Fajr's first moult

[Pajarita]

Baths are good but preening them is more effective -and they love it!

Now, as to the second baths, please make sure there is plenty of time for him to be COMPLETELY dry before bedtime and that means hours because they look dry before they really are (down stays damp after contour feathers dry up).

[shiraartain]

Parjarita, while I have no problem with petting, he tends to nip me more often and angrily if I rub a sensitive feather the wrong way...and then will butt his head against my fingers two seconds later and bite me again if I don't continue. Obviously, he is justified in that he's going through a difficult time, but I stop petting after being bitten too many times. He has pin feathers everywhere on his head now, so it's a bit difficult to pet him without being nipped, haha.

And yes, we try and be very careful about being sure not to send him to bed wet-but I didn't realize that his down feathers took that long to dry! Will be more careful in the future for sure.

Edit: I thought I would add a picture of post-shower Fajr

[Wolf]

Better looking but similar to how I look in the mornings when I get up.

[liz]

I've watched cockatiels chase their babies to break the wax on new feathers. The babies complain and some times it takes both parents to do it.
Myrtle has just started letting me deal with hers.

[Pajarita]

Awwwww, so adorable!

As to preening them, yes, they are very sensitive to their pinnies (pin feathers, the new ones that grow inside the keratin sheath) and even more so on their head but the trick is to always follow the growth of the feather (never go against the 'grain' so to speak) and to do just a couple at a time. I use my thumb and index finger and putting my thumb under the pinnie (the pinnie has to be the same length as the grown feathers, never touch the shorter ones), I very gently scrape the end of the keratin sheath with the nail on my index and work my way up toward the skin very slowly and, sometimes, I even stop halfway to come back to it later in the day. There is no rush and it's supposed to be a pleasurable experience for the bird so easy does it.

[Wolf]

Yep! And I have been doing this for mine and you should see me trying to do this wit Paquita/ Skeeter the parrotlet. (s)He is so little and my fingers are so big, it is quite a game.

[Pajarita]

Yes, that would be quite a trick with such a little bird!