First Time Molting

[CasanovasMom]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask some questions. Sorry that this is a bit long.
I have had my parrotlet Cassie for a little less than a month. She's molting. She dropped a lot of downy feathers for a few days but now it's not so often as it was. My questions is: Is her neck supposed to look like this? She itches at it a lot. I give her a bath daily -not just a misting but a soaking. I have heard that you can gently help scratch their head to help the new feathers but Cassie is still finger-shy. I don't mind being bitten because she's communicating with me but I'd rather NOT be bitten or give her a reason to be scared of me. Is there a different way to help her? Or should I just let her scratch?
I also wasn't able to get a picture of this buy she has a bit of a line down the middle of her stomach sometimes. Not bare and I haven't seen her plucking but it worries me.
Another thing I wasn't able to get a picture of is beneath her wings. I can barely see under there but it looks a lot less fluffy under her wings than the rest of her does. I am also not sure if I can see some bare patches under there because she only puts her wings up enough for a second when she stretches. I am not sure what it's SUPPOSED to look like under her wings.
Some other information.
She is on a mostly-pellet diet and we are working on introducing fresh foods. I have also begun to introduce her to foraging. I recently swapped out all her toys (made them myself this time) and she's having a blast. Tons and tons of bells.
She has the option for a lot of out-of-cage time. I work from home and often open her door for her. Sometimes however, she just doesn't feel like coming out.
I cover her at night. She gets the proper amount of hours of darkness and is between two windows in my room where light can get to her but it's not going to fry her. My room is where my office is, so she sees me all day.
I am very much a worrywart and I love her to pieces. My parakeet before her lived for less than a week. I bought him from a store. Cassie, I purchased from a reputable breeder. She wiggle dances at me sometimes and plays constantly, and she has not ever been aggressive with me or prone to throwing fits. She eats all her food every day and drinks well. However, I'm still scared that these are signs she might be plucking or that there's something wrong with her. Are these vet-worthy concerns? Because I'm enough of a worrier that I'm nearly convinced I should go.
Note: I believe in loving animals no matter what. All I want is the best for my bird. Cost is no object. If a vet visit is called for, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[Bird woman]

Hi casinovasmom, first of all welcome to the forum. You had mentioned the little bird that died , and you only had for a month??? Did your new bird come after it passed away? Did you use same cage the other bird that passed used? Also if you had both at the same time did you quarantine the new one? There is a million questions , but to be on the safe side I would see a bird vet even if it's just for peace of mind especially if your new birdie is or has been around or used anything the other bird may. Have had access to. I don't have time to fully explain right now but I'm sure wolf or pajarita will be on soon and explain . Bird woman. Also a vet visit with full blood panel is a good thing if you can afford it to at least know your bird is healthy.

[Wolf]

I have a couple of parrotlets, myself and I don't see anything in these pictures that I would be concerned about, I have never seen a white parrotlet before and I must say that the pin feathers stand out to the eye more than they do on either of mine, but they look pretty normal to me.

I am concerned about the parakeet ( budgie ?) that you had that died within a week. Do you know why it died? How long after the parakeet died was it before you got the parotlet? Are you using the same cage for the parrotlet that was used for the other bird? If you are using the same cage and toys how did you clean and disinfect them?

These question have a huge bearing on what I would advise, but if the parrotlet has not yet seen an avian vet and had at least a base blood panel done I would suggest that you get that done soon. The bird that died could have been infectious and may have left something that could make your parrotlet ill and that is why I asked all of the questions that I have asked.

[Pajarita]

Well, although the pins on her neck do look normal, the fact that there is a large patch of all pin feathers is not normal so she either plucked that or another bird did it. Molt is a normal and natural thing but, in reality, when a bird is on a healthy diet and light schedule, you hardly ever notice anything out of the ordinary with their plumage except for the fallen feathers, the primaries pins and a few pins on their heads. The rest of the body doesn't show anything out of the ordinary because the molt is slow, gradual and systematic so the bird is never impaired by the lack of a complete plumage.

