Parasites or molting?

[Hubbabubba]

Hi everyone! My male budgie recently started losing feathers in the area above his cere and it has gotten worse to the point where I could see the red skin underneath. I also noticed that he has been rubbing his head more often and that there are some black spots which have emerged in that area. Is this a possible mites infection or is he simply molting and growing new feathers?

I have taken him and my other budgie(a female) to the vet for a checkup around a month ago and the vet told me they are relatively healthy. The female budgie has gone through a moly before but it never looked this bad so that’s why I am worried if they might have contracted something from the hospital or during the trip there.

I am new to this forum so any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance

 

[Hubbabubba]

Here’s a close up photo of the irritated area

 

[Fergus Mom]

I have no experience with mites at all, so can't say. Hopefully someone will weigh in on this with knowledge. My Fergus does rub his spot over his beak quite a bit, so I think that is kind of normal. Do you give baths frequently?

 

[Hubbabubba]

I have no experience with mites at all, so can't say. Hopefully someone will weigh in on this with knowledge. My Fergus does rub his spot over his beak quite a bit, so I think that is kind of normal. Do you give baths frequently?

Hey there, thanks for your reply. I did try giving him a bath before but he was hyperventilating the whole time so I just gave up. Usually I’ll put a small plastic cup filled with water inside the cage so he can use the water to clean himself.

 

[avian2023]

please wait for experts reply.. just a random thought how is he behaving..energy levels and poop smell. Happened similar to my male budgie and the hair loss is exactly at the same spot.. at that time his poop is bit more watery and bit smelly is slight different way than normal and comparatively a bit low energy levels.. i hand fed him and encouraged to eat multiple times and given very low concentrated honey water/ sugar water once a day for 2 days and tried to cheer and spent more time.. it took 3 days to recover and the hair grown back very full eventually.. dont know the exact reason and also dont think your case is similar. Lets wait for the experts reply , i will pay more attention to the state of poop and smell .. I am very very new to this and just wanted to share thoughts..request you to please confirm and follow anything..

Hope your budgie will recover very soon..

 

[AussieBird]

I'd vote molting Quite a few of mine get the black dots on the growing feathers.

 

[Hubbabubba]

please wait for experts reply.. just a random thought how is he behaving..energy levels and poop smell. Happened similar to my male budgie and the hair loss is exactly at the same spot.. at that time his poop is bit more watery and bit smelly is slight different way than normal and comparatively a bit low energy levels.. i hand fed him and encouraged to eat multiple times and given very low concentrated honey water/ sugar water once a day for 2 days and tried to cheer and spent more time.. it took 3 days to recover and the hair grown back very full eventually.. dont know the exact reason and also dont think your case is similar. Lets wait for the experts reply , i will pay more attention to the state of poop and smell .. I am very very new to this and just wanted to share thoughts..request you to please confirm and follow anything..

Hope your budgie will recover very soon..

I will definitely keep monitoring him in the meanwhile. Thanks for the detailed reply!

 

[Hubbabubba]

I'd vote molting Quite a few of mine get the black dots on the growing feathers.

I also think he might just be molting but the area is super red and irritated so that’s why I’m worried haha. Anyways I’ll probably keep monitoring him for a few more days and if it gets worse I’ll take him to the vet again. Thanks for your help!

 

[Ripshod]

Looks like he's just moulting. What you're seeing is a mix of a little blood (damage from rubbing) and the dander from the featheres' sheaths. I see nowt to worry about.

 

[sunnysmom]

To check for mites, you can put white paper on the bottom of the cage at bedtime. If there are little specks on the paper in the morning, probably mites. Not saying he has mites- but a way to check.

 

[Fergus Mom]

I also think he might just be molting but the area is super red and irritated so that’s why I’m worried

Can you tell what he is usually rubbing his head on in the cage? If it's some type of perch which is very rough or course (like the ones for overgrown nails) maybe you can remove that until his little head heals. Or whatever it is that he is rubbing it on. Fergus rubs his on regular dowel perches, or on the cage bars. I've not seen Fergus rub it on any of the cement grooming perches.

 

[Lori D Pert]

I'm team moulting as well. Some budgies have hard moults and others relatively easy ones. Rubbing their head is normal as is the black dots that are the new feathers coming in. Mites are a whole different thing and I don't think that's what we are seeing here.

 

[Olliebirb]

I also think moulting. My budgie Winston looks like this every time he moults.