Your friend and pet has become dejected and sad, his feathers lie in shreds at the bottom of the cage. What could cause a parrot's health to deteriorate? Let's figure it out.
Causes of feather loss
Parrot feathers begin to fall out for the following reasons.
Treatment for feather loss
If your budgerigar's feathers have become sparse, the fluff has begun to shed heavily, and skin has already appeared in some places, you should start acting immediately:
Preventing feather loss
To decide how to protect your pet from illness, you must first understand why a budgie's feathers fall out?
Therefore, preventing the occurrence of the causes of baldness will be the basic rules of prevention:
- Balanced diet, add fruits, vegetables, boiled egg whites, vitamin supplements to the diet.
- Optimal conditions of detention, a cage sufficient for its volume, normal humidity and air temperature.
- Reduce the number of stressful situations for your pet, protect it from loud sounds, the sight of the street, cats, pay more attention to it, talk to the parrot, teach new tricks.
- Do not smoke near the bird, do not use odorous aerosols and sprays.
And remember that if a parrot loses feathers on its head, most likely the problem will be solved with simple and effective methods prevention. Health to you and your pet!
You can often hear owners of feathered pets complaining that their budgerigar's feathers are falling out. This makes them wonder why this is happening.
We will find out further whether bird owners should worry and what feather loss can mean.
Why do parrots lose their feathers? First of all, I would like to state that if a bird loses feathers, this may be a natural process of its body. And in most cases this is true.
The bird's old feathers are replaced by younger and stronger ones. In the case of a natural process, the loss of feathers occurs evenly on both sides and begins with the wings of the parrot.
Also, new feathers grow synchronously in place of those lost by feathered pets. Natural molting in budgerigars occurs several times a year.
It may be accompanied by a sad state of the pet and lethargy. At this time, the parrot needs good nutrition, enriched with useful and nutritious elements.
Owners should not get hung up on natural molting. All that is required of you is to provide support, but not treatment, by adding vitamins and supplements to the bird’s daily diet.
And also, it is worth providing the parrot with peace and healthy rest. You should not disturb the bird or make noise near it. The more he rests, the faster the old feathers will be replaced with new ones.
Shock molt
There is another reason why a parrot molts. Owners of small wavy birds should know that this is a very shy species of talking bird. Any stress has a detrimental effect on the health of the bird. Shock moulting can occur if a bird is startled by an unexpected loud sound or music.
If the first owner decides to give the bird to another, it also experiences stress and, as a result, molting occurs. In these situations, nothing should be done. When the bird adapts and calms down, the body will return to normal and the feathers will be restored.
Another cause of stress can be the constant presence of a parrot in a cage. He begins to feel sad and bored. In this case, you should let your bird go for walks around the room more often. Let the bird out of the cage to fly for several hours. He will gain energy and strength and any stress is guaranteed to disappear.
Avitaminosis
If a bird's body lacks valuable vitamins, this can also lead to the loss of its tail and wing feathers. It is vitamins that influence growth, durability and general state birds.
Vitamin deficiency is common in pets that adhere to a monotonous diet.
If your bird's food contains no vegetables and fruits, no greens, and only a few types of grains, your parrot will certainly suffer from vitamin deficiency.
What to do in this situation is clear to everyone. It is necessary to diversify the bird's food as much as possible, adding the maximum amount of vitamins to it.
Or show the bird to a veterinarian, who will prescribe medication. With vitamin deficiency, the parrot does not pull out feathers, they fall out on their own.
Diseases that cause parrots to lose feathers
The cause of molting in a bird can also be an unpleasant disease.
Fungi and mites that take root on the bird’s body cause harm not only to its plumage, but also to the entire body.
Peeling is observed on the parrot's skin, legs and beak due to fungi. The parrot plucks its plumage in front of you and itches. The first thing to do in this case is to disinfect the cage and buy the parrot, for example, in a warm chamomile decoction. If this does not help, then you should consult a veterinarian who will prescribe special treatment for the disease.
You can also use antifungal and anti-mite agents for parrots from a veterinary pharmacy. They'll take it off quickly severe itching, a presence that is clearly visible when the parrot itself plucks its feathers.
Hormonal imbalance
Feather loss in parrots can be caused not only by natural molting, stress, the presence of a fungus or a feather eater mite, but also by changes in hormonal levels in the body of a budgerigar.
