Needing some help with my birds behavior

[Gabby_l7]

Hi I was wondering if anyone had some advice with regards to my birds behavior.

Just over a year ago I rescued a baby house sparrow (it's a long story that I would have to put in another thread) but long story short; I couldn't release him and he ended up becoming more of a pet. He has been hand reared by me and is completely tame (he has regular time outside the cage throughout the day), but I've been having problems with him recently.

It's summer (almost autumn) where I live and he has been molting, the only problem is that he does not seem to be coping with it at all, in the last 2 days he has been incredibly itchy, non stop picking at his feathers, and has been restless at night (this happened a few months ago as well, just not as bad, and after some research I started putting a little bit of coconut oil in his food which helped, I stopped a couple of weeks ago because I ran out and it has started again). I bought some more coconut oil 2 days ago and have started putting it back in his food but it got so bad yesterday that I had to take a little bit and rub it on the areas he was very itchy, I also noticed his skin looks very dry and he doesn't seem to oil himself (with his oil gland) enough.

I have checked for mites and lice and nothing, since he has no contact with wild birds it seems very unlikely he would have any in the first place. I ordered some molting vitamin and antistress supplements to try and help him deal with it. I'm just starting to get very worried because he seems like he is constantly distressed. The supplements arrive tomorrow so I will see if that helps.

I want to avoid a vet at all costs unless absolutely necessary because he is VERY skittish and gets frightened easily, and I don't want to add onto the stress.

Please if anyone has advice that would be much appreciated

 

[Toy]

Do not put oil on a bird. They can't preen it off & it will prevent him from zipping his feathers. I'd suggest a bath. Mist or rinse him with room temp water.

 

[Xoetix]

Hello and welcome! I would definitely avoid putting oil on him as much as possible, just misting him with some warm water and trying to encourage better bathing. I know that my birds will get dry and itchy if the air is really dry, have you thought about getting a humidifier?

 

[Gabby_l7]

Do not put oil on a bird. They can't preen it off & it will prevent him from zipping his feathers. I'd suggest a bath. Mist or rinse him with room temp water.

I forgot to mention that he does bath regularly, usually 3 to 4 times a week but it doesn't seem to help with his dryness. I didn't put oil all over him, just on his legs, the part with feathers, as that seems to be where he is mainly itchy. I was careful not to get it all over him, but I'll avoid it going forward thanks for the advice.

 

[Gabby_l7]

Hello and welcome! I would definitely avoid putting oil on him as much as possible, just misting him with some warm water and trying to encourage better bathing. I know that my birds will get dry and itchy if the air is really dry, have you thought about getting a humidifier?

Hi and thank you, I just replied to another person where I explained that he does bath regularly, and I do live in a very dry climate. I've never looked at an air humidifier before but I thought of it earlier, unfortunately after I had already ordered the supplements for him‍ but I'll try to get one as soon as possible just to try help with the dry air. Thank you for replying

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Can you share feet pics?
What is his diet?
I think I hear of people doing aloe water?

 

[Beebleburb]

I have an itchy bird, my vet just gave me some omega 3 fatty acid oil and it helped a TON. since it's a sparrow i'd wonder if they need more insects in their diet as that has a lot of that in it. Do you feed mealworms?

 

[Gabby_l7]

Hi I was wondering if anyone had some advice with regards to my birds behavior.

Just over a year ago I rescued a baby house sparrow (it's a long story that I would have to put in another thread) but long story short; I couldn't release him and he ended up becoming more of a pet. He has been hand reared by me and is completely tame (he has regular time outside the cage throughout the day), but I've been having problems with him recently.

It's summer (almost autumn) where I live and he has been molting, the only problem is that he does not seem to be coping with it at all, in the last 2 days he has been incredibly itchy, non stop picking at his feathers, and has been restless at night (this happened a few months ago as well, just not as bad, and after some research I started putting a little bit of coconut oil in his food which helped, I stopped a couple of weeks ago because I ran out and it has started again). I bought some more coconut oil 2 days ago and have started putting it back in his food but it got so bad yesterday that I had to take a little bit and rub it on the areas he was very itchy, I also noticed his skin looks very dry and he doesn't seem to oil himself (with his oil gland) enough.

