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Post by Hardcorp on Jun 7, 2005 6:46:30 GMT 10
I have a 3-3 1\2 month old cockatiel and over a 3 week period all of his tail feathers have broken off.
Is this something I should be worried about or it it the first step in the molting process.
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Post by Blossey on Jun 7, 2005 9:52:12 GMT 10
That sounds just like what my Aussie did. She has stopped now, we found out she was actualy chewing them off, just bored i geuss. We went straight out and bought some wood and made her a play gym and bought her some really cool toys and she now has a tail, wooo hoooo. Aussie is now almost 9 months old and has had a tail for about a month or so. But basically it's mostly them chewing it off like people chew their fingernails i spose, so best find a way to stop your birdie getting bored before it gets to be too much of a habit for it  Cheers- Bloss |
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Post by lovemytiels on Jun 7, 2005 10:49:10 GMT 10
Hi Hardcorp, It could be boredom but also look to make sure your tiel is getting a good supply of calcium & essential omega 3 & omega 6 oils as these are vital to proper feather formation. A lot of seeds bought from supermarkets lack these good seeds, although I have noticed that better ones are coming on the market now. I sprinkle a bit of calcite & LSA (ground up linseed, sunflower & almond meal, on the seeds I use once a week. I had 2 of my tiels loose all their tail feathers but this was due to molting as they are about 8 months old now & they have grown back in now. Tiels can become bored easily so do as blossey has suggest & provide a good variety of toys, plus some good things to chew on like gum branches etc. Cheers Anna
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Post by josiedownunda on Jun 7, 2005 14:51:39 GMT 10
Don't know if anyone here remembers Rocky the face lunging cockatiel I offered Simon!LOL Well my mum has him now...no face-lunging either...and she rang me the other day all upset and all I could get out of her was Rocky looked like a quail! Made no sense so I raced over and all his tail feathers had fallen out. It was no big deal as already in the space of 2 weeks they have regrown a few inches. All she can say now is that she was hoping that seeing he looked like a quail he would make as much noise as one......or as little!!LOL Seems Rocky loves to imitate the lorikeets that are wild outside in the yard and he does a great job too!!
Jo-Anne
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emz
Newbie
Posts: 46
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Post by emz on Jun 7, 2005 15:55:07 GMT 10
Gday!! ;D Im currently having the same problem with my boy, his only got like 3 tail feathers left..  ...i thought it was his friend peppy that was plucking them out as their enemies....guess i was wrong... i usually pack his cage with chewable toys and they dont last long...  well time to go n buy more toys... emz ;D |
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Suzy
Newbie
Posts: 45
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Post by Suzy on Jun 18, 2005 13:30:34 GMT 10
Karma used to break his tail when I kept him clipped as he did lots of crash landings. He ended up in a very bad way and had to have stitches near his vent due to lack of tail feathers. The vet also plucked out the broken tail feathers and called him "quail tail". They grew back fine.
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Post by beachbird on Jul 16, 2005 10:58:57 GMT 10
I've never had this happen (touch wood) but I'm wondering if a feather needs to be plucked for some reason, say it's broken and dangling, does it hurt the bird to have it plucked?
Also, how is it done safely?
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Suzy
Newbie
Posts: 45
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Post by Suzy on Jul 23, 2005 12:40:09 GMT 10
I'm sure it hurts them to have the feathers plucked. The vet did Karma's tail under general anaesthetic though.
He had a broken tail feather during the week so I clipped it at the site of the break.
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...i thought it was his friend peppy that was plucking them out as their enemies....guess i was wrong... i usually pack his cage with chewable toys and they dont last long... 
Mum & breeder of cockatiels, budgies and lovebirds. 
