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Sudden Head and Neck Feather Loss

262 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  PurpleFlamingo 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi. I'm new here. I am fostering with the intention of adopting. Female cockatiel has a very healthy appetite and her feathers have been filling in nicely for several weeks after coming out of a neglect situation. Monday she laid an egg in front of the mirror. I removed the mirror and left the egg, adding several fakes. Her head and neck feathers have been coming out terribly since then. She's still active, still eating but not as much, not as vocal but still talking. She is defecating fine and is drinking. From the neck down she looks fine. I don't see signs that she's egg bound. She is spending a lot of time with her favorite toy that has beads that slide around and is enjoying paper ripping as normal. But the bead toy has a mirror and I'm going to try covering that to see if she enjoys it as much. Because her head and neck are going bald so rapidly I made a vet appointment. I'm concerned it could be a virus. It's not ringworm or a rash. There's no bleeding. She gets probiotics, calcium, etc., so should theoretically be well-nourished. She does not like being touched to begin with except for limited head petting, but the aversion to touch is worse now. Any ideas? Thank you.

(Also, she normally eats like a horse from a favorite food bowl on the side of the cage. She's still active all over the cage, but will only eat a normal amount today if I put it on the paper on the floor of the cage.)
 
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