Is Indie Sick Dying Or Normal?

[boomer063]

My Little Indie girl is less then a year old. but i've noticed recently that she has been changing color. She's a Blue Indian Ring Neck Parakeet. But her bright vibrant blue has been turning to a powder blue before shifting to a grey. i Admit she hasn't gotten much sun light as our sun is up at 10 or 11 when i'm at work and is down before i get home at 4. but i come home and turn on lights for her. Is she okay? do i need to see a vet?

[Wolf]

Thank you for asking about you bird and I have been thinking about this for most of the night. The amount of sunlight as well as the quality of light for your bird are both important considerations, especially with you living so far north. Based on what you said as well as what you did not say, I am guessing that there are several things that you can do to improve the life conditions for your bird. I think that I would begin with the placement of your birds cage. I would place it near a window, if you have not already done so, where your bird can get some indirect sunlight while you are gone through the day. I would also get some full spectrum lights to place in the room with the bird and put them on timers so that they come on and shut off at the appropriate times. The full spectrum lights must have a CRI of 94 or higher with a Ktemp of 5500, there are other lights available but these are the ones that you need for your bird as some of the others are not good for your bird and can cause problems.
I have heard a little about a birds feathers fading in color some, but not to the extent that you are talking about. The issues involved in the little that I heard about were lighting issues and dietary issues as both of these affect the color of your birds feathers. As for the feathers turning grey goes, I would definitely take your bird to an avian vet as soon as I could as there are some medical reasons for this to occur.

[boomer063]

while i would love to open the window to let in natural light i have 2 big fears. one i only have one window and it's a large window that anyone walking by could look in to and see my whole apartment. i'm in a bachelor on the ground floor so someone could walk by and bust open my window. so for safety i keep the blinds pulled. i know in summer we get nothing but sun light. but i will take her to the vet as soon as the weather gets warmer.

Thank you for asking about you bird and I have been thinking about this for most of the night. The amount of sunlight as well as the quality of light for your bird are both important considerations, especially with you living so far north. Based on what you said as well as what you did not say, I am guessing that there are several things that you can do to improve the life conditions for your bird. I think that I would begin with the placement of your birds cage. I would place it near a window, if you have not already done so, where your bird can get some indirect sunlight while you are gone through the day. I would also get some full spectrum lights to place in the room with the bird and put them on timers so that they come on and shut off at the appropriate times. The full spectrum lights must have a CRI of 94 or higher with a Ktemp of 5500, there are other lights available but these are the ones that you need for your bird as some of the others are not good for your bird and can cause problems.
I have heard a little about a birds feathers fading in color some, but not to the extent that you are talking about. The issues involved in the little that I heard about were lighting issues and dietary issues as both of these affect the color of your birds feathers. As for the feathers turning grey goes, I would definitely take your bird to an avian vet as soon as I could as there are some medical reasons for this to occur.

[Wolf]

I understand about your apartment as well as your fears and although I wish that I could do something about them, I can't. But, you could perhaps consider getting a full spectrum light for your bird. Although there is nothing that can truly compare with natural sunshine, a full spectrum light can still help your bird. It would provide her with light that goes into the UV wavelengths which will help him with his vitamin D-3 requirements as well as providing her better lighting as parrots see into those light ranges. They make timers that you can plug a light into and set it so that the light comes on about an hour after the sun comes up and shuts of an hour before sunset. The full spectrum lighting should help with the condition of her feathers as well. The only other thing that I can think of to help would be dietary issues, so may I enquire as to what you are feeding your bird?

[boomer063]

i've been looking into a spectrum light. it would help in winter but i'm sure my girl will love summer as we can get full days with no sun set. as for diet i like to keep a variety. she feeds on large seeds, pellets, fresh and dried fruit, leafy greens, other veggies some millet and very rarely some fully cooked extra lean turkey or chicken. my cockatiel eats the same

I understand about your apartment as well as your fears and although I wish that I could do something about them, I can't. But, you could perhaps consider getting a full spectrum light for your bird. Although there is nothing that can truly compare with natural sunshine, a full spectrum light can still help your bird. It would provide her with light that goes into the UV wavelengths which will help him with his vitamin D-3 requirements as well as providing her better lighting as parrots see into those light ranges. They make timers that you can plug a light into and set it so that the light comes on about an hour after the sun comes up and shuts of an hour before sunset. The full spectrum lighting should help with the condition of her feathers as well. The only other thing that I can think of to help would be dietary issues, so may I enquire as to what you are feeding your bird?

[Wolf]

I am not sure what you mean by large seeds. There is some controversity about feeding parrots protein from animal sources. I don't know what percentages of what their food intake is, but by and large it appears that you may have this well in hand. Still without a more detailed description of their diet we can't be sure. How much they eat of some foods is every bit as important as is what they eat, changes in routine and other environmental factors can interfere with how well they absorb and use certain amino acids and vitamins. Illness can be a major factor to be considered, especially since birds are prone to hide any symptoms if possible until their life is threatened by it and is the major reason to have them checked by the vet as soon as possible when you notice these changes. The loss of color and darkening of feathers can also be caused by your bird not having molted when it should have, so you must ask when did your bird last molt. I am still of the opinion that this is most likely a dietary issue, but without the bird being examined by a competent avian vet, we simply can't rule out a medical issue being the cause.
While pondering this issue and doing some additional research I came across this article which I thought might prove to be helpful to you in regards to feather coloration http://parrotnutrition.com/articles/som ... et-parrots
Please let me know if this helps you any. I will be happy to continue seeking possible answers to this situation if you want me to, but I will need a more detailed description of the diet that you birds are eating, telling me what they are fed and at what point of the day that they get this food as well as some idea of what percentage of their diet the food item is.

[Pajarita]

Psittaculas need more fruits and veggies than other parrots and, going by your list, you are feeding way too many high protein items as well as animal protein which is a no-no with them.

Now, the discoloration of the feathers is a worry. The blue color is not made by pigments (as red, orange, yellow, etc are), it's made by a special structure of the feathers which reflect only blue light so the problem here must be structural as well as dietary. Please reconsider the diet you are feeding as well as the lights and take her to a good avian vet because there might be health issues going on there.