cockatiel molting??

[xxlazaro]

Hello I had a simple question my cockatiel is preening a lot and she has a lot of pin feathers on her head a a few on her neck she is also a little less active (just a little) I just wanted to know if she is molting and if it's ok (right now she is preening on me heheh) any help is appreciated

[hnhobu]

It sounds to me like your bird is molting, and even if she's not the advice I'm about to give you will help your baby with her pin feathers.

If I were you I would start feeding your tiel proteins such as egg and broccoli, and I would also start giving her frequent luke warm baths. The protein will help her keep up her nutriotion while her body is hard at work making new feathers, and the bath will relieve the itchiness on her skin and the it will always soften the pin feathers.

There are a lot of methods to bathing a bird, but what I find most successful is to simply take the bird in the shower with me.

[xxlazaro]

Hello thanks for answering I was thinking about giving her broccoli and I have tried showering with them but it hasn't been that successful so I shower them separately from me but how can I get her to try the eggs because I have given her eggs and they are apparently scared of it haha and I'm obviously not going to force it down her throat. If you can help me with that I would appreciate it thanks take care

[hnhobu]

Hello thanks for answering I was thinking about giving her broccoli and I have tried showering with them but it hasn't been that successful so I shower them separately from me but how can I get her to try the eggs because I have given her eggs and they are apparently scared of it haha and I'm obviously not going to force it down her throat. If you can help me with that I would appreciate it thanks take care

Yes I can! There are many different ways to feed a bird eggs. When it comes to my love bird she won't try to eat anything new unless I feed it to her out of my mouth. I know it sounds gross, but when you're desperate for your bird to eat something for nutritional means, you'll be surprised at what you'll do. Now I typically put half a boiled egg crushed up in his food bowl. I leave the shell on and everything! It doubles as a toy and a meal.

It took me about 3 weeks before I could get my lovie to eat eggs. It's slightly wasteful but it pays off in the end.

[cml]

Hnhobu, I dont mind that it sounds gross, but you should be aware that human saliva is toxic to birds and can lead to serious health issues!

I pretend to eat new stuff (but dont, or I eat one piece and give my parrots another), then I offer it to the birds. This is especially important with Leroy who's a bit nervous about eating new things.

[marie83]

What cml said, saliva has bacteria which can kill a bird or make it very sick.
Try not to feed too much broccoli as it hinders calcium absorbtion.
Sprouted seeds are excellent for moulting parrot and most birds will eat them without too much persuading- especially if they already eat a few seeds.