My boy (2yrs old.. second major moult that i know of) is currently mid-moult and has grown quite a lot of new feathers. I've noticed that his new flight feathers are lacking the blue shine that he had before the moult, they are more yellowy green. we could tell when his tail feathers and flight feathers were about to fall because they seemed to lose their shine too and looked grey-ish. He has an over-all white-ish look to him aswell on his chest and back. hes growing blue feathers on his head and i think they could be brighter.
im wondering if this could be lack of certain vitamins? atm he's on a seed mix diet. he eat's all day but when i replace his food he digs like crazy and swallows whole peanuts like he hasnt been fed in a day or two. hes just reminded me of another thing... hes started eating his own poop. if he finds it dried anywhere in his cage he scrapes it off and eats it. ive never EVER seen him do this before.
overall mood is happy lol.hes dancin to his toys as i type. is a bit grumpy now and again but hes moultin.
any advice would be good. im trying to read up on vitamins and diet for moulting birds atm
Moulting
Moderator: Mods
Poop eater
I've noticed my cockatiels do the same (scraping dried poop & eating
a bit of them) when they're about to lay eggs. So I'm thinking if there's
any health benefit they could get from that.
My IRNs are moulting too now but they don't eat poop.
I wish you'd post your research on vitamins & diet for moulting IRNs.
a bit of them) when they're about to lay eggs. So I'm thinking if there's
any health benefit they could get from that.
My IRNs are moulting too now but they don't eat poop.
I wish you'd post your research on vitamins & diet for moulting IRNs.
As far as I know, a seed diet is never enough, unless your bird eats a lot of fruit and vegetables daily. Otherwise it might be a better idea to switch them to pellets. And the feathers do indeed show the health of the bird, if he does not get enough vitamins, the feathers won't have their beautiful shine. And I know that rabbits eat their poop if they don't digest the food as well as they should, or if they do need more vitamins, so they can digest it again and maybe get some more out of it. It is for birds pretty dangerous, because they might get an E. coli infection, from eating their own poop, and that can make them pretty ill. Do you get him sunlight regularly? This might help too, and helps them make a vitamin they can't make without sunlight (don't know right know which vitamin this is). Hope you'll have something on my reply.[/i]
we have been trying our best to get him enough un-filtered sunlight but the weather is awful >< its mid summer and its rare we are finding any sunshine, and if we do its either a very cold wind or its followed by rain. im scared of him catching a cold or getting sick or something. i know they can tollerate low temperatures but he isnt used to them. money has been scarce and we used to feed him pellets but they were costing £6 for a 500g bag 
so we had no choice but to turn to seed (costs about £1.30 for a 750g bag). ive been trying to buy a piece of fruit if i have any left over change when im at the shop but we dont have a fruit and veg shop close by like we used to so its expensive in a supermarket.
hes grown in all his wing feathers now (maybe one or two left to go) and his long tail feathers are coming through but they are grey and not blue and his wings are yellowy green instead of turquoise
i cant wait to find out if im accepted back to uni or not so i can sort out my money poor little bub. weve been giving him water soluble vitamin substitute lately but i havent noticed any difference of yet. trying to find ways of sneeking it into his diet cus it makes his water smell funny and i dont think he likes it
so we had no choice but to turn to seed (costs about £1.30 for a 750g bag). ive been trying to buy a piece of fruit if i have any left over change when im at the shop but we dont have a fruit and veg shop close by like we used to so its expensive in a supermarket.
hes grown in all his wing feathers now (maybe one or two left to go) and his long tail feathers are coming through but they are grey and not blue and his wings are yellowy green instead of turquoise
i cant wait to find out if im accepted back to uni or not so i can sort out my money
poor little bub. weve been giving him water soluble vitamin substitute lately but i havent noticed any difference of yet. trying to find ways of sneeking it into his diet cus it makes his water smell funny and i dont think he likes itAh that's too bad.. but than you know the reason for the bad colours.. there are also some healthy things you can find right outside, like branches from a willow tree, that's really healthy (make sure that the branch looks healthy, and leave the bast in, in that there are vitamins). You can give plaintain, hawkbit, dog rose fruits (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afbeelding:Rosa_canina_hips.jpg), shepherd's purse, blackberry, corn (maybe you can get one from a cornfield somewhere), elderberry's. I think you can find more 'free nature food', if you search the net! And you can freeze it, so you don't have to go out every day.