The disorder can be caused by a lack of a hormone (iodine or thyroxine) or by its excess. A doctor's testimony is required here.
After examining the bird, the veterinarian prescribes appropriate treatment. One or another hormone is introduced into the bird's food.
French molt
The French molt is called such because it was first documented in France. It is characterized by constant molting of the tail wings and the absence of a tail in young parrots.
As a result, birds cannot fly and move on the ground on foot. Experts suggest that French molt occurs in pets due to protein deficiency. When prescribing the correct treatment for a parrot, it is difficult, but possible to cure.
After which, you will not be able to distinguish a bird that has suffered from French molt from a healthy bird.
There are often cases when a budgie begins to lose feathers. This worries the owners because appearance the birds are deteriorating, and they fear that their pet is sick with something. In some cases this is true.
Differences between molting and disease
To determine why a budgerigar's feathers are falling out, you need to be able to distinguish natural molting from disease. To do this, take a closer look at your pet.
- Check to see if his skin is peeling, check if he is refusing to eat, and what his droppings look like.
- Take a closer look at the fallen feathers; if they are darkened, with traces of blood at the base, this may be a symptom of a disease. Normal molting does not provoke such signs. The parrots are eating normally and feeling well.
Juvenile molt . It's natural and necessary process, which occurs when the bird is not yet six months old. The first feathers fall out and are replaced by the plumage of an adult bird.
Natural shedding occurs in autumn and spring, some feathers fall out and are gradually replaced by new ones. In a healthy, well-groomed parrot, this condition is almost invisible.
Shedding caused by diseases
Budgerigar shedding caused by diseases
- Lack of vitamins
If the bird is not fed in a balanced manner, it will lack the necessary substances for growth and development. As a result, the budgerigar's feathers fall out profusely. To avoid this, you need to carefully care for your pet and add missing microelements and vitamins to the diet.
- Hormonal imbalances
In this case, only a doctor can help. Problems with the thyroid gland and pituitary gland are not common in parrots and important symptoms are weight loss, darkening of the tips of feathers and dulling of the pet's plumage.
- Stress
Budgerigars react sensitively to sudden noise and the appearance of a new owner. This often causes feathers to fall out of her tail. At this time, you should try to protect the bird from drafts and talk to him more in a calm voice. It is advisable to include foods that stimulate feather growth in your diet. These are cabbage leaves, egg shells and special vitamins. R
- Diseases caused by fungi and mites
Ticks gnaw out small holes at the base, and the shafts of fallen feathers are often covered in blood. We urgently need to take the bird to the veterinarian. You cannot help a parrot on your own. The doctor will prescribe an ointment that needs to be used for several months. Most often in this case, aversectin ointment is prescribed. .
Before stopping treatment, make sure that the disease has really subsided.
People recommend the cheapest and accessible remedy - Vaseline oil. This is an oily liquid in a dark glass bottle, usually found in any large pharmacy or pharmacy. However, this is not very good remedy: despite being harmless to the parrot, it does not kill tick eggs, which means constant relapses of the disease are possible.
Treat the cage itself and toys with Neostamazan (400 ml ampoule of water), and then rinse thoroughly in clean water, pour boiling water over it and dry.
- French molt
A serious disease that causes young parrots to lose their wing feathers. As a result, they cannot fly independently and move on their paws. It is not known for certain what causes this. But if you follow all the doctor’s instructions, carefully care for the bird and feed it properly, the feathers will grow back and the parrot will recover.
- Contact with a feather eater
Down eaters are similar to lice. They can be infected from free birds, or through contact between sick and healthy birds.
The most commonly prescribed aerosols for treating feathers are Insektol, Arpalit, and Celandine spray. The pet is sprayed from a distance of 15-20 cm, for 1-2 seconds, avoiding the eyes, nose, beak and ear canal. In case of severe damage, you can pick up the pet and treat it generously. Repeat after 7-10 days.
Well, “grandfather’s methods” of treatment:
- chamomile baths for bathing
- rubbing chamomile or wormwood powder into the parrot's plumage (buy a mortar and pestle at a hardware store or at the market to prepare a fine herb powder from a pharmacy pack)
On the forums they claim that someone managed to be cured only in this way, without resorting to drugs. But it’s best to consult with a veterinarian ornithologist if a couple of days have passed and folk remedy hasn't helped yet.
