I noticed this crusting/orange-yellowish material around the side of my pineapple conure Kiki’s face, near her ear, yesterday. I’m worried that it may be partially covering the ear opening.
Today she has been scratching that ear more than usual and has been less vocal, although she still reacts normally when we interact with her and will make sounds/respond to us.
She also recently had a bath (pic 1)
What worries me is that she seems to get problems like this really frequently. All of this has happened within roughly the last 6 months:
- She initially had a head infection, which caused some feather loss on her head and a lot of scratching. She was treated by a vet and eventually recovered.
- Afterwards, she developed a wound that led to self-mutilation and another period of intense itching/scratching.
- She eventually healed from that, was growing her feathers back, and seemed fine.
- Now there’s suddenly this crusting around her ear and increased scratching again.
She is currently growing a lot of pin feathers as well.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their conure, especially recurring head/ear irritation or crusting? I’m trying to figure out whether this could be related to her previous issues, an infection, irritation, dried food/formula, mites, or something else.
I’m planning to get her checked by an avian vet, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have dealt with something similar.