I have checked for mites and lice and nothing, since he has no contact with wild birds it seems very unlikely he would have any in the first place. I ordered some molting vitamin and antistress supplements to try and help him deal with it. I'm just starting to get very worried because he seems like he is constantly distressed. The supplements arrive tomorrow so I will see if that helps.

I want to avoid a vet at all costs unless absolutely necessary because he is VERY skittish and gets frightened easily, and I don't want to add onto the stress.

Please if anyone has advice that would be much appreciated

Hi everyone, I thought I would share an update on how lil weet (I forgot to mention his name in the original post lol). He has been much better since I have been giving him the supplements I bought. The itchiness and restlessness has settled down a lot and he seems to be coping with moulting much better than before. He has been almost 100% back to normal, just a bit tired during the day, which I read is normal for birds who are moulting. Thank you for all the replies and help.

 

[Gabby_l7]

This picture of him was from a few days ago

 

[Gabby_l7]

I have an itchy bird, my vet just gave me some omega 3 fatty acid oil and it helped a TON. since it's a sparrow i'd wonder if they need more insects in their diet as that has a lot of that in it. Do you feed mealworms?

Hi, when I first rescued him, I was going to get some but I remember researching if sparrows can have mealworms and someone who also rescued a sparrow had a bad experience with giving their sparrow mealworms (I can't remember exactly what it was), so I just avoided giving him any.

 

[Gabby_l7]

Can you share feet pics?
What is his diet?
I think I hear of people doing aloe water?

Hi, I haven't heard of aloe water before, I'll look into it. He eats a soft food mix as his main food source, I add a tiny bit of coconut oil, moulting supplement, and some egg (hard boiled & crushed) for some protein. I also give him this wild bird seed mix, he doesn't have it all the time though. I have tried giving him different greens and fruit but he is very fussy lol, so he doesn't like most vegetables, his favourites are lettuce, banana and grapes. He seems to like spinach but not as much.

I've attach a picture of his feet, I tried to get a good picture but as you can see he was very interested in the camera

 

[Lovestolvl]

Hi I was wondering if anyone had some advice with regards to my birds behavior.

Just over a year ago I rescued a baby house sparrow (it's a long story that I would have to put in another thread) but long story short; I couldn't release him and he ended up becoming more of a pet. He has been hand reared by me and is completely tame (he has regular time outside the cage throughout the day), but I've been having problems with him recently.

It's summer (almost autumn) where I live and he has been molting, the only problem is that he does not seem to be coping with it at all, in the last 2 days he has been incredibly itchy, non stop picking at his feathers, and has been restless at night (this happened a few months ago as well, just not as bad, and after some research I started putting a little bit of coconut oil in his food which helped, I stopped a couple of weeks ago because I ran out and it has started again). I bought some more coconut oil 2 days ago and have started putting it back in his food but it got so bad yesterday that I had to take a little bit and rub it on the areas he was very itchy, I also noticed his skin looks very dry and he doesn't seem to oil himself (with his oil gland) enough.

I have checked for mites and lice and nothing, since he has no contact with wild birds it seems very unlikely he would have any in the first place. I ordered some molting vitamin and antistress supplements to try and help him deal with it. I'm just starting to get very worried because he seems like he is constantly distressed. The supplements arrive tomorrow so I will see if that helps.

I want to avoid a vet at all costs unless absolutely necessary because he is VERY skittish and gets frightened easily, and I don't want to add onto the stress.

Please if anyone has advice that would be much appreciated

 

[Lovestolvl]

Hello!! I actually need Your help Gabby! I've also got a wild splattering sparrow that I had rescued about 6 years ago. She has molted just fine.. but is now attacking her tail feathers. i bathed her in warm water after applying coconut oil to her tail. She seems less agitated now.
Do you have any help to offer?

 

[Vittror]

@Lovestolvl I'm sorry your sparrow is doing poorly and attacking her tail feathers.

Maybe it would help to make a new post in the Healthy Highway part of the forum so more people see your post and might be able to help you.

