Feather plucking and sleeping all day

[deennee]

Hi guys,

Posting for advice here as I’m not able to go to a vet due to current circumstances.

My budgie Peep is 4 years old. From a young age his tail and long wing feathers came out and he stopped flying 2 years ago. Since then his feathers have taken on a more scruffy/ragged appearance and in the last 6 months he has been chewing off his remaining wing feathers (sometimes causing them to bleed) and plucking feathers from his back and tail.

We’ve taken him to the vet a few times now at end of 2019 when he underwent a 6 week course of medicine to see if the problem was related to mites or parasites (didn’t help). His plucking has become steadily worse in the last few months and is now about 90% bald on his back.

The vet came to the conclusion that the problem was psychological/environmental. We followed his advice adding more toys to chew, bringing him out of the cage to run around etc but he is declining.

Summary of current situation-

* Lost feathers from not just his wings and tail now but is almost completely bald underneath the wings, the sides of his rump and on his back now. There are a few new feathers growing on his head and cheeks 
* Wing feather biting causing to bleed (about once a month)
* Feathers have a very scruffy appearance 
* He has started making a squeaking noise when he eats seed. His tail bobs in time with the squeaks (his tail has always bobbed in time with his breath since we got him as a baby)
* He’s started making what sounds like noises of discomfort during the night for 20 min intervals
* Sleeps about 95% of the day and night
* In the last 2 months his chirpiness has stopped and no longer sings/head bob 
* Environment- rich veg diet to compliment trill, lots of toys, things to chew, interacts during daily play dates with larger budge (they are kept in separate cages as Peep is very weak), comes out of cage every day. 
* 6 weeks of treatment for potential parasites received at end of 2019 but didn’t help.
* When peep falls of the perch and lands on his back, he needs assistance to roll over back onto his feet
* Appears to be ill and only wakes to eat seed.

I have photos of Peep but can’t see a way to upload them to this thread.

I’m strict social distancing as I’m in the risk category so reluctant to take him to another vet for a second opinion. Any advice appreciated

[skysmum]

It would be really useful to see some pics, if you click on the, add image to post, in the top left corner you should be able to pop some on.

Does he have an iodine block in his cage?

[deennee]

Hi, added a couple of pics now thanks. He has an iodine block which he nibbles on regularly

[Marianne Marlow]

You need to be in "desktop mode" to be able to add photos.

[deennee]

Re-adding here thanks. First picture shows Peep when he was young and next two images are recent

[skysmum]

Ohhh bless him .

He looks to be suffering from PBFD, Psittacine beak and feather disease. It could be FM, French Moult, which is a slightly milder condition of the virus but i think it could be PBFD. There is no cure for this but a good diet and lots of care will help. I had a FM bird who lived until his was 15 but only his flight feathers were affected, his didn't come out until he was around 18 months to 2 years old and like your Peep was perfectly normal looking before, several factors can trigger the virus to become active including stress.


There is much to read about both types of the condition on the internet with some helpful tips.
With PBFD, it can be transmitted to other birds so it's good that he lives alone with his friend for company from a distance.

[deennee]

Thanks skysmum, I did suspect it might have been french moult so feather disease makes sense. He doesn’t have any missing feathers on his head so I also thought he might have been plucking his back where it’s particularly bald.

I’ll order the probiotics to add to his diet and hope it helps him a bit.

Thanks very much for the advice

[Hezz]

I'm inclined to agree that it's probably PBFD that is his problem. Poor little mite. If he is having trouble in his cage, lower his perches to just off the floor so that he doesn't hurt himself if he does fall, have some ladders going from perch to perch to help him get around, especially to his seed pot and water. Besides that all you can do is give him the best diet possible and lots of tlc. xx