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Urgent Strange feathers on cockatiels cheek.

faithapaul1

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/14/18
Messages
38
Location
New Jersey
Real Name
Faith Paul
Hi everyone, can someone help me out with a cockatiel feather issue?

My cockatiel, who is about 9, started growing cheek feathers (and by cheek I mean, right next to her beak, where the beak meets skin), that are almost crusty. The feathers do not form. They turn into these crusty little circular masses that are relatively small.

She got one that I noticed reoccurring a little over a year ago and now, with her new molt, both sides of her “cheeks” are developing more and more. They seem itchy, like pin feathers but also a bit painful, and when you scratch them, they pull off and come out. It’s bizarre. She actually got a baldy spot next to her beak now. At first I thought it might be a feather cyst, but the amount of new feathers this is affecting is concerning.

She goes no where and never has. The only other bird she is around is my green cheek, who also goes no where and never has. His molt also seems to be normal.

I’m thinking maybe it’s scaly mites or pbfd but how could she contract either condition?

She does eat an all seed diet because that what we originally started her on and just never switched, so it could be scaly mites because she’s probably low in vitamin A. My conure on the other hand, is almost 2, and has always eaten a pellet and fresh veggie diet and isn’t showing signs. We barely ever take her to the groomers because she’s free-flighted. I think the last time she went was six months ago and the last time she had to go to the vet was years ago. My conure gets his wings and nails clipped more often, but still, he hasn’t gone in several months... We also have a house sitter so they don’t board. Any thoughts on how she might have contracted either of the conditions?
 

faithapaul1

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/14/18
Messages
38
Location
New Jersey
Real Name
Faith Paul
Can you provide some photos?
Honestly, I can’t find anything that looks like it... it looks like a normal piece of feather casing that birds drop after preening themselves, but it’s almost sharp. It part of the feathers closest to the sides of her beak and just feels like a piece of food or something got stuck in her feathers , and when you go to scratch it (because it is kind of itchy) it comes out very easily, and with it, you feel it dislodge and pull out. It’s white and leaves no mark, no blood, or holes that I can see. It’s almost like a weird, crusty plug that (I think) is affecting her down facial feather follicles.

She is acting normal and her feet look just fine. She has an appetite. Her cere looks good, as does her beak. She’s always gotten blocked nostrils from time to time, but nothing more than the usual. The only thing off about her is her primary flight feathers look rather disheveled and tattered and her droppings have been very dark lately.
 

sunnysmom

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