[Deja]

Critter, my guys live in the eating area of my kitchen- there are two skylights as well as a large sliding glass patio door. The natural sun shines on their cages and shifts position throughout the day. I'm lucky in that regard because they get the full benefit of natural sunlight all day and as the seasons change, so does the lighting. So. I find that they molt seasonally. The start of winter, shorter days etc. seems to set off a molt, and again in the spring when the days get longer again. I don't know if this is normal molting pattern?

At one point I had seriously considered making a "Bird Room" and expanding my flock (instead of downsizing it and possibly getting a breeding pair of Cockatiels.

The artificial lighting I was most impressed with is called Ott-Lite
You can read about them here...

Ott-Lite For Birds

They seem rather costly but I suppose if someone keeps their birds where they aren't exposed to any sunlight it's worth it.

Rooms with windows usually provide enough light, but some people find the bird in a constant molt- and beefing up the light exposure can put an end to that.

I hope you are having a good day! Yay! PetSmart- we don't have one close to where I live- the local pet supply store's toys are so expensive! We also have a Bird store- and ouch! They really gouge you on the toys! I have to learn to make my own!

Have a great day!!

 

[Linda Lee]

My cockateil seems to be in molt alot. I always wondered what the heck was going on. I partially close the curtains in summer because of the heat the windows create in dining room, I didn't think it was causing him to molt more! I guess I better open up those curtains again. My Senegal dosen't seem to molt much at all. So why one and not the other?

 

[Crittercall]

I'd say Deja will have to help us with that one. My senegal and parrotlet both sit across the living room from one of my few big windows in the house and even though they are less than a year old I have a constant flow of little feathers in that area. (We don't serve much peanut butter here - doesn't go well with the bird feathers and dog hair!!)

We've got to do some major re-arranging of rooms here - and like Deja I've always wanted a bird room but don't seem to have one to give over to them now! Just got some "new" OLD furniture and am going to make a room for Zoe - actually another guest room - so there goes my last one.......

I talked to Bub and we're gonna look into the Ott lights, especially for the big guys. Another thing I haven't been giving Henry lately and used to on a daily basis is Petamine. Helps with the molt and really gives his color some punch!

 

[Dena]

My Parrotlet and Senegal don't molt that often. My parakeet, however, molts A LOT! But he is absolutely beautiful. Dante (the senegal) just had a molt. The molt he had last year made him lose all his tail feathers. It must have really bothered him though because out of no where he started to chew on them. Of course I freaked out and cleaned down his cage and got all new toys I spoiled the heck out of him thinking something was wrong only to watch him lose them and realizing he was just uncomfortable molting them out And no he hasn't done that again.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the birds are in my Great Room and have as much light as you can possibly get all year round, plus its Southern exposure. I have 4 oversized patio sliders and two pie cut windows (yes if you look at the back of my house it has an eerie resemblence to Amityville House.

 

[Crittercall]

My senegal molts all the time; she's very devoted to Bubba, and now she has turned into a "girl" on him and is very hard to get along with at times! He spoiled her, so he can't complain about that, but I assume it's just those good old female hormones running through her that are making her grumpy at times.

Your place sounds perfect. You'd think they would build a FL house with more windows, but I guess the builder assumed whoever lived here would spend more time outside!

 

[Laurie]

Well Floyd is molting. He has one feather left. This morning I noticed some blood splatters on the wall, in his cage and on his perch, is this normal?

 

[Crittercall]

Sounds like he lost one (either picked it out or shook it out- most likely picked) that was a blood feather. Or he could have been shaking and flitting around the way they do and broke a blood feather. Then the blood spatters.

You didn't know birds were quite so much fun did you? You ought to see my "newly" painted walls behind the birds!!

 

[Laurie]

Thanks! I did hear him flutter around last night, I even got up and checked on him and didn't notice a thing until this morning.

Ah, the joys of owning a bird!

 

[Deja]

Floyd has one feather left? Do you mean he is totally bald now? I may be totally confused and misunderstanding what you mean by "he has one feather left"....but,
Birds don't molt by blowing out all their feathers at once, it's a slow process lasting months. If a bird in the wild were to molt all his feathers at once it would leave him flightless, and exposed to the weather and they'd become easy prey.