i saw something in the pet shop the other day called "seaweed powder". ive got a book on Rat diet's and it says its good for them. i was just wondering if itd be good for my fid aswell? i hadnt seen it before until the other day and didnt think anything of it until i saw it again in my rat book. i think it might take better or be easier to give him than the water soluble stuff with its funky smell lol
true. ill have to research it i think. do you think hed be able to develop the colour in his feathers when his diet improves or would they stay faded until his next moult?
i dont really know how a bird works. ive got an anatomy book but it just says about the structure of feathers, nothing about colouration or moulting
i dont really know how a bird works. ive got an anatomy book but it just says about the structure of feathers, nothing about colouration or moulting
In the next moult the bird will get better looking feathers. One of my lovebirds came here with poor feathers, looking a bit greasy. I went to the vet, and asked how this was possible, he said that he was poorly fed in his first home. Here he eats pellets, but is still not looking great, because he hasn't had it's first great moult yet. But I thought that the birds which live inside a home, keep moulting after their first moult, because the temperature is constant. But don't know that for sure.
There are three things that have never failed a seed based diet for indoor birds.
Lighting (proper UV-B UV-B pet lights, many pet shops stock them... reptile stores have them as well, just dont get the desert grade ones aka heat/light , ask when you buy and they arent that costly.
You can even get special small ones for the top/sides of bird cages.
I dont know many bird owners who's birds actually get a healthy dose of sunlight. Sitting in a window = 90% less UV rays that the body needs for a bird.
Secondly vitamins. This seems a little costly when you buy it (about $20-30 per container) however it lasts for ages! And you dont have to do it more than once a week.
Thirdly fruit and veg, if you can only afford / manage one/two whole pieces of fruit a week thats fine.
Regarding electricity costs.. those UV lights are tiny in wattage... they cost near nothing to run a few hours a day during their main time in the cage.
Regarding the feathers, you will find their shine will grow quite strongly, as it is actually the health of the oils that the bird produces that have the most effect on that, and the colour will come through next moult, or even in stages as once health picks up IRN's like other birds can and sometimes do moult the less healthy plumage for new healthy feathers.
Even in a constant temp the bird will have a normal moult, though you will find it not the same as the breeding cycle more often than not... they find their own little cycle. (in regards to IRN anyway, not sure of other breeds).
Lighting (proper UV-B UV-B pet lights, many pet shops stock them... reptile stores have them as well, just dont get the desert grade ones aka heat/light , ask when you buy and they arent that costly.
You can even get special small ones for the top/sides of bird cages.
I dont know many bird owners who's birds actually get a healthy dose of sunlight. Sitting in a window = 90% less UV rays that the body needs for a bird.
Secondly vitamins. This seems a little costly when you buy it (about $20-30 per container) however it lasts for ages! And you dont have to do it more than once a week.
Thirdly fruit and veg, if you can only afford / manage one/two whole pieces of fruit a week thats fine.
Regarding electricity costs.. those UV lights are tiny in wattage... they cost near nothing to run a few hours a day during their main time in the cage.
Regarding the feathers, you will find their shine will grow quite strongly, as it is actually the health of the oils that the bird produces that have the most effect on that, and the colour will come through next moult, or even in stages as once health picks up IRN's like other birds can and sometimes do moult the less healthy plumage for new healthy feathers.
Even in a constant temp the bird will have a normal moult, though you will find it not the same as the breeding cycle more often than not... they find their own little cycle. (in regards to IRN anyway, not sure of other breeds).
update: the feathers on his head are sooooo shiny. hes had tonnes of fruit and veg and ive been keeping up with the vitamins every day. they catch the light very nicely now. i think that the feathers on his wings, the ones above his flight feathers (cant find my anatomy book to get the name of them) are starting to get a bluer shine to them like they should have. he has all but two flight feathers and they are still lacking in blue but i dont think theyll come through unless he moults them. will be interesting to see the development of the last two that need to come through haha. his two long tail feathers are still growing and they dont look as grey as they used to and are getting quite a nice shine to them ^^
sunlight is still terrible. had non stop rain and thunder storms lately and i havent got any cash to go to the pet shop and look at UV bulbs >< ill still take your advice Fah and look into the pet shops when i can.
sunlight is still terrible. had non stop rain and thunder storms lately and i havent got any cash to go to the pet shop and look at UV bulbs >< ill still take your advice Fah and look into the pet shops when i can.