Does my IRN have a feather condition?

[Blue Pako]

I just noticed that Pako has some rather rough looking feathers on his tail and one of his wings. I think he is well nourished (loves eating vegetables, fruit, nuts/seeds).

So I'm wondering if this is the early signs of a moult coming on, or a sign of something else like mites or lice.
I preened through his feathers with my fingers and didn't see anything. On a possibly related note, his flight feathers were clipped by the breeder (too short for my liking). He was also sitting on my white laptop screen for about 20mins, and I didn't see any red mites.

He was born in February 2014. So I'm hoping this is just his first moult.
Hope it's okay I used dropbox, as the site limits the image quality here. Thanks.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qta415457ibdgvq/IMG_1514.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nh8sp0g6zx68z9m/pako4.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xksuuvnjbdwokcw/pako3.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4t56ryk5q7d2k5g/pako2.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sui77un7weds2lb/Pako1.jpg

[sanjays mummi]

I don't know where you live, but here in the UK it is definitely moulting season. You could put him on "Feather Up", to boost essential minerals etc and mist him with tepid water with a few drops of organic Rosewater and glycerin, to improve his skin condition. Mites can be too microscopic to see with the human eye but if his condition worsens, or you don't see any improvement after following my advice your vet may need to take skin scrapings and look at them through a microscope.

[Blue Pako]

I live in Toronto, Canada. It's summer here now. So far I have only seen him discarding white fluff feathers. No colored feathers have fallen off. I have put white paper towel at the bottom of his cage today, to see I can spot anything.

I will look into your spray suggestion and see if it helps. Thanks.

[sanjays mummi]

White fluffies are definitely a first stage of moult, Spray him.(with a misting bottle) anyway, because he probably itches. It is summer here too.

[Missie]

Hey there Blue Paco,

I am also in Toronto area, and Clyde has the same thing, but not to the same degree as your bird, and also the little fluffies as described are floating about.
I thought this was just normal, ware and tear and damage to their feathers as they are still babies and don't always land well or they fall in their cages.

Clyde got the ok from the Vet so its not mites or lice causing it, and the vet didn't mention anything about his feather condition when we where there, and the feathers where in the same condition.

Missie

[clawnz]

Whew! To me it looks like feather damage. I do not know much about Ringnecks, but with my Alex he does lose these white fluffy feathers all the time, not many but they do appear. They are like snow flakes, down feathers as such. And Dexter moults mid summer. If that helps.
If junior feathering then you can expect some rough feathers.
Young birds do not worry about their feathers like adults do.
In the second pic at least there seems to be stress bars on some of the feathers.
I cannot give you a sound reason for these if that is what there are.
We need input from Molossus they are very good, and we have been talking over Dexters feather problems on the Alexandrine thread.
If you can afford it I would consider a vet check, just to be sure.
Red Palm Oil is good for the skin and feathers, and added Biotin, which is good for hair and skin, also you could consider raising levels of protein if you bird is going into a moult.

[Blue Pako]

Hey there Blue Paco,

I am also in Toronto area, and Clyde has the same thing, but not to the same degree as your bird, and also the little fluffies as described are floating about.
I thought this was just normal, ware and tear and damage to their feathers as they are still babies and don't always land well or they fall in their cages.

Clyde got the ok from the Vet so its not mites or lice causing it, and the vet didn't mention anything about his feather condition when we where there, and the feathers where in the same condition.

Missie

Thanks for the advice guys. I have applied a little bit of aloe to his head (where he scratches a bit) and rubbed some Natural Chemistry Bird Bath on his tail. Don't think there is any fixing them at this point. Once he starts moulting, I'm going to buy him a larger cage too - hopefully that will cut down on potential feather damage when he is playing in his cage.

Missie, I sent you a PM actually. I'm wondering if we bought from the same breeder.

[MissK]

Hey Paco,

About the new cage - why wait? Start shopping now. It may take longer than you hope to find the best cage, and you may find yourself having to thin k hard about what you want.

[Blue Pako]

Hey Paco,

About the new cage - why wait? Start shopping now. It may take longer than you hope to find the best cage, and you may find yourself having to thin k hard about what you want.

I am looking now actually. Keeping an eye on prices. I want to get a large one typically for Greys.

[Missie]

Look for JAL pets on line, it was the best prices I could find in our area. I got the large cage with the play section on top for $230 that was with tax. The prices u see on that site have tax added. All the cages are new and boxed. I will be going again to get a smaller one so I can get it through my door so I can take him outside.

Yip got ur pm

Missie

[Missie]

Just looked at his website and don't see my cage I got there, he does have more than he is showing there. I went in to buy the open top one he's got there but loved the other ones with the seed catcher and wheels with two trays one on top and one on the bottom of the cage.

Missie