Do you notice that he over-preens or is plucking feathers out?

Also - you mentioned you heard him flapping in his cage during the night...
Cockatiels are prone to something called "night fright". They need to have a nightlight left on so that they can always visually orient themselves. If something spooks them in the dark - they go into this totally wild panic mode, flapping and hurling themselves around. They can damage not only blood feathers but break a wing or leg.
Do you cover his cage at night? I never covered my 'tiels for this reason- and always leave a dim light on for them.
I remember when I saw my very first cockatiel's first Night Fright.
It scared the heck out of me! I ran to the cage, turned on the lights and talked to him until he stopped his wild frenzy! It was so scary to see!
Laurie do you think you can post a picture of Floyd in his current state? Sometimes it's easier to know what is going on with them by looking at the state their feathers are in. Poor guy.

Let me know how he's doing!!

Critter - let's not even talk about the wall behind my bird cages! :lol: I wish I had a sand blaster

 

[Laurie]

I'll try to answer everything. I don't cover his cage at all. There are night lights in every room of the house. The flapping woke me and he is just outside of my bedroom door and had already quit by time I got there. I talked to him and looked around, got a glass of water and went back to bed. He appeared to be just fine staring back at me.

He has all his feathers except the long ones on his sides. Those are the ones falling out. I noticed the very first(that has fallen out) about a month ago. The last few have been about every other day. I don't see him plucking at all. Yes I can post a picture tomorrow.

I can see the new feathers that were clipped starting to grow. I think they were hidden by the feathers that are falling out. I hope I have not confused you too much.

If I'm not mistaken he now looks like Linda Lee's Theo, just a few posts back.

 

[Deja]

Oh good lord- I am so sorry, I totally misunderstood what you wrote. I thought you were saying that he suddenly has no feathers! When you wrote that he had one feather left- I took it literally I understand what you mean now. Gosh, I'm sorry if I sounded frantic or critical- I really didn't mean to.

You did not confuse me- I confused myself

It sounds like he's doing fine- and that you are doing fine with him! **waving to Floyd** I'm sorry I got confused...

Off topic: (or the reason for my present state of weirdness)
I was just put on a huge dose of prednisone and it's an evil drug... it tends to make me very anxious, jumpy and irratible... I think everyone should ignore everything I post for the next week or so .....until I am weaned down to a dose that makes me human again! :bawl: All I have done for the past few days is cry for no reason and have mini panic- attacks. I took my daughter out driving today - and had to have my son take me home... I'm not fit for humanity right now

I hope I didn't say anything that upset you...

 

[Laurie]

Deja, not to worry, take care of yourself and hope you are feelin better!:hugg2:


I took two pictures of Floyd and only one turned out, the side with one feather. It's kinda bright but I hope it is well enough to see.

 

[Deja]

oh my gosh! He does look just like my Dweezil!! He looks a little bigger and meatier though! Dweez is a bit of a runt :lol:

I think he looks great!! His tail is in good shape too! Oh, you should see how bad and chewed up Dweezil's tail feathers look when he's just ready to molt them!

Oh he just looks like the sweetest little guy!!

Thank you Laurie- I am feeling better today- and I hope I can get a good long sleep tonight... and put myself back on track again...

(is that an Amana? I think we have the same fridge :lol:

 

[Scarlette]

I have no advice or words of wisdom but just wanted to say that he is very handsome!

 

[Laurie]

Thanks Scarlette!

He still has the same feather left, doesn't want to part with that one I guess!

 

[crzy4piggers]

Awwwwwwwww he's cute!

Off topic: Is that the new kitchen in the background? I wanna see real pictures of the home improvement!

 

[Laurie]

Thanks!

I am curious now, I know Deja can see a fridge in the picture, can any one else? All I see is black in the back ground. But to answer your question that is the fridge still sitting in the living room.

I will post some pics of my new kitchen next week in general chat.

Also Floyd STILL has one feather left and I see the others are growing in nicely.