-cozida, ovo cozido, casca de ovo cozida e desfiada como um suplemento de cálcio, maçã, banana, coco e maracujá que ele mais ele ama, chili ele ama as sementes, jilo, feijão cru, laranja.Eu sempre tento variar, além da ração de paletes extrudadas que é o principal alimento, semente de girassol que só dou quando treino, eu dou como recompensa, ele come variedade de comida que sacia bem a fome e come bem). Mas percebo que suas penas de asa em decomposição pararam de crescer, não sei se as pretas são velhas e ele, como ele tem o costume de cutucá-las, quebrou e separou as barbas das penas, evitando circulação e deixando descolorido. Eu adoraria uma ajuda. Agradeço a todos !!!!
 

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Jussara

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Sorry if it was hard to understand what I was saying, I'm from Brazil and I don't speak English
 

Jussara

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My parrot's feathers are turning dark, discolored, at first the feathers that are green turn blue and soon black spots appear. I'm studying a lot about it, I know that they usually come from lack of nutrients or are from stress bars. But I try to feed him the best possible and he accepts the varieties well. (raw carrot is always vario piece, slice, slices or grated. Cucumber, cabbage, cabbage, pre-cooked sweet potato, boiled egg, boiled and shredded eggshell as a supplement of calcium, apple, banana, coconut and passion fruit that he more (he loves pepper, he loves seeds, jilo, orange. I always try to vary, besides the extruded pallet feed which is the main food, as he eats variety of foods he satisfies hunger well, and eats well). But I realize that his molting wing feathers have stopped growing, I don't know if those that are black are old feathers and he, as he has a custom to poke to clean them, broke and separated the beards from the feathers avoiding circulation and leaving discolored. I would love a help. I thank you all !!!!
 

KiwiandLemony

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Here is a translation to English from @Jussara, you have nothing to apologize for it’s totally fine-

“Hello how are you? Look, my parrot is also catching the feathers, they turn black, discolored, at first the green feathers turn blue and soon black spots appear. I'm studying a lot about it, I know they usually come from lack of nutrients or are from Stress Bar, and the feathers are increasing the color black. But I try to feed him the best he can and he accepts the varieties well. (Raw carrot is always a varied piece, slice, sliced or grated. Cucumber, kale, kale, precooked sweet potato, boiled egg, boiled and shredded eggshell as a supplement of calcium, apple, banana, coconut and passion fruit he loves more, chili he loves seeds, jilo, raw beans, orange.I always try to vary, besides the extruded pallet ration which is the main food, sunflower seed that I only give when I train, I give as a reward, he eat variety of food that satisfies hunger well and eats well). But I realize that his decaying wing feathers have stopped growing, I do not know if the black ones are old and he, as he has the habit of poking them, broke and separated the beards from the feathers, preventing circulation and leaving it discolored. I would love a help. I thank everyone !!!!”
 

Leih

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The black spots happen in conures, too, my black capped conure has it. I've been told it's called "bronzing" and just something that happens when the feathers get older. Some species will molt once a year and others 2x. Your vet hasn't said anything about them? Can you give them a call and inquire? Here's a pic of my conure with bronzing.

20191124_165233.jpg
 

HeatherD

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Sorry I just saw this reply.

From what I’ve read (I wish I could find one of the online references but the links are on my boxed-up pc), black-edged feathers only occur due to nutritional deficiency, and are almost always linked to the onset of fatty liver disease. I would be sure to get a cbc and chem profile check done on the bird, and pay close attention to the chem profile results. It is very easy to overfeed things like fruit and eggs, which can result in a dangerous condition for the bird if not corrected. If diet modifications are made, then the birds usually recover quickly if it’s not too bad yet. I would not trust any vet who tells you that black edges are stress banding. Stress banding will be a different color. Sometimes a bird’s feather can simply become damaged, but if you see a lot of black edges, check everything. People usually are overfeeding sugar and fat, and often underfeeding sources of calcium. Even if you feed a lot of calcium, it will not be absorbed if your bird doesn’t get vitamin D3 from sunlight (multiple hours per week sun exposure), live or freeze-dried mealworms, or pellets. I recommend always using some pellets in the bird’s diet unless you are a nutrition expert. Many people kill their birds accidentally by things like phosphorus/calcium imbalance, and stuff you wouldn’t even think of. I had to research this very heavily after a bird store told me to feed no pellets, but my bird encountered feathering issues. Hopefully that helps
 
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