Also be sure to disinfect the cage and all toys.
They complain that their charges have noticed feather loss. This fact causes serious concern, because a bird without feathers looks extremely sick. In this article we will talk about probable reasons feather loss in parrots, we will consider the main methods of treatment and prevention of such an unpleasant phenomenon, but looking ahead, I would like to say that in most cases, feather loss is a normal biological process. Read more...
Natural shedding
It is an absolutely normal biological process when old weak feathers are replaced with new and strong ones. In this case, the loss of feathers and their replacement occurs evenly; you will not see any bare areas, only fallen old feathers in the cage. A parrot can fly. Natural molting occurs 1-2 times a year. In some breeds it is impossible to distinguish any time frame - feathers are constantly renewed gradually, in most you can notice such changes over time. Changes in behavior are also noticed: the parrot is restless or sad.
Shock shedding
Another reason why a parrot's feathers fall out. These birds are very shy and any stress can affect their body. One such manifestation of stress is loss of feathers. Usually, it occurs during severe frights, when the bird is given to a new owner, frightened by a sharp noise or some kind of action.
Signs of shock molting will be the loss of feathers in tufts, usually in the tail, or of small covert feathers. As a rule, when the bird calms down, its plumage returns to normal.
Avitaminosis
Lack of vitamins in the body is another no less common reason feather loss. They directly affect the growth of plumage, claws, and the general condition of the bird. When the body lacks a vitamin, it definitely affects it.
Usually, parrots with an unvaried diet suffer from vitamin deficiency, when the daily food includes only a few types of grains, and there are no greens, vegetables and fruits, which must be present. Recommends that you familiarize yourself with the necessary vitamins. We described what vegetables you can give your parrot in, and what fruits you can pamper your bird with.
Vitamin preparations are sold in veterinary pharmacies.
Fungal and tick-borne diseases
Fungi and mites that enter, take root and multiply on the skin of a parrot cause enormous harm to the bird. Feathers begin to fall out and bare patches of skin appear.
You also need to examine the paws, beak, and wax for the presence of the above symptoms.
Hormonal imbalances
Hormones are substances that, in very small doses, have a huge effect on the body of a parrot or anyone else. There are various hormones that are produced by the endocrine glands. Let’s not go too deep, let’s look at the main ones: the thyroid gland and the pituitary gland.
Violation of plumage growth occurs as a result of a lack of a certain hormone or its excess.
If the thyroid gland produces little of the hormone thyroxine or iodine. The veterinarian prescribes replacement therapy accordingly.
If there is a malfunction of the pituitary gland (manifested by profuse prolapse), this disease, unfortunately, is poorly treatable or cannot be treated at all.
French molt
This is a serious disease that manifests itself with early age chicks, most often in budgies. It is characterized by the complete loss of flight and tail feathers even before the chicks leave the nest, or shortly after departure. As a result, naked chicks are unable to fly and move by jumping and using their beaks on the ground.
The exact causes cannot be named. Veterinarians suggest that French molt develops as a result of insufficient protein intake, since not all chicks from one brood are susceptible to the disease, and sick chicks have lower protein levels than healthy ones.
At proper care and nutrition, the parrot feathers and cannot be distinguished from a healthy one.
It is also important to note that the disease can be inherited. That is, it is not advisable to use parrots that have been ill or have had cases of unhealthy offspring in the future for reproduction.
We hope you now know why a parrot’s feathers fall out and you will be able to seek help in time if it is a disease.
Content:
Why does a parrot's feathers fall out? What can cause deterioration in the condition of the feather cover of wavy birds? Why does a parrot pluck feathers? Such questions are very often asked on forums by owners of budgies or birds of other breeds. Therefore, we will consider whether owners of wavy birds should worry if their parrot molts, as well as the main reasons that lead to feather loss in pets.
Causes
The plumage of birds is one of the main indicators of their health. By the state of the plumage you can understand whether the feathered pet is healthy or not. In fact, feathers can fall out from wavy birds at the most various reasons, ranging from ordinary molting to systemic, functional malfunctions in the body.
Important! If the bottom of a budgie's cage is strewn with down and feathers, and the loss of plumage is not associated with seasonal molting, the pet is lethargic, eats poorly, and weakly reacts to external stimuli, the world, sits right on the perch, you shouldn’t ignore it. It is possible that the bird is sick and has caught some kind of infection.
