I woke up this morning and uncovered my 4 budgies and was greeted with a abundance of tail feathers all over on the floor and in the cage, after a quick look at each bird I noticed poor Major a male budgie sat on the perch minus his tail...he looks such a sorry site...but the question is who has done this..and will it grow back soon...I have 2 males 2 females and Major is the most placid of them all he seems to get on well with the other male Jack and at times I have seen them kissing and seed swopping with each other his love interest is Billy and she gets on fine with him she trys to bite him now and then if he goes to kiss her and she is not in the mood (Laughing out loud)..the only other suspect is Daisy who for some reason he does not like I have observed a lot of perch swopping if she hops on to one near him he will exit fast and choose another if he is eating and she wants that seed pot he will give way to her she is the only one he will do this with its most odd it's like he does not care to be in her company at all..should I seperate him for a while? or keep him where he is..I am shocked this has occured under the cover as normally they are quiet and sleep well..hope someone can help me with this problem as I am very worried about leaving them at night now...Linda

Tail feathers can be pulled out or even fall out during a moult. As long as there is no blood then he should be o.k. They will regrow at the next moult but be aware that his 'rudder' has disappeared and so he may not be quite so adept at flying and manouevering!

Hmmm no sign of blood thank goodness however something is very wrong there is just total silence from the 4 of them and thats not normal for my lot there is always lot's of noise at the start of the day and they have now been sat in silence for around 6 hours..I have lifted the cage to clean the feathers underneath it and found 4 white tail feathers that look like Jack's...could they have been fighting is this normal with males? anyone any ideas why are they so quiet..thanks for any help...Linda

PS yeah Julie his rudder has gone he tried to jump perch and fell like a stone to the bottom of the cage he looks so sorry for himself.

Sounds very much like a major disagreement to me. Yes males can and do fight.

 

Why they are quiet is a difficult thing to say-could they have shocked themselves or had a shock? Are they all otherwise normal-droppings,eathing,not fluffed up etc.?

Sorry to post again but I was watching him tonight and he is doing this to himself...he was constantly fluffing up and scratching with his foot and pulling and plucking his feathers out then chewing the ends of them for a while then watching them drop to the ground..is he bored is this a bad habit..could he have some sort of mites and if this is the case where do they catch them from? , I have had him for around 6 months and I have not had any new birds in the cage with him..I am unsure when does a budgie have a 1st moult he is around 9 months old..Linda

Are they loose feathers? Budgies don't tend to pluck from boredom or some behavioural problem, it's usually a medical problem, like somthing causing an itch. Keep an eye on him, and if he is still doing it tomorrow then I would pop down to the avian vet for a check up

A budgie goes through his first molt at about 3 1/2 to 4 months of age. The second molt could come on at 9 months if conditions are right, but it seems a little soon for another full molt. Which feathers were he chewing, small body ones or big flights? Sometimes mine will nibble the ends of the big feathers for a moment after they pull them loose. I have a budgie now that is minus the two long tail feathers too, but they weren't pulled, she just molted them out close to the same time. She doesn't have any trouble flying though, so I'm wondering a little why yours fell to the bottom of the cage. If you think their behavior is abnormal, go with your gut feeling and make an appointment with the vet. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Or at least call them and describe the itching and feather loss to see what they say.

 

If he has mites, he probably would have gotten them from the pet store. If you have been handling other birds which may have had them, then handled your own he could get them that way too. An indoor bird rarely will catch mites once you bring them home, there is nowhere for them to be exposed to them in your house.

Edited November 21, 200519 yr by Rainbow