Mites or molting?

[Emma]

My little GGC has been scratching his beak and head alot in the past week. I think hee is starting to molt hes losing alot of small-medium feathers. Is the scratching just from molting or does he maybe have mites or lice or something? I might just be an over worrying birdy parent but I just wasn't sure. He has been wormed a month or two ago but I don't think that covers mites, if he has them.

Eb

[avinet]

Normal wormers don't kill mites or lice however it is very unlikely your conure has either. Pet birds kept in the house rarely get external parasites like lice or mites, and if they do you will almost certainly see them.

Moulting always causes extra preening - quite apart from having to get the new feathers sorted out I'm sure it is an itchy experience for them. So with your GCC it is almost certainly moulting.

cheers,

Mike

[carlsandclan]

I'm with Mike - one of my budgies doesn't have a partner to help him out, so he's always scratching his head on a perch! lol
Our quaker is moulting pretty badly right now - and boy is she cranky!
AJ has pretty much finished his moult now, and Bowie hasn't started his first moult yet.

Just give your little guy lots of warm baths to help him along.

[anzac]

Not sure if canaries can have the same symptoms as parrots but when mine get mites, it's pretty obvious as for some reason the constantly scratch the back of their head and get bald patches so it's always indicative to me that some of them have mites.

[asharee]

yep its moulting time! my CGCC is a feathery mess!! poor baby.

[Emma]

thanks everyone, yeah I'm pretty sure it is just moulting now. Feathers everywhere and he's been loving his baths more than ever now so that should be why. How long does moulting normally last?