all the birds are molting currently i can't breathe,. life goes on,

but my Bo, my oldest green budgie has lost most of the feathers on his head, he has a few that are enough to keep his head looking yellow-ish, if you look closer(looking at him from about a foot away) you can see his skin and the pin feathers coming through (it looks discusting, the feathers haven't started coming out yet but they've started to poke up), i've never seen a molt this bad and i'm some what worried, has anyone seen this before should i go to the vet?

 

i'll try an get pictures tomorrow in the day light so you know what i'm talking about.

Bo is 8-12 years old, ex breeder. and is on a pelleted dominated diet.

It's completely normal to see tons of pinfeathers on the head and it does look a bit creepy. I'm sure it's okay but a picture would definitely help.

 

Also, about how much of his diet is pellets? I wouldn't feed them as anymore than 50% as the protein content is quite high for little budgies. Pellets, lots of dark greens, bright yellow and orange veggies as well as some good-quality seed make up a pretty good diet for them. That can definitely help a molt along.

 

Another thing you can do is offer a dish of shallow water for him to bathe in or gently mist him with warm water if he'll allow it. That can ease the itching.

My camera sucks, so I can't get a focused picture. But he's now missing about 4-5 rows worth of feathers completely gone. Looks like a baby in the forehead now! I called the Vet because I’m paranoid and they said to isolate him immediately, and he's going in tomorrow morning to get blood work done and possibly a skin biopsy, the vet sounded honestly worried (cert avian vet)

 

PS don't worry Bo's been getting blood taken for a few years now and I trust my avian vet more than my canine vet, she very good and I’m not worried at all about that part.

Hope its just a really ugly case of moulting for you and your birds sake.. let us know what happens at the vets .. GOODLUCK

Sounds like a really extreme moult and hope your vet can put your mind at ease. Two of mine are shedding feathers now like they are snowflakes!

:dbb1: I was at the vet tonight getting my lovebird's seizure medication and the lady before me came out with two budgies in their little travel cage. She said that one had been moulting so badly especially around his head area and she was concerned that it was something way more serious. Hence she brought the two cagemates in case it was sort of illness/disease and she wanted the unaffected one checked out as well. Her guy had really been going at it and rubbing his head against things, I couldn't see him well as there was a towel over the top of the cage so all I could do was peer into the dark and say hello. So maybe that is what has been happening to Bo.

So Bo has a Fungal and respiratory infection, and I had no idea the latter was an issue! He has a fungi that’s similar to ringworm but for birds, its easy to get rid of and keep away once you’ve cleaned the aviary, and all the other birds are being treated just in case. The respiratory infection sounded like it was deep in his chest, so its wasn’t really detectable from my point of view, by Tuesday we will know for sure if it is an infection and what kind.

 

The doc honestly said she was afraid it was PBFD! After talking to me on the phone last night she was sure, but it wasn’t and I am so happy for that I have 4 babies in the house right now, my goodness scary.

 

So I can’t get a good picture, you know I’ve tried, but at this point I’ll describe what he looks like; Bo is a normal light green male, with a nice fat forehead, well all of the solid yellow feathers are missing, and the skin underneath, is moist looking and has giant pores in it (you could stick feather pins in there and it no bothering him too much!) I’m avoiding him at this point because the look makes me ill and even the thought of it gives me shivers, my vet even admitted that even she was discussed by the look and was ready to be ill after she handled him.

 

But all is good now, I hope, feather’s should be back in three-four weeks,

Glad you have worked out what it is and is now on the way to getting better- you are a good mum!!

(the description turned my stomach a little too :ausb: )

OH NO!!!! At least Bo is been diagnosed, being treated and on the road to quick recovery! :ausb:

Lucky you did take him to the vets... Glad its been sorted out and hes on the road to recovery, keep us posted on how he goes.. Um also not to sound to morbid but photos may be good just so we can see for ourselves just incase we should ever come across it

It sounds like it really was fortunate you got him to the vet's. Do you know what the name of the fungus is? How is it transmitted? It is a shame you can't get some pictures, that would help quite a bit. What did the vet suggest for treatment?

The fungus was the Latin name for ringworm with and ‘ious’ at the end (Tineaious I think), I’ve googled it at least a dozen times but no dice, there’s not very much information on avian illness on the internet yet, I really would like to know more, just "avian flu" "we're gonna die" I’m just a little Annoyed. Anyway he's being treated with a antifungal Micoanzole and doxyciline for the infection, he’s also being given pro biotics and AVIAN ENZYME by Harrison’s bird food, to make sure everything goes well as well apple cider vinegar ratio 1:15 pts in his water, its extreme!

All in small doses, I think its a little over kill, but my vets known to make sure what ever they have is gone and the bird is stable by any means necessary, 'you can fix most drug side effects, you can't fix death'- she’s a sweety

 

I called the office today and asked them what are the early signs for it, the desk has no idea what was going on :S after about 20 minutes on hold, I got a text book answer :S (not by my vet!)

Usually appears on the shoulders of wings and appears to be a 'plucker' usually seen in African species of finch, undiagnosed, feathers will slowly fall away during molt and are not be replaced, skin exposed for a time takes on a texture similar to pours in the human face. Left untreated will spread to other parts of the body. So I guess it’s not deadly, you'll just have a naked bird! I’m taking one of my Quakers in, in the next week because she's been a 'plucker' on her shoulder tips since I got her and that's probably where he got it if she has it, all the others are getting a pill once every four days for 3 days. And they didn't say if it was contact or not, but coincidentally I just saw my first pock show up I actual have ring worm, and so does one of my dogs (did I double doctor vist I went to mine then I took the dogs to theirs), maybe its all a great big fat coincidence or its all related. I would suck if my birds got it from Helmer. Now that I’m prepared I have a list of questions for the vet this week.

just to give everyone a heads up it was actually a combination of scaly face and aspergillosis, i'm slightly annoyed with the vet's office for what i got but meds have been changed and everything sorted out, when i went in the the quakers i felt uneasy with the answers i was getting, so i took the whole lot to one of the other avian spec. in town and i am happier with the explanation i got from this guy. anyway just letting you know!

Edited November 1, 200618 yr by August

Oh dear, glad you found a vet that was more knowledgeable.

yeah, I'm responding to this pretty late in the game, and ringworm didn't end up being the culprit, but I thought people might want to know that ringworm IS contagious from animal to animal and from animal to human by contact. Don't touch suspected lesions (except when applying meds) and wash your hands after handling the animal. And if the animals are allowed contact with each other, it is very possible that it can be passed along.