Hi all, it has been a while since i last posted, and it is a bit sad that my first in ages has to be because Casper is a little poorly right now.

 

Over the last two months or so, i have noticed the little feathers above Casper's cere have been a bit discoloured (a bit like a snotty kid who never blows it's nose!). It didn't seem to be bothering him at all, and he wasn't scratching or rubbing his face at all, so i didn't think too much of it. Now just in the last 24 hours he has begun scratching and has actually lost those tiny feathers above his cere. His skin looks red, but not raw where the feathers have been lost. There are heaps of tiny, fluffy blue feathers at the bottom of his cage, so my assumption is that he has been doing a bit of moulting, but my question is whether or not his manky face could be related to moultin (either entirely or in part) or whether he might have a mite-y problem (as in mites, not mighty as in tremendous!), or perhaps a bit of both. I have noticed a tiny amount of crustiness around the lower bit of his cere where it meets his beak, so have dabbed a bit of scaley face goo stuff on it and on his feet just in case (he had a minor bout scaley face about nine months ago).

 

Unfortunately i don't have a picture of how he looks today yet, but this is how it started about 6 weeks ago:

Edited August 3, 200618 yr by CaspersRose

crustiness is not part of a normal moult, I personally would take him to the avian vet to make sure he doesn't have an infection, mites or something else going on. Better be safe then sorry. What a handsome boy.

I would also take him to an avian vet. One of my budgies had scaly face mites the other day, so the vet put some oily staff on his cere (and I had to do this with all my other birds too )

 

I hope your budgie will be okay soon

Those feathers above the cere that are brownish look normal to me. All my birds feathers seem to do that during a molt. As far as the crustiness, does it look more like dry flakey skin? An indoor bird would be hard pressed to get mites or scaley face unless you have handled another bird with it and brought it home. Where would the infection come from otherwise? I don't think I would put anything on it without being sure of the diagnosis. Can you post a more recent picture?

will try to get another photo, am at uni at the moment...

 

i was thinking the same thing... how could he get something if he hasn't been exposed. I think last time he had scaley face he must have had a little bit when i got him cos it was pretty soon after i got him that i picked it up. He doesn't have any crustiness, just the dry skin and his feathers above his cere have all fallen out. I can see where new ones are beginning to come through and while he is scratching, he isn't scratching to the point of making it look all sore and raw. This is what made me hope it is just a heavy facial moult (poor thing... he looks so silly!).

 

Mum sent me an SMS this morning telling me he isn't his usual chirpy self today, just sitting on his perch quietly (but not puffed up), which worries me a bit, but i will see to him when i get home... he might just be feeling embarassed! Is it normal for budgies to get a little weary during moulting?

I noticed in your picture you take him outside yes? Is that a way they can be exposed? Just a long shot. They can get crabby during a molt not sure about quiet, I would keep an eye on him.

Edited July 24, 200618 yr by lovey

I think the flakiness on the cere is a normal by-product of beak-wiping, and maybe a bit of scratching as he itches the molting feathers above the cere. He looks fine to me. But I am not a vet, so use your best judgement and your gut feeling. (Always go with your gut feeling!) When birds molt, some become withdrawn, some become very grumpy, some become more aggressive. My birds usually have some combination of those three! It takes a lot of energy to grow feathers, so their diet is especially important now. They also itch, so this can cause the grumpiness or withdrawn behavior, as they are a little uncomfortable. If it makes you feel any better, I just took a picture of one of mine during the molt - the brown feathers look just like the picture you posted. She's almost done, so it is not as obvious, but normal.

 

Edited July 24, 200618 yr by Rainbow

Mmm... i just got home from uni and am feeling a bit better about Casper. Mums always make you worry when they describe somehting that's of concern, hey?!

 

Anyway, I am pretty sure he is just moulting... he's quiet, but otherwise really happy to be handled, sat on my shoulder, nibbled my ears and hair, is eating normally and isn't puffing up at all. Will still keep an eye on him though, just to be sure. He has moulted heavily around his face before, but last time the pin feathers came through before all of the tiny ones fell out, so he just got all spiky over night, rather than going bald overnight! Here are a couplle of photos of what he's looking like this arvo. You can see the new feathers coming through, and he's not flaky and hasn't scratched himself silly. If you guys recon anything else do let me know, but for now I'm just going to keep an eye on him.

