Dull, worn looking feathers

[eme]

My +2 year old parrotlet has been molting for so long now, and his head STILL has pin feathers. I know I am supposed to help pick them off, but he wont let me go near them. I give him water to bathe in, but he doesn't seem to want to very often to make a difference! And he freaks out when I try to mist him. His feathers are starting to look pretty dull and worn (no bald spots though), even though I've improved his diet a lot and give sprouts, veggies, harrisons birdie bread cooked with sunshine factor and seed every day. I'm wondering if this is normal, or is he lacking something in his diet, etc? Do they have long, persisting molts sometimes? Is there anything else I can do to help those pin feathers off? I'm hoping when I introduce my new bird they'll help preen each other...but in the meantime what can I do to improve his feather quality and get him past this molt?

I will try to get photos tomorrow, he's sleeping now..

[eme]

Oh, and are there specific months that parrotlets molt out of the year?

[Jinx n Noodle]

Mine tend to molt either in the spring or the fall, though they've molted just about anytime inbetween too. When Noodle didn't have a buddy, he would go up to certain toys and rub against them. My p'lets never liked spritzing and are infrequent bathers, so I just mist them anyway, though obviously if they're new and you're working on bonding with them, it may not be the greatest thing to force on them.

[eme]

here are some pictures I just took. he has had those pin feathers for it seems like forever, and his stomach feathers seem pretty worn down.

[Jinx n Noodle]

Jinx's feathers look like that when they're old and ready to be replaced. i read somewhere once that it happens to old feathers. Otherwise I don't think he looks bad at all.

[missie]

Yup, looks a lot like my little guy too.

Seems that most times he has pin feathers around his face. will say that those are also the most vibrantly colored feathers too.

I don't worry about it because he's apparently fine...other than it itches now and then. I try to make use of it as part of the 'bonding' time. I'll either scritch it for him or help 'de-sheath' them for him :)

[skthurley]

Dull colour can also be contributed to lack of UV rays..... I found Jack got rather dull last winter, but brightened up after a few weeks of soaking the sun's rays outside in his outside cage