IRN vs Conure Moulting?

[Reznik]

Hello all,

I hope everyone is doing well. I have a quick question for everyone and hoping for lots of feedback. I have had my Nanday Conure a few years now and we have been through a few moults together. A little less then a year ago I took in a 3 year old IRN. She is loosing TONS of feathers (loads more over my Nanday and 2 Green Cheeks) and I'm looking for some reassurance that this is OK. She looks/eats healthy, no bald spots or anything like that. I realize they are very different species and different types of feathers so comparing probably isnt a good way for me to judge but she has been losing lots for months now. Her wings were freshly clipped when I got her about 9-10months ago and the flight feathers have yet to grow in so I assume she is still moulting, however the moult seems to be very long.

My conure always have fresh feathers coming in and lots of pin feathers year around, but her moult (if this is just a moult) has been going on for a couple months now and she has been losing lots.

Any input from other IRN owners? I vet checkup is definitely an option but I don't know that is is necessary as I'm assuming this is normal.

Thanks everyone!

EDIT: My gut feeling is everything is ok, but my experience has been with the Nanday and Green Cheeks and I've yet to experience a IRN moult so I'm just looking for some advice.

[jenniferag]

I would think it's okay.... they are housed separate right??

If you don't see any sign of mites or the sort I would assume it to be just a big molt...

I have 2 conures and most of the time they have a few feathers coming and going all year round... every once in a while I'll come home and there will be an entire handful of feathers at the bottom of the cage instead of just a few..... it just depends...

someone else should be along with more info...

I think your bird is okay :)

[Reznik]

Thanks jenniferag,


You are correct, none of them are housed together with the exception of the two baby GCC's.

I don't suspect I have a mite problem. I haven't done a lot of reading on them but to my knowledge that would be somewhat obvious? I've read in other posts members can clear see them etc. Is that the case? And if it were mites I assume it would spread to the other birds quick as they are housed in cages next to each other - would that stand true?

[jenniferag]

if the cages are right next to eachother I would think they would travel from bird to bird.... some forms of mites are visible and will actually crawl on you if you're holding your bird... some other kinds are not quite as easy to see...

if you don't see anything I'm sure it's just a molt :)

[Monica]

Compared to budgies and cockatiels, my conures seem as if they don't *EVER* molt.. oh ya, there's a feather here or there, but there's no "explosion" of feathers all over the place, as if someone decided to destroy a pillow of rainbow feathers.

From my understanding, ringnecks tend to look like crap when they go through a molt - I suppose it's due to loosing a lot of feathers and having a bunch of pin feathers - and often looking scraggly during a molt. If you are concerned, speak with an avian vet.

[Newticus]

I would wonder if it's because of the type of feathering. Ringnecks always (except when moulting) seem really plush. They seem to have A LOT of feathers, densely covering the body. Conures and some other birds are more fluffy without such a dense coating of feathers. I can see my conures skin when he lifts up his feathers when excited and it's not cause he's balding and I don't mean in the places where he has plucked his feathers.
So maybe that is the explaination, that your ring neck just has more feathers to moult.

Melanie

[Ringneckmom]

Ringnecks go through very hard molts and they get worse as they get older.
The birds will actually look like they are dying or sick.
It is a normal process for them but very hard on them.
The best thing to do is to make sure you give them lots of good fresh foods with things like the Nekton Bio added to it and frequent showers.

Edit: Also, ringnecks do not have alot of down like many other birds so that can also contribute to how bad they look when they molt.

I wish I could say it gets better, but I have not seen it with mine. They actually have such hard molts that they just don't feel good either. I have noticed that when Mine start they seem to be off from their normal personality.
It does get better, but if he seems off get a checkup just to make sure.

Typical molt but in this pic he is not as bad looking as he can get.