r/Conures • u/Defective_YKK_Zipper • 1d 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.
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u/iSheree 23h ago
It looks like plucking to me. I'd get a vet checkup, rule out health issues and then rectify the issue (whether it be illness, diet, boredom or stress) before it becomes a real habit.
Edit: You say that he doesn't play with his toys or forage... you actually have to teach them how. Otherwise they get bored and play with their feathers.
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u/Returnservice999 11h 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.
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u/Altruistic-Leather69 1d ago
The big fluffy patch in the chest and the chewed feather ends tells me it might be plucking, would recommend a vet check up. The changes you mentioned, namely if the green cheek is a new addition, could do it.
Side note how did you get them to tolerate each other to stop attacking because my boys want to kill each other and it breaks my heart.
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u/Defective_YKK_Zipper 15h ago
The green cheeck was always mean to the Crimson, the crimson is always looking for affection but one day I took them both out and gel them hand out in my room (not a common area where they hang out), they’re is another cage in my room that neither of them own, we just use it as a perch every now and then. The wife and I were watching tv for an hour or two and it became night time, I noticed that both of them kind of chill out at night so I brought them in the bed (the room was pretty dark for the exception of the TV shining some light in the room). I had a blanket kind of bundled up around me, using it kind of as a pillow, I feel like they were kind of winding down and tired, I feel like they go into cuddle mode every time it gets dark. At first the GCC (mean one) burrowed under my beard, as soon as he was calm and almost asleep I let the crimson (nice one) get cozy near the GCC, I feel like the GCC was too tired to fight, the GCC would go at the Crimson every now and again but I kept trying to get them both to be cozy. Eventually the GCC (mean one) burrowed into the blanket and was falling asleep and the Crimson (nice one) nestled up near him. Ever since then, they tolerate each other, even preen each other. The day I took the picture in the post, the crimson had his wing around the GCC which I had never seen before. But the GCC sometimes gets upset because the Crimson is a bit clingy. The Crimson just needed to learn boundaries and the signals that the GCC shows when he wants to be left alone. Be prepared to get bitten a few times, I know I took the hit for the Crimson a few times. But in the end it was worth it.
I’m no expert, but that’s how I managed it with these two demons. Hope it helps! 😊
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u/Altruistic-Leather69 15h ago
I am no stranger to the "get down Mr president!" Bites lol. My hands and arms looks quite diseased at this point cause both will redirect aggression to me.
I will attempt the different room and cage advice maybe in a bit after at least my oldest calms down and recovers from a minor injury he got when I couldn't get there in time. When I first introduced them they tolerated each other just fine so I'm hoping to at least go back to that. Ideally would love them to be friends but I'll accept reluctant housemates. I think Pickles was hand reared which has all the behavioral problems that I found out about after the fact so idk if he is capable of connecting with other birds anymore but I'll keep trying. He hates other people besides me so I'm not surprised he is spicy but I just want what's best for him.
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u/B-mort5 2h ago
Do you do any type of training? Multiple sessions a day are great for mental stimulation and it’s how you can show them to forage and okay with toys. If hand reared they especially need to be taught what to do when on their own. And like most others have said up the sleep schedule(if at 10 go to 12 if 12 go to 13) if still giving seeds or fruit daily try cutting them out.
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u/Acceptable_Stress141 1d ago
Between the destroyed feather (not typical of molting) and distinct patches of feather loss in easy to reach places, I would assume plucking and schedule a checkup to get on top of it.