As far as I can see is that @Gabby_l7 hasn't been online for a few months so I'm not sure if she's going to answer in this thread.
I might be wrong about when she was last online but maybe other people can also help out.

 

[Gabby_l7]

Hello!! I actually need Your help Gabby! I've also got a wild splattering sparrow that I had rescued about 6 years ago. She has molted just fine.. but is now attacking her tail feathers. i bathed her in warm water after applying coconut oil to her tail. She seems less agitated now.
Do you have any help to offer?

Hi I'm sorry to hear about your sparrow , from what I've observed (I used to feed some wild sparrows a couple of months ago and saw a lot of babies around), it seems to usually be the younger sparrows that initially struggle with getting used to the whole moulting thing but I would think that if she is picking at her tail feathers it might just be some itchiness/dryness from moulting. I know what worked for mine is I bought a moulting & an antistress supplement (for birds) which I started giving him in his food as well as adding a little bit of coconut oil to the food, which helped and stopped him scratching. I added coconut Oil on the very dry parts of his upper legs which didn't affect him. Many people say to avoid it, others say to try use it as a Moisturizer on their legs. I would avoid putting on her again as it gets on their other feathers and can make them feel constantly wet, until it eventually washes off. I also made sure he bathed regularly (sometimes it was even 4 times a week). Last year being his first moult he lost many feathers but after the first month of summer he started to calm down and was back to normal within 2 weeks. I would try getting a moulting supplement and keep regularly bathing her and see if it helps, if you could also try give her some coconut Oil in her food as well ( but a very small amount). I've also heard of anti- plucking sprays for birds but I'm really not sure if they work or help or if they are even ok to use, so maybe someone can offer advice about those. Sparrows also have an oil gland just above their tail, at the end of their back (literally looks like a little pimple have you checked to see if her gland is Ok?, my sparrow also regularly oils himself now, which I think also greatly helped (he's now got the hang of the whole moulting thing) but just see if her gland is fine and there are no problems there. What do you feed her? Have you recently moved to a city with a different climate? I rescued my sparrow almost 2 years while I was living in a city with a very humid climate, the place where I'm at now is constantly dry, all year round, which I do think impact him initially.

 

[Lovestolvl]

Hi I'm sorry to hear about your sparrow , from what I've observed (I used to feed some wild sparrows a couple of months ago and saw a lot of babies around), it seems to usually be the younger sparrows that initially struggle with getting used to the whole moulting thing but I would think that if she is picking at her tail feathers it might just be some itchiness/dryness from moulting. I know what worked for mine is I bought a moulting & an antistress supplement (for birds) which I started giving him in his food as well as adding a little bit of coconut oil to the food, which helped and stopped him scratching. I added coconut Oil on the very dry parts of his upper legs which didn't affect him. Many people say to avoid it, others say to try use it as a Moisturizer on their legs. I would avoid putting on her again as it gets on their other feathers and can make them feel constantly wet, until it eventually washes off. I also made sure he bathed regularly (sometimes it was even 4 times a week). Last year being his first moult he lost many feathers but after the first month of summer he started to calm down and was back to normal within 2 weeks. I would try getting a moulting supplement and keep regularly bathing her and see if it helps, if you could also try give her some coconut Oil in her food as well ( but a very small amount). I've also heard of anti- plucking sprays for birds but I'm really not sure if they work or help or if they are even ok to use, so maybe someone can offer advice about those. Sparrows also have an oil gland just above their tail, at the end of their back (literally looks like a little pimple have you checked to see if her gland is Ok?, my sparrow also regularly oils himself now, which I think also greatly helped (he's now got the hang of the whole moulting thing) but just see if her gland is fine and there are no problems there. What do you feed her? Have you recently moved to a city with a different climate? I rescued my sparrow almost 2 years while I was living in a city with a very humid climate, the place where I'm at now is constantly dry, all year round, which I do think impact him initially.

 

[Lovestolvl]

Hello Gabby, THANK YOU!!! I will no longer be putting any oil on her tail.. yes.. I've checked her oil gland, and it seems to be fine. I will do as you suggest and bathe her more regularly.. in addition to getting her some supplements. Pardon the typo..of " splattering Sparrow" lolol.
So grateful I have found you.