Parrot Forums - TalkParrots banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Alexandrine with feather issue's

4K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  clawnz 
#1 ·
I will start with Dexter and his feather issue's
But I do have questions for Catalinadee and Kate.

Here are some photos of Dexters tail showing Stress/pressure bars. This shows how bad the bars are.
And had talked about issue's he had with Primary Flight feathers causing him some pain when they get caught up in his secondary Flight feathers, on another forum.
And feel these are both related to the the trouble in Lura's life, back last year. A quick update, Lura had some very serious stress going on in her life, and it took her at least 5mths to decide that her two Alex were not getting the care they needed, I stepped up and offered to take them in and look after them. Mango does not seem to have suffered like Dexter has. This is easy to explain as he was very close to her, and it would seem he understood the the hell she was going through.
His tail


And close ups


And moving on.
A poor shot from my phone of the first feather I see he had trouble with.

This one I cut back to a stub, but could not see any damage lower down, yet it stuck out at an angle now and then.

Here is one that dropped out yesterday, I saw it and grabbed him to have a look, but it dropped out before I got a look.


Here is a pic of the end of it, and it looks to be a weak spot in the shaft the way it is torn.


I let him go and then see this, so got a pic of it as well.
Poor little boy.

Now he has no Primary Flights on this side.
All comments welcome.

At least he seems happy enough! Here is is sleeping on my leg. He has settled in so well, and will step up for just about anyone now. He comes to work most days and is meeting a huge number of people. Needless to say having a parrot on your shoulder does get people talking.


Now Kate you seem to be good at sub species, so my question is do you think Dexter is the larger one Nepalese? he does show a good blue hue on the back of his neck

Catalinadee I did see your thread about the beak trouble. I did not realise you took him in as an adult.
I am sure now he is with you and you have sorted his diet things will come right in time, Like with Dexter.
Love, time, and diet can make huge inroads to correct somethings in their life.
 
See less See more
7
#2 ·
Looking at the damage to the feathers I would say the birds have been pretty stressed but I am sure they will be better in no time. In your care it would be impossible not to be a happy bird! Had they been clipped in their previous home? The feathers look blunt to me :shrug:

I would also say they definitely look like the same sub-species as mine. I can see a lot of that brilliant blue and they have very thick pink bands :)

Thank you though. Sampson is 8 years old and Kona is 4. Poor fella. The sides of his beak had completely shattered due to the keratin being reduced to next to nothing. It was so bad my vet couldn't even trim it into a suitable shape!
 
#3 ·
There will be no improvement to his feathers until he goes through his annual molt. If anything they may look worse until then. And while in molt he wil look like absolute (sorry cant' use the word here but it is the only way to describe it). Mine are in molt at the moment and they look awful. But it is surprising how quickly that beautiful bird comes back again.

Once the stress is settled and he is on a better diet at molt the feathers will come back near perfect if not perfect. But this may take time. If you are in Australia molt usually takes place between November and January. But with our funny weather conditions at the moment it is throwing all the birds out of kilter with molt. Mine had a minor molt in November and have gone back into molt again now. And it is not just my Alex's, my Cockatoos are also back in molt. I have feathers everywhere.

Without size comparison it is hard to say he is actually a Nepalese. There have been hybrids between sub-species of Alex and also with the IRN. If one parent is Nepalese many still get the blue flushing. It is the actual size of the bird along with the flushing that tells if it is pure. When crossed with the IRN it takes alot of back breeding to bring the size up again. But the most common species in captivity is the Nepalese.
 
#4 ·
Hi, in.my experience with poor feather condition,
Vitamin A has been a true winner.
My vet watched my birds progress with interest.
They have all responded well to being fed whole washed carrots.
Also lots of greens.
I hope he recovers well.
They are such beautiful birds.
 
#5 ·
Kate that is all part of the Keratin issue. Red and Orange vegetables are great for keratin as they are high in Vitamin A. Beta Carotene is the inactive form of Vitamin A. Some greens have Vitamin A as well but the best source are the orange and red vegetables. Carrots, Pumpkin, Orange Sweet Potato are all great and if possible best fed raw all except for carrot that should be blanched for 1 minute to release the beta carotene. With Pumpkin and Sweet Potato this is not necessary. Pumpkin is great as it also contains Vitamin E which is great for skin and healing so will also help the feather quality.

I also forgot to help with feather quality a regular spraying of warm water with liquid glycerine will help the feathers as well. If no glycerine even just a regular mist spraying will help. Birds will preen after spraying so this will help the feathers. The glycerine will give them a nice sheen. Liquid glycerine is usually available in the supermarket in the baking area usually along with the food colourings.
 
#6 ·
I know this is an old thread, but thought I would comment and update it.
I never thanked Daisy, Kate, and Katew for the helpful information above.
They went into their molt January / February and boy what that a dossey that was!
I was really worried when Mango started to look very shabby and patchy. I was on the net asking questions, and then Dexter started, which confirmed it was just a heavy molt.
They are both looking very good. Even the pet shop I go to said the other day that Dexter was looking bright and in great colour.
I will put up a new thread about them and the Tiels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top