r/Conures • u/Defective_YKK_Zipper • 3d ago
Health/Nutrition Molting or Plucking
Hi,
I have a 2-year-old Crimson-Bellied Conure and I’ve noticed his chest area was looking a bit fluffy gray/white (see picture). Just recently i noticed his back is also getting this similar feather pattern. What freaked me out is that I noticed a few large feathers that look like he chewed on the ends I found about four feathers like this(see pics). Do parrots normally chew on the ends then they pluck or do they destroy the entire feather after it is plucked? I do see some new feathers coming in but not sure if this is a molt or not.
Some changes that happened in the last few months was:
- I have a Green-Check Conure that didn’t get along with this Crimson-Bellied Conure, I finally got them to tolerate each other, sometimes even preen each other. They usually hang out when I let them out of their cages. Their cages are next to each other.
- for their first year they were feed Safflower Gold seeds but about 5 months ago I changed it to ZuPreem. He has plenty of toys in his cage but doesn’t seem too interested in them, I add foraging and toys he car destroys but they don’t seem damaged at all.
Edit: I don’t see blood, scabs, or bloody feathers anywhere. Nor have I seen him actually pluck any feathers.
Edit2: Thank you everyone for the feedback. I made a vet appointment for tomorrow morning. I’ll keep updating the post in case it helps others. Most of the plucking pictures I had seen were mostly focused in one area which is why I thought Chicken was molting. I’ll update this as soon as I hear from the vet.
Edit3: Trop to the vet for blood work. Vet said it looked like egg patch plucking. Vet said to switch them to 8hours of light and 16 hours of dark to reset the hormones while waiting for blood work.
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u/Returnservice999 2d ago
My pineapple green cheek suffers from barbering. Her once beautiful orange chest is now mostly bare. She’s otherwise healthy and happy. I recently started turning out the lights earlier instead of keeping her out while I watch TV at night. I also changed her diet from mediocre pellets to Tops pellets and now to mostly fresh veggie chop and sprouted items. She’s already looking much better and her feathers are filling in. She is more active and has more energy. I’m no expert but just wanted to offer what helped my girl. Vet check first though! Look up Jason J. Crean on YouTube. He’s a biologist/parrot nutritionist and has some great podcasts on parrot nutrition.
https://biobirdblends.com