The underwings always look much less fluffy than the rest of the body, there are less feathers and flatter ones there but there should be no holes.

Now, as to her biting, when she does it, she is, in a way, communicating with you but it's like saying that somebody yelling at you is communicating Yes, she is telling you off but it should never get to that point because you don't want her to think/feel that she needs to actually 'yell' for you to understand.

Also, what do you mean, exactly, by "she gets the proper amount of hours of darkness"? Which is 'the proper amount' you are talking about? Because, in reality, there is no set number of hours of sleep or even darkness, it varies with the seasons.

I don't feed pellets, I believe they are not the best dietary option for birds but, if I did fed them, I would only use them for dinner.

The other members' concerns about the bird that died are valid so we would all appreciate it if you would clarify this issue...

[Bird woman]

thanks guys I just didn't have time to get into it and my alarm bells were going off a bit on this post.BW

[CasanovasMom]

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for your replies.
For the dietary concerns, I am trying to get her to eat more fresh things but she's incredibly picky, as I know birds can be. I try to introduce her to new things every day. So far, all she likes is kale.
I did not have the parakeet at the same time as Cassie. She is in the same cage but it was fully disinfected and cleaned from top to bottom, as were all the toys. The parakeet was not ill, though I AM a worrier and I still did have concerns about that and went to great lengths to ensure everything was safe for her.
The reason the parakeet died was that he was starving himself, and stressed from the pet shop environment. I was not able to get him to the vet in time.
Cassie is even more noticeably pin-feathered on her head now and she has some new feathers coming in on her wings.
I WILL be making a vet appointment as soon as I can get in. Sorry for this late reply. For some reason, I wasn't getting notifications that people were replying.
I still am not quite sure if I'm seeing anything under her wings and that's what I'm most worried about. I'll be posting the results of the vet visit here.
Thank you all again for your input!
UPDATE: Vet visit tomorrow early afternoon.

[Wolf]

This is an older forum program and I have never had any notifications of answers to my post, I have always had to come and check for myself.

[CasanovasMom]

That's odd. I got notifications for my first post here. But anyway! We went to the vet.
He said that she definitely is looking a bit ragged but that there is nothing wrong with her skin, and she does not appear to be plucking or chewing on her feathers. He said that this just might be a bit of a rough molt for her, since it is her first. I will continue to watch her but I'm relieved that she's healthy.

[Bird woman]

After reading the reason for the parakeet dying I feel I must make a few things clear about feeding and diet change. First off when feeding a seed diet such as the mixes they have for parakeets you need to dump the food bowl each day as to the untrained eye it looks like it's full but in fact they are already hulled seeds ( nothing left in them) . This is very important!!! Also when acquiring a new bird it is important to have the food available to them when attempting to switch there diet that they are used to while adding healthy foods so they acquire a taste and become familiar with there new foods. This can take a long time , patients is the key to success. BirdWoman. Also I'm assuming you must have done a blood panel on your little darling to know he's in good health

[Pajarita]

I don't know if I am confused or have actual cause for worry because birds do NOT starve themselves. No animal does. Animal only stop eating when they are either too weak from trauma or disease or when they are in excruciating pain so I am afraid that his changing homes or been stressed out in the store could not have been a cause for his not eating and dying.

Please don't feed her kale all the time. It's too high in something called sorbitol, which is a natural sugar but also completely indigestible and it causes problems in the digestive tract (if I have a salad with a bit of kale, I have diarrhea the following day) so, although it is nutritious, it's not something that should be consumed all the time either.

Plets are ground foragers so the seed they eat is very low in protein (12%) and no pellet is that low so be careful with free-feeding pellets. Ground foragers are, usually, not big produce eaters when you serve it on its own, you need to 'trick' them into eating it by chopping it very finely and mixing it with cooked grains (which they love).