My baby bird is losing feathers

[tnday2001]

Hi I am very new to the whole baby cockatiel. My baby is almost 4wks. old
both parents are stlii with it. Everything was going smoothly till a few days ago when we noticed some feathers are missing from the top of it's head to the bottom of his neck, and now his yellow feathers are gone it just has a yellow patch. I have no idea if this is a good thing or should i get help from vet.

[KDK241]

It sounds like one or both parents are plucking him. If you can figure out which parent, then you can remove the offender and leave the other parent to feed him. Is he eating on his own?

[tielfan]

One or both parents may be trying to drive him from the nest so they can start another clutch. When my Shodu wanted to breed again she played barber one morning with all six of her current chicks, including the two that had already left the nest. I quickly figured out that she was the guilty party (since she was still going after their head feathers) so I took her out of the nesting cage and let the father bird take care of the chicks. Now all six chicks have fledged, and Shodu has started laying eggs again although I think I managed to delay it for a couple of weeks.

[tnday2001]

Thank you for the advice. After i read the postings i took the pearl out of the cage and put her by herself. she was the one pulling out his feathers. He looks so sad. We did take all three to the vets the baby is doing just fine the mother is a little sick. we were told to put Teagon by himself so we did hes eating on his own and trying to fly it is the cutest thing. He is a little scared of us right now so he doesnt come near us any suggestions?

[KDK241]

Lots of time and patience. It's scary being away from mom and dad for the first time so he's going to be a little freaked out at first. Try giving him some treats from your hand and just sitting and talking to him. He needs a little time to adjust.

[tnday2001]

Teagon is letting us hold him now and he sits on our hands. We are hand feeding the parnets want nothing to do with him. They say to keep a heat lamp on him but never said how long I was told he may be missing his mom I hope I'm doing this right. I will post his picture when he is himself again

[KDK241]

If he is in a cage then you can either place a small light bulb next to it or put a heating pad underneath part of it. This will give him the option to go to the warmer spot if he is cold. He should have a cooler area that he can go to so he doesn't get too warm. I like using a heating pad. That way it can be left on all night without having to keep a light on them so they can get some sleep.

[tnday2001]

Thank you so much you have been alot of help.

[tnday2001]

Do you place them directly on the heating pad or do you put it between a towel or something like that? do i keep it on all the time

[KDK241]

If they are in a cage I place it under the cage floor or tape it to the side. That way there is just a warm place for them to go by if they are chilled. I don't place it in the cage or put them on top of it. I left it on all the time until they had all their feathers or I noticed they weren't going by it anymore. When they were in the aquarium I placed it under half of the tank. The main thing is to make sure there is a warm place but also that they can get away from the heat if they get too hot.