molting?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

Is there a reason why a bird would go through a very heavy molting or is this normal every once in a while? Joey has been molting for about one and a half month now and still isnt done! He looks beautiful though, big difference from my avator picture, almost all the neck feathers are back and bright red

I was just curious if there is a specific reason. He has had a change in diet recently, he went from seed mix to pellets. And we dont know where he came from or what he ate before as we found him outside. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable? He seems happy though. He isnt hand tame yet (we are getting there ) so I cant break the pin feathers for him.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I don't know, but I'm beginning to wish for a definitive article on what things regulate molting and what is the range of "normal". Scooter seems to be in a perpetual molt, which I understand is not uncommon is house-kept birds, but if I knew how to get him on a more normal schedule I'd do it. I have taken steps to regulate lighting better by putting the bird lighting on a timer, but so far that hasn't has much effect. I can't tell if the actual local day/night cycle has much effect. Temperatures have been bouncing back and forth, and we've gone from heat to A/C and back again at least twice in the last month. I know with horses the day/night cycle is the biggest determiner of shedding patterns but I really don't have a sense of how well we understand what regulates feather replacement in birds.

[Mr.Darcy]

I know this link has been floating around on this forum, but take a look at it, it may help...
http://www.2ndchance.info/molt.htm