Most of my budgies are moulting at the moment (really smart as it is heading into winter) and 2 of them seem to be having a particularly heavy moult. They have loads of pin feathers on their head and are looking generally scruffy. I caught them to check them over and neither had lost weight or muscle. They also have some white feathers showing through their blue feathers. Is it normal for a budgie to go through a particularly heavy moult? I would take them to the vet to get a check up but there is now way dad is going to fork out $100 for just a check up and i spent all my money on a new cage for Blinkie. I thought they might have scaly face or something but their ceres and feet are in perfectly normal condition. Is there anything i can give them to help get through their moults a bit easilier? I read egg and biscuit food is good for conditioning feathers, is this correct? Sorry to ask so many questions but i am going on holidays on Thursday and would like a bit of peace of mind. The don't have cuts or anything that would point to them being picked on either. :mellow:

They are both males if that means anything.

 

*I would have editted my post but the edit button wasn't there*

yes bea the egg and biscuit food will help them a lot! mine are both moulting at the moment too. i think you can buy conditioning drops to put in a spray bottle for their bath water that could help and i think there are also supplements you can buy to put in drinking water, but we all know budgies drink sparingly so im not sure if they would work?

 

also, i was cleaning my budgies cage today and i noticed A LOT of white flakes everywhere. just like dandruff. i have never noticed this before and i thought it could be because they are both moulting, but could this be a sign of mites?

also, i was cleaning my budgies cage today and i noticed A LOT of white flakes everywhere. just like dandruff. i have never noticed this before and i thought it could be because they are both moulting, but could this be a sign of mites? 

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A lot of people I know have mentioned the white flakes. I've never heard of them being a sign of problems, just that they occur during a molt.

thanks devvle thats reassuring to know i was just a bit concerned as there were loads of them everywhere!

Edited April 3, 200520 yr by pixie25

No problem.

 

When my birds look at me the wrong way I get concerned. Sometimes they just seem so fragile.

My mitsi is a scruffy little thing at the moment, i spray/mist them both with canopy molt ease spray, its a soothing spray that encorages then to peen themselves, both of them really seem to enjoy it and makes them relax and feel better.

 

Claire

xXx

cool monsoon :wine ive never tried it before, i have seen it in the petshop though. i will give it a try!

i think there are also supplements you can buy to put in drinking water, but we all know budgies drink sparingly so im not sure if they would work?  :wine

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you have to becareflu when putting suplements in their drinking water, they sometimes refuse to drink and then become dehydrated. causeing more harm than good.

ATD

I agree about adding things to their water. I'd also be VERY wary of any sort of sprays sold at a pet store. Most of the stuff they care is purely for profit and not good for the birdies. An example are those things they sell to keep mites away. I would try to get anything like that from an avian vet or at least call your avian vet before using it.

yeah i know sometimes they wont drink water if it smells or tastes off. fussy little things arent they!

 

and yeah i would never use a mite spray from a pet shop but i think plume spray is fine, will check the ingredients if i get some anyway though. gotta go get a new water fountain for them tomorrow anyway so i will have a look, the one i have at the moment leaked everywhere right after i cleaned their cage so i had to do it all twice today :wine grrrr sandpaper is so annoying to get out when its wet.

Edited April 3, 200520 yr by pixie25

(Laughing out loud)! Yes, they are!

yup but we love them for it

ATD

i bought some canopy molt ease spray today monsoon! i checked the ingredients first and it is made from only purified water, aloe vera and shark liver oil.

 

i read on a website that aloe vera is great for budgies and i sprayed both mine with it today instead of using my mist bottle. they seemed to really enjoy it and it smelt lovely too im hoping it will help my little green one peanut - he is having a tough time moulting and doesnt have any tail feathers at the moment

That sounds like good stuff, pixie! Poor Peanut. Piper is completely tail featherless too but I think they all broke off due to her playing so hard. I've moved her to a larger cage just in case that was the reason but she's also in the middle of her first big molt.

'tis the season of the moult! :(Laughing out loud):

yeah i have to watch peanut very closely when i let him out to play, he sometimes gets a little off balance and i think this is due to his lack of tail feathers does this happen to piper sometimes?

 

i think also it is because peanut hasnt had much flight time in his life and may have been clipped right from the start so his little muscles arent as strong as my other budgie casper. i am waiting for his feathers to grow out and casper will hopefully teach him to fly a little bit better.

i bought some canopy molt ease spray today monsoon! i checked the ingredients first and it is made from only purified water, aloe vera and shark liver oil.

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I hope they like it, i did both my birds again last night, then gave them there bowl of water to give themelves a bath, is it normal of a bird to lay on there back in water??? (scobby did this last night)

 

Claire

xXx

yeah i have to watch peanut very closely when i let him out to play, he sometimes gets a little off balance and i think this is due to his lack of tail feathers does this happen to piper sometimes?

 

i think also it is because peanut hasnt had much flight time in his life and may have been clipped right from the start so his little muscles arent as strong as my other budgie casper. i am waiting for his feathers to grow out and casper will hopefully teach him to fly a little bit better.

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Yeah Piper is a bit more clumsy than my other birds but she's doing better. Her flying is quite a bit off too. She'll "fly" to me when I call her but she doesn't have complete control of what direction she's going in. It doesn't help that her flight feathers aren't quite even yet.

yes monsoon some budgies will roll around in a shallow plate of water. i tried to get mine to have a bath like that in a couple of large lettuce leaves which i put a little bit of shallow water in - it didnt work though!

 

and devvle peanut is just the same, he cant control which direction he flies in so i only have him out on the bathroom floor at the moment - away from casper because i get so anxious that he will really hurt himself if he crashes into anything.

i hope his feathers dont take long to grow back. casper has been moulting really quickly but peanuts feathers have been like this for a long time - probably about 2 months. if they dont grow back soon i will get him checked over by a vet.