 

 

And this is last time he moulted around his face, it's a little bit hard to see, but he is very spiky!:

Edited July 24, 200618 yr by CaspersRose

those first 2 pictures look like he has blood above his cere? Mine have looked like your 2nd pics. Unless you have something red in his cage, that doesn't look normal but I am not an avian vet either. I think I would take him just me.

Agree with Lovey, looks like blood and that's not normal, he had best get checked out.

the red area is just his skin, it looks a fair bit redder in the photo than it really is - it's actually pink, like um, i can't think of an example... like the colour of raw chicken ( sorry, yucky example, but all i could think of), perhaps i should have done one with the flash. the little dark dots are the tips of the new little spikes coming through... like i said, he isn't bleeding or oozing at all... will get him checked out though, cos i am confused now.

:ausb: Still looks a little extreme for moulting and remember I unfortunately have a lovebird plucker in my flock, you had better get your pal in as it looks very strange, good luck.

I agree it seems extreme, all I can think of is that he is rubbing his head really hard on something and making those feather break down at the skin? Don't know?

okay, just got home from uni and took another photo of the man, just to see if there are any changes:

 

The new feathers (well, spikes) coming through are getting longer really quick and are between 2 and 5 mm long now, whereas yesterday they were only 1 or 2, maybe 3. My brother in law recons he looks like a gremlin after it has been in the water(?) with his whispy straight feathers making a bit of a mohawk.

 

Have still got him in to see someone, just to make sure this hasn't happened because of anything sinister, but he seems to be back to his normal self, flying freely, chatting, singing and letting us handle him as usual. I've been home for an hour now and haven't seen him scratching at all either, which is a good sign. So hopefully it isn't too nasty, and something that can be easily treated and prevented from happening again! Thanks for all you help! :ausb:

that picture looks better and I have never seen so many spikes in one area and that is what is making it look so bad I think (Laughing out loud) and probably itchy. Now that you have that picture keep the appointment but I tend to agree with you I think it is just a mass moult in that one area. Have you tried giving him a bath I do that with Pretty and it will release those tops and help the moulting process especially if they don't have another bird to preen them it get hard on them.

It does look very red, but I think that is just the skin showing through. The last picture looks more "filled in" than the ones before. I think it may look so red because those feathers are white...so provide a dramatic contrast to the pink of the skin. Plus there are a LOT of them missing. He does look very itchy! Will he let you scritch those feathers around the cere? If he will, take them and very carefully scratch around the base of the cere with your nail, then if he doesn't object very very gently twist ever so slightly up the feather between your thumb and fingers. Blueberry loves that, even when she is not molting! He might also like you to scritch the skin along side of the beak where there really aren't feathers. You just have to be careful, because those feathers and the skin around them are tender so you can easily hurt him.

Edited July 25, 200618 yr by Rainbow

Well it is now just over a week since i posted re: Casper's rather unattractive face, and here he is today:

As you can see, all those feathers have grown, or are growing back and he is beginning to look handsome again - despite the spikeyness!!! His new feathers are so lovely and white too... oooh! So thanks to all who offered advice... in the end, the vet came to the same conclusion we did - it was just an unusual face moult, and she said that based on his heavy face-moult last time, it is probably normal-ish for Casper. He is all chirpy and dancing for his pay-gym pole as I speak! So yay for Casper and his weird feathers! :ausb:

look at that handsome fellow :grbud:

Good to hear.

Glad its all grown back now- he was making ME feel itchy!!!

I had a budgie go through an extreme moult like that once. I'm glad he's all back to normal now.

Casper is a very handsome "hunk" once again!

:sad: WOW! That was an extreme moult indeed.. but atleast with his new feathers he's looking Supa Spunky again :sad:

Hi my budgie's picture look 99% like the one you posted on the first post

 

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/rbr...per020small.jpg

(your image)

 

His cere was bright blue a week ago but now it has got a brownish tinge on the bottom of the cere exactly as in the picture and also same dirty feathers just above the top of his cere ... so does this mean that he is also going through moult ... i bought him only two weeks ago and the breeder told me that he is this years bird ...