Not molting..?

[birdashes]

( my apologies if this isn't the best place to post this)

My peach front conure, Erica, seemingly hasn't molted yet.

For some background; she was purchased from a pet store where she was being neglected , in a scarily small cage that looked like it was supposed to be a reptile cage, and was in pretty poor shape. I feel terribly about supporting pet stores and still wonder if buying her was the best thing, but she was absolutely miserable ( clearly depressed & I suspect malnourished to an extent) and honestly i had grown attached to her and was so afraid she was gonna die in there. She was only a bit over year old ( the saddest part is that she had been in there almost her whole life! She must have been brought to the pet store scarily young ). She had terrible feather damage ( stress bars? the ends of her feathers were black. And they were tattered) she did have a few pin feathers in the store...

She had no contact with the other birds for a long time and was checked out by our avian vet. She ( the vet) seemed to think she was more or less healthy, excluding the pet store neglect. Erica was checked out ( briefly ) again a few months after this visit.

She's now probably just a bit under two years old. I got her around 6 months ago.

She's done well and is friendly for a pet store bird ( albeit she's very shy and nervous ) but, as the title indicates, hasn't molted.

Her feathers are still in terrible shape and it honestly makes me feel terrible and very worried. She gets fresh healthy food ( although she doesn't always eat it.... Thankfully though she loves pellets) so I don't think it's her diet. The only good thing about her feathers I've noticed is her flight/ wing feathers have grown out ( they were clipped at the pet store) and they don't have any black marks on them. However they are a bit.... wavy? I don't know how to explain it. I believed that means she's not getting enough of something nutrition wise? but I don't know....

Should she have molted already? Should I worry and is another vet visit recommended for her?
I apologize if I'm overreacting about her but she is the sweetest thing and I want the best for her

 

[Birdbabe]

Bump! Maybe she hasn't moulted yet , but will in time with your good nutrition.??

 

[alicat]

I don't have any info for you but I know what you mean about the wavy. Pipers wings on the edge kind of look like a potato chip and I have no idea why!

 

[birdashes]

Birdbabe- I hope so!
And alicat- yea that's exactly it! Like I mentioned I believe the 'waviness' has to do with not getting a vitamin ...? I really am not sure bc I read it awhile ago and can't find where I read it agiain. It could be nothing tho haha especially since my peach front is the only one of my birds to have the waviness

by the way your cockatiel is gorgeous ... white faced pied or just pied?

 

[Milo]

If her flight feathers have grown out then it sounds like she's working on a molt. The level of malnutrition that she may have experienced in the store can take a very long time to correct itself, and it could take her body a long time to catch up. Give her time and keep encouraging her to eat healthy foods, it sounds like she's on the right track

 

[alicat]

Birdbabe- I hope so!
And alicat- yea that's exactly it! Like I mentioned I believe the 'waviness' has to do with not getting a vitamin ...? I really am not sure bc I read it awhile ago and can't find where I read it agiain. It could be nothing tho haha especially since my peach front is the only one of my birds to have the waviness

by the way your cockatiel is gorgeous ... white faced pied or just pied?

I'm not sure at all so I hope someone pops in and pipes in haha.
she's a whiteface! no color at all

 

[birdashes]

Thank you, that's wonderful to hear. I was getting worried there might have been something wrong with her that we missed. She's a very picky eater ( probably from the pet store diet) but she's a huge fruit eater and seems to like some nuts ( no veggies yet I believe) so that's a start. I'll definitely keep trying to get her to try new healthy foods.

alicat- ooo I love white faced cockatiels I've got a male white face and he's the prettiest thing. best mutation imo !

 

[alicat]

Thank you, that's wonderful to hear. I was getting worried there might have been something wrong with her that we missed. She's a very picky eater ( probably from the pet store diet) but she's a huge fruit eater and seems to like some nuts ( no veggies yet I believe) so that's a start. I'll definitely keep trying to get her to try new healthy foods.

alicat- ooo I love white faced cockatiels I've got a male white face and he's the prettiest thing. best mutation imo !

I agree, she's the cutest. she was the prettiest girl there by far

I just did some research and found this. Piper was in a pet store but they had a light when she was a baby so maybe she wasn't getting enough?

 

[Milo]

Try some broccoli tops, or just cut off some of the florets and offer small pieces, birds seem to like picking through those!

I rescued a green cheek conure a few years ago, the people that had her were feeding her a diet of sunflower seeds. That's it. Lady handed me a bag and said "this is all she'll eat". I got her home and luckily she ate everything I put in front of her... but her feathers were in very very poor condition. It took a really long time for them to get back to healthy, it sounds like that may be the case with your little one as well