IndianRingNeck.com

We recently bought a female Indian Ringneck two and 1/2 weeks ago. She is now 4 1/2 months old, but when we got her we noticed that her feathers looked a little rough on her flight feathers. She also has a couple scabs on her flight feathers. They told us that it was from the Sun Conures and other birds picking at her and that she was in a molt. Underneath her flight feathers it looks really strange but I don't know if that is just her skin. Her whole body looks perfect except for her flight feathers and tail feathers. Her tail feathers are like falling out. It looks like new ones are growing in though. This is hard to fully explain on here. Could I send a picture of what I am talking about? Now today it looks like she is pooping blood and the poop is strange looking. It is long and colored and has a redish, brownish color to it. It could be her diet though. We feed her her seed diet and fruits and vegtables. I have gotten so close to this bird. Can you help me? Can she even molt at 4 months? I thought they did not molt until 6-7 months. I cannot get her to a vet until Monday. Please help. I can explain more if you need me too. She is acting okay and eating good though.

Thank you

Jamie Wilderman

so separate her from other birds for a while and let nature take its course from there.

She is not with other birds anymore. She was when we bought her at Petland 2 1/2 weeks ago. She is by herself in a big cage.

I think your bird is probably fine .. but i'm not officially educated on birds so don't take my word for it... collect some of the waste and take it to the avian vet as well as a detailed record of the bird's diet over the last few days.

just taking in some droppings might be a fair deal cheaper than taking the actual bird in ... hell even a regular vet could figure out if it's blood or not. My bird's produce reddish colored waste on occasion. It's always directly related to what they ate.

I suspect your bird is the same.. If the bird is eating fine and seems okay. then that's good enough until monday when you can get to the vet. Personally i would leave the bird at home and just take them a sample. It might save you some money

Hi Jamie,

I have noticed feathers that look ragged at times. I have encouraged preening by taking a spritz water bottle (spray bottle) and putting some warm water in it and spritzing my boys in the morning when it is getting warmer (like around 9/10 a.m.) and it depends on how low your A.C. is set to (we keep our A.C. around 78 degrees because we like it warm) as you want your bird to be able to completely dry and not get cold. Our birds love being spritzed (misted) - they open up their wings and lean into and even push (well Shine pushes Rise) each other out of the way so they can get more spray. This might just help your bird fix these feathers.

I agree that I have seen my IRNs poop be watery when we give them apples and different colors depending on what they ate.

Some one correct me, but if you IRN was sick, it would be fluffing up and sitting on the bottom of the cage? I am sure there are other signs but if he/she is not doing this, hopefully, that is a good sign.

Sounds like you are being a good parent and I hope your IRN looks and acts better soon. Jan

Hi Jamie,

Parrot poop is usually reflective of whatever it has eaten. Beetroot, chillis etc can make for some strange poops! I have never seen it myself, but I have read that blood will make poops black. If you do a search on the net for parrot poopology 101 you'll find a good reference page.

You can email me a picture of feathers at claireintheair @ hotmail dot com and I can post it here.

Definitely take the bird for a check up if you are worried, I am a fan of health checks for new birds anyway. Parrots are really good at hiding their symptoms, by the time they start looking sick it can be too late to do much.

Bathing is great, cool water should be used. Here is more info if anyone is interested http://beautyofbirds.com/bathing.html

I hope your little one is okay!

Regards,
Claire