Normal Moulting Behavior?

[Flurryfthr]

Hi, I'm a new bird owner and I've owned a budgie for a few months now (it's not fully tamed yet). I noticed that recently, it's been dropping a bunch of feathers all around its cage, especially when it's flying. I assumed it was a moult, but I'm not quite sure. A week ago, its started to fly wildly around the cage, and it makes quite a racket, a bunch of feathers fly off, and then it lands. Is this normal?? Or is it a problem? Tbh, I'm not even sure if it is a moult or not, because its been like this for almost a month and a half. It keeps biting my hand when I put it into the cage now, and I'm really worried! Please help! Thank you!

 

[GreenThing]

During a natural molt you will see different behaviors/signs depending on the bird, but a healthy molt will never result in lots of bare patches/loss of flight. How does your budgie look? When you say "a bunch of feather fly off", do you mean small ones, or flight feathers?

Is flying wildly around unusual for you budgie? Does it get out of cage flight time-- and is it fully flighted?

My boys like to ping pong around in their cage for fun, even when the door is open, so there can be many reasons for the flying around (it's startled, it needs activity, etc.). Biting during an uncomfortable molt is not unusual, either. Do you see new pins starting to grow?

 

[Flurryfthr]

Hey! My budgie looks fine, it doen't have any bare patches. It's fully flighted, and it gets out of cage time every week (I'm trying to make it more, but my budgie doesn't like it, it comes out for around 20 minutes, then flies right back in).
Usually, small feathers fall out, once a secondary flight feather, and once a primary flight feather (The primary one scared me). It screeches all around the cage when it's flying. And yes, flying wildly is pretty unusal. My budgie is really skittish, though. No, I don't think any pins are growing, unless it's just really unoticable. I'll check again.
Thank you!

 

[GreenThing]

No bald patches and only a few gradual flights does indeed sound like normal molting! Since it has only been a few months with your new bird, seeing new behaviors emerge isn't totally surprising-- if they aren't signs of sickness or fear, they probably mean the bird is getting more comfortable in its environment. Budgies can take a very long time to overcome certain hesitations, as tiny prey animals.

How big is the bird's cage? As you pointed out, once a week really isn't enough for a budgie. A few hours a day, or even two or three sessions of 15-20 minutes would be better. Mine took a long time to get comfortable out of the cage, but they really need as much time daily as you can give. My first guess is the wild flying is excess energy and need for stimulus. Another question to ask yourself is whether there is anything attractive for them to interact with outside the cage. A playstand can just be a safe landing surface with a twist of paper hiding millet!

What is the budgie's body language like when it is flying around? Is it hitting the walls, or landing briefly and then ping ponging back to the other side (that is, does it look to you like blind panic, or like frustration?) Panic might be accompanied by slicked down feathers, big eyes, and panting. If it doesn't look like that, budgie might just be frustrated.

 

[Flurryfthr]

When I’m letting it out of the cage, it usually just flies to the nearest window and climbs the window net thing. I’m still living with my parents, and they don’t understand why I have to keep trying to let it out.
When outside the cage, my budgie doesn’t really fly around. It mostly just picks a spot and stares at everything, usually calling sharply.
Again, it’s still not fully tamed yet, and having it freak out like this is making the taming harder (any tips btw?). When it’s inside the cage flying, it’s usually screeching and it sounds frightened.
However, I did notice a little bit of tail bobbing from time to time, but it’s tiny and my parents say it’s probably nothing, and I can’t exactly argue with them...
My birds cage is an okay size, we were not in the position to afford a flight cage, unfortunately, but we got a big table cage. I made it a bunch of toys, and I think it enjoyed them.
Thank you for answering, I’m really hoping nothing is wrong!

 

[Flurryfthr]

Oh, and also, I’m still questioning whether or not it’s even molting. It doesn’t seem to have any pin feathers

 

[GreenThing]

A few quick things (when I'm at work tomorrow I will try to find some video examples):

- Very normal for a new, untamed budgie to try to fly to the highest point in the room and be nervous about exploring
- Screeching while flying isn't unusual (a really scared budgie won't make noise-- they are prey animals and will go silent; screeching is more a frustration/excitement/back off! noise)
- There is a video on here I will try to find of normal tail movement-- the tail will "bob" while singing, beak grinding, or just balancing, and some budgie's tails move more than others
- The pin feathers don't usually show up right away, or might not be in an obvious place (they will be most obvious on the head)
- Check to see if the larger feathers match-- they usually lose the same feather from both sides of the body close together

3ft wide is a good width for a budgie cage (width is more important than height), for reference. For training, even if you just type "taming budgie" into the forum search, you will find years of great advice from knowledgeable members! The key with budgies is always patience and usually millet. The fact that they are returning to their cage is a good sign (if they are doing it on their own with no grabbing/chasing). Some budgies are still afraid to come out at all, even after months.

 

[Flurryfthr]

Thank you so much!! This has helped me tons. I am still a student, and my budgie is a “morning bird”, apparently, so It’s hard for me to find a good time to take my budgie out, but I’m definitely trying. I’m going to try to find that normal tail bobbing video, thank you, that will release weeks of worry off my shoulders.
Just a question, I have been wondering if my budgie is knocking its feathers out by banging them when it’s flying around it’s cage. What are the chances?