Molting season

[galeriagila]

DANG!
Pin-feathers must be like.................. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Poor babies.

[Pajarita]

Ah, yes. Fajr and Clover are doing alright (itchy but slowly losing feathers) but poor Lemon looks so uncomfortable! He has pin feather patches all over his head. Won't let us anywhere near his head and is even snappish towards Clover at times. Trying to give him baths to make it more comfortable, but it's gonna take time. His neck ring is coming in with full force now too.

Psittaculas are notorious for their real bad molts, poor things! They are the only species that actually look moth eaten during it!

[galeriagila]

So what could you do for a bird if you just have one, Pajarita? Lots of showers? Give them stuff to rub against?

[Pajarita]

They take care of the pins themselves. The only place they can't reach very well is the top of their heads and I always try to help them with that BUT, if they don't have anybody to do it for them or if they don't trust anybody enough, they use their feet to scratch and thus dislodge the keratin sheaths as they dry up and crumble. And, of course, bathing them helps a lot because the water makes the sheath easier to disintegrate.

[galeriagila]

Thank. All that makes sense. I forgot about their masterful foot-scratching!

A funny thing. I call this the "2-feather" situation. When the RB wants his head preened, he fluffs and bows, and expects a good 5 minutes or more. Then for fun, I'll stop and bow my head to him. He preens 2 feathers (hairs in my bangs), then bows his head again. Not very fair. The 2-feather situation.

[Pajarita]

And I can well imagine what is going through his head: "Sheesh, there she goes again, asking for scritches... ONE - TWO - That's all you get and be grateful for it! Now go back to doing your job and preen me!"

[galeriagila]

If I try to get my two feathers preened too often, he gives me a withering one-eyed stare, and he won't do it. You're right... press your luck: you get nothing.

[seagoatdeb]

Yep my parrot give me the two second preening....lol

Sunny gets his preening from both Gaugan and I and Gaugan is pretty darn bossy and thinks everyone should like her best so i sometimes have my hubby take Gaugan downstairs so i can give Sunny a lot of one on one attention with me. Gaugan has very good hearing though, and if Sunny makes his cute Meyer sounds when i am preeing him she will start calling from downstairs and in a short time hubby will be back up with her.......lol

[Pajarita]

I think it depends on the species because although all my friendly birds would preen me, the ones that actually spend a loooooong time doing it are only the lovie and the sun conure -and I do mean looooong! so much so that, sometimes, I have to make them stop because it begins to hurt after a while.

[galeriagila]

All I know is that it seems to me likely innate... he's been like that since he was a baby. Adorable but selfish with the preening!
Another thing I have noticed... preening toys?? He has no use for them. I saw him solicit preening from one of them a few times before he gave up. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. If you watch BIG BANG THEORY, he will remind you of Zack.