Moulting

Julie3965

Regular Member
Was about to ask on here about moulting and feather loss as Gertie my 9 month old African grey has in the last week started losing little grey feathers as well as the usual little white down ones . Just googled and apparently she’s now starting her first moult. I was getting worried she was starting to pluck. Also noticed the other day she had one of her moulted red tail feathers in her beak and spent ages nibbling along it before discarding it .
 
Good morning!
My grey is coming upto 3 but i will never forget the sheer panic i had during his first moult. I have a parrotlet who moulted but it wasn’t half as much as the big lad.
I was super panicked about my grey plucking, and the lovely members on here have often reassured me!

I woke up one day to loads of fluffy white feathers then his beautiful grey ones started to come out. I was thankful for the moult because Bo’s breeders clipped him and i wanted his wings to grow back in.

Bo also plays with his feathers if he manages to get them as they come out, ive caught him a couple of times chewing a feather from his wing and or tail, i just take it off him haha..
Bo is a moody moulting bird, he is going through a moult now and he is horrible with my boyfriend. Bo loves me through his moults but bites everybody else, he is just an itchy grumpy dude!

Bo overpreens himself when he is moulting, i posted a worried thread this time last year going into summer with Bo having a patch of baldness on his neck where he had over groomed. I got some fantastic advice so now when he moults i take him into the bathroom with me when the shower is running for humidity for his skin, and twice a day i boil the kettle and fill a bowl in his room (when he isn’t out to grab the water) and place it near his cage for the steam.
Our new house he is right next to the kitchen so when it’s steamy in there from steaming his veg i leave the little door open 😂

He gets baths every day during moult and every other day when not moulting, he doesn’t accept a bath all the time however i offer it non the less.
Also with his over grooming during a moult i buy him some shredding toys or toys where he has to untie them etc, helps him play with something instead of his feathers. He seems to appreciate these toys during moults and then when he isn’t moulting anymore he goes back to destroy mode! 🙂
 
Was about to ask on here about moulting and feather loss as Gertie my 9 month old African grey has in the last week started losing little grey feathers as well as the usual little white down ones . Just googled and apparently she’s now starting her first moult. I was getting worried she was starting to pluck. Also noticed the other day she had one of her moulted red tail feathers in her beak and spent ages nibbling along it before discarding it .
They do like to chew on moulted feathers
 
Thanks for your replies also it’s interesting what Lauraj says about biting too because Gertie has of late become very “ bitey “ . She has often done a crafty hard nibble on our ears at times but is now biting a lot . We try to ignore this behaviour ( but wow it hurts ) and not put ourselves in a position which allows her to do this. Apart from this she is just the best character and so happy and active and is talking so much now and mimicking everything just as our late Grey did .
 
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