Molting???

[CaboWabo]

Hello everyone! I could really use some advice. Cabo is 7 months old and going through a very big molt. There are masses of feathers on the floor daily and he has quite a few pin feathers on his head. This has been going on for about a week. He has also become EXTREMELY aggressive. If I come anywhere near the cage he lunges at me. He was so mad at me yesterday - his feathers were sticking up on his back at he was basically yelling at me in his birdy language. He's been making very strange sounds - like soft little chirps all day long. I don't know what to do! If I can even get him out of his cage he randomly just attacks my fingers, even if I'm not moving him. It is so painful! If this normal molting behavior? He has plenty of millet and egg bread to help with the molt and I mist him daily to help with the itching. Will this end??? :confused: Help!

[scooby]

poor little guy, my parrotlets get really agittated when moulting, the best you can do is mist him daily like you already doing but besides that not much else. Kermit my GCC has just gone through a really bad moult and he had so many pins on the back of his neck he looks horrendous. the moult should be over soon. poor little guy

[Wuzzoluvr]

When you talk about pins, are you referring to the ones that come in almost encased for lack of a better term? They kind of have a wound them that's white? I saw one on my baby bird in a pic that the breeder sent me. Just wondering...good luck with your little fella. Sounds dreadfully painful!

[CaboWabo]

yes - "pin feathers" - if you roll them between your fingers the casing will crumble off, or if you have more than one bird they will do it for each other. These are especially painful for them.

thanks for the responses! i hope he gets better soon.

[Wuzzoluvr]

I see. Thanks for clarifying that. I hope your little one gets his molt over with soon for both of you.

[Jinx n Noodle]

Poor little guy. Mine is like that too sometmes with a heavy molt. I also try to make sure that they have toys in their cage that they can rub on to help with the new pins since they don't usually let me close enough to rub at the pins for them.

[CaboWabo]

He has a toy that's chunks of tree bark on a chain and he rubs up against that...do your guys go back to normal after the molt has ended? He is so aggressive I can't even go near the cage right now! How long does this typically last?

Thanks for the responses! it means a lot.

[Jinx n Noodle]

Yup, they're back to normal when the worst of the molt is over, then I get to work their new pins... though I get a bite here and there if I hit a soft spot. Each molt is different, but generally when it's a bad molt, my guys tend to have shorter ones (days to weeks)... the long molts seems to be just a bit of molting here and there..