If a budgerigar's feathers fall out, the bird may have experienced severe stress or nervous tension. Loss of plumage may be due to a poor ecological situation in the region or an indoor microclimate unsuitable for wavy birds.
Important! If the parrot's cage is located in a room where flickering fluorescent lamps are installed, this will inevitably lead to intense feather loss. Such lighting has an adverse effect on the health of wavy birds and provokes severe stress in the bird.
Do not forget that parrots lose feathers intensively during seasonal molting, which usually occurs in autumn and spring. Subject to all maintenance conditions, if the wavy pet is healthy and feels well, the plumage is replaced twice a year. On average, the duration of molting is 27–32 days.
Juvenile molting, during which the initial replacement of plumage occurs, occurs in wavy birds at the age of 3–4 months from birth. Its duration is approximately 60 days.
A deficiency of protein in feed causes the so-called French molt, which is characterized by the loss of feathers on the wings, as well as the absence of a tail in young wavy birds. Due to the fallen feathers, the birds cannot fly normally and move only on the ground.
During shock molting, budgerigars literally lose their feathers in bunches due to stress, especially in the tail area. Severe fear, noise, and frequent stressful situations can cause complete baldness of a feathered pet. Therefore, if you bring a feathered friend into your home, in addition to optimal housing conditions, pay more attention to it, especially during the adaptation period. Protect the bird from stress and anxiety.
If a parrot feels abandoned and unwanted, out of boredom he begins to pluck his feathers, thus trying to attract the attention of his owners.
Very often, budgies' feathers fall out due to hormonal imbalance and dysfunction of the thyroid gland. Budgerigars are very sensitive to the presence of hormones in the body that are produced by the thyroid and pituitary glands, and most often hormonal imbalance develops in birds that suffer from loneliness or receive poor-quality food.
Metabolic disorders, deficiency of minerals, vitamins, essential amino acids, and digestive problems will lead to the appearance of “dirty”, depigmented feathers in a budgerigar.
You can understand that a parrot is infected with a tick after a visual inspection of the pet or by performing a simple test. Line the bottom of the cage with white paper or a light-colored cloth. If you see small dark dots, be sure that your parrot is infected with a mite.
What to do?
If a parrot's feathers are rapidly falling out, or the condition of its plumage has worsened, a veterinarian ornithologist will tell you what to do in such a situation. The choice of treatment methods depends on the root cause that needs to be eliminated.
If the reason for the loss of feathers in a wavy is shock molting, you urgently need to provide him with help. If possible, try to pay more attention to the bird, teach it new tricks, and put toys in its cage. You can also buy a couple for your pet, then in your absence he will not feel lonely.
Advice! If a budgerigar's feathers begin to fall out, and there are several birds in the cage, be sure to isolate the sick person from the rest of the budgerigars.
If a parrot's feathers fall out due to hypo-vitaminosis, reconsider the diet of your feathered pet. Intense non-seasonal molting occurs against the background of a deficiency of amino acids and minerals. In this case, you need to enrich your food with vitamins and complex vitamin and mineral supplements. Include vegetables, fresh herbs, fruits (carrots, lettuce, apples), and boiled yolk in your diet. Place twigs in the cage fruit trees, leaves, stems of dandelion, other useful herbs.
Synthetic vitamin preparations should absolutely not be given to budgies when treated with immunomodulators, during juvenile (first) molting, and also if the bird has been diagnosed with diabetes, obesity, or chronic endocrine pathologies.
If a parrot's tail feathers have fallen out during a shock molt, increase the pet's nutrition and install a heating lamp, since due to severe stress, birds cannot control their body temperature. In addition, the likelihood of developing colds increases.
If a budgerigar's feathers fall out due to French molting, which is very dangerous for parrots, it is prescribed immunomodulators, drugs containing vitamins K and E. In this case, the disease is most often transmitted genetically and in most cases remains incurable.
If your parrot is losing feathers due to an unfavorable indoor climate, give the bird optimal conditions. Increase lighting, control temperature regime, air humidity. Move the cage to another room, but it should not be in a draft or near heating devices.
Eliminate exposure to toxic substances on your feathered friend’s body. Wavy animals are negatively affected by cigarette smoke, products household chemicals, kitchen smells. Keep the feeders and drinkers clean.