My baby Tiel

[mel64511]

Hey everyone. I've been finding dried blood under his feathers and I wash it off and now i see it again. Do you think he is breaking blood feathers? I've never seen any wet blood, all i've seen is the dried blood.

[Greycloud]

Will he let you hold him in a soft grasp and spread his wing to look under? He may have a small broken blood feather. If it bleeds continuosly it needs to be pulled. Or he could be stating to pluck. Which I hope isn't the case. He definitely needs you to examine him.

[mel64511]

I've looked. He doesnt have any broken blood feathera and I dont think he is plucking from what I see.

[prettypenguin]

Has he been having night frights? They are not unusual with lutinos- my Ruby has them and breaks feathers on her wings sometimes. We keep our bedroom door open and the noise wakes us, and we take her out and hold her for a bit. She had them more often as a baby, lately she has less.

[mel64511]

Yeah He is. I am getting a nightlight for him, Well see if this helps????

[prettypenguin]

It may, another thing that may help is less light getting into the cage, ironically enough. If he is super prone to these, or breaks blood feathers, you may want to invest in a smaller sleep cage or a clear plastic terrarium box so that when he has them he doesn't catch his wings between the cage bars. I have found that a smaller sleep cage, well covered helps Ruby stay asleep more than a night light and light covers do, but every bird is different. Good luck with him, he's adorable!

[mel64511]

Thanks. I'll Have to try that. I have an extra little cage so we'll have to see...

[Lori~D]

Most tiels do better half covered with a night light. Where they can sleep under the cover but still see "whats out there".

[mel64511]

Ok I'll just have to try everything and see what works best :)

[prettypenguin]

That's how I found out what Roo likes, trial and error! Between advice here and the Avian Vet, we figured it out. My other tiel prefers a lighter cover like most do.