Why is this molt so easy?! :)

[elysianblight]

Definitely not complaining, but man.. if I go by all the reading I've done about it, Cypress and Citrine seem to be having the easiest first molt?  

It's been about 3 weeks of downy fluff and pin heads so far, and the big feathers started to drop this past week.  

But other than that.. I can't even tell they are going through anything. They aren't sleeping more, they aren't scratching more, they don't seem grumpy, and they don't suddenly want cuddles either. They're basically just exactly the same birds they've already been for the past 3 months except their weight is down a couple of grams. 

[elysianblight]

Our feather collection (some of them went through the vaccuum)

[Hezz]

All birds react differently to each particular moult; there are no hard and fast rules but most moults should naturally be taken in their stride.

[reenie]

Stuart has only once been out of sorts with a moult, and he seems to have them every few weeks. More likely to take a bath when moulting though. Kev is just going through his first moult just now, but given his penchant for biting anything he can get his beak on, it's hard to say whether he's more grumpy.

[elysianblight]

Man I think I jinxed them. Citrine is still fine but Cypress seems to suddenly be having a rougher time today. He is looking a touch ragged around the edges and sleepy.

Hard to say though, they woke up an hour early this morning because we had to take the trash out. Could be that. 

After breakfast Citrine flew to their favorite perch to chill, but Cypress just stayed by me and did a little quiet clicker work.
He kept squinting when I talked to him which I am hoping was just affection, but he made no effort to join Citrine and is being pretty quiet in the cage.
Bah. Gotta keep an eye out today.

[elysianblight]

Grr.. now this morning Cypress had soft poop all over his vent.

I wiped him off and he preened himself after. Normal weight and everything otherwise.  Back to his normal energy for the most part. His poops have always been a bit softer than Citrine's.. and he also has a history of sometimes having poop stuck to him in the morning, but it's usually more solid and just built up because he sleeps hunched right over the perch.
I'm not going to give them any veg today.

Since he is definitely molting, do you guys think I should be really concerned or just keep a close eye on him?

I already took them to the avian vet once in May (Each threw up once) and once in June (Citrine lost some grams and threw up once) but the vet didn't really find anything with mouth/poop swabs and always says they look really great and healthy. 
I started thinking the throwing up is related to quiko egg food/maybe overeating, because both times I had given them some of that the day before and they chow down on it. 

She did give me antibiotics last time because she thought there could have been the very beginning of a bacterial infection and I had noticed the 3 gram weight loss in Citrine, but they started their molt right after the antibiotics were done and weight hasn't gone down any further. 


Edit: Left a message for the vet to see if they think I should have him physically checked.  I just feel so silly going there every single month!  
Eh she basically said not to panic but to definitely bring him when I can if it happens again. 

[Marianne Marlow]

Good for you leaving a message for the vet, it's the wise thing to do if you think something is wrong.

Silly question maybe, but do you have a photo of Cypress poops? and one of him?

[blue48]

I'm sure your vet is happier to see an owner who shows concern over his birds than a lazy owner. I hope Cypress (lovely name) is going to be okay,

[elysianblight]

I was going to take a picture this morning when I first cleaned him up and he looked so bare/kind of raw.. but I didn't want to traumatize him further.
His butt looks much better to me now that his feathers are clean and dry again, but he does NOT want to be picked up for a picture -_-

Its cage cleaning day so as soon as he goes on fresh paper I'm going to snap a picture of it and him, and I would love for you guys to take a look LOL

[Marianne Marlow]

Thank you, look forward to photos. I'm glad that his bum/butt looks a bit better.

Let us know what the vet says too.

[elysianblight]

The vet said they are really packed today so they aren't seeing anyone if it's not an emergency, but she wouldn't panic.. if it happens again to bring him in soon, but she doesn't think it's a rush situation.

So! Weird thing - I waited 25-30 minutes for them to poop on the clean paper and Cypress' poop this time was perfectly formed and not soft.
Citrine's was a bit weird instead. -_-


Here they both are waiting to poop, lol.
FYI: I AM cutting the tassles off that toy. I just pulled it out of their storage bin after the cage cleaning and forgot to do that before pictures.

Cypress is the "blue" one and Citrine is the green one.


Cypress is the one who has always seemingly had poop issues. Sometimes on the softer side throughout the day, and he tends to sleep with his bum right over the fork on this branch - so even solid poops just form a pile throughout the night and end up sticking to his feathers. This happens only once or twice a month and has been happening since I got him. I stopped worrying after the first time I took them to the vet and she couldn't find anything wrong. Usually I can just pick the dry pile off of him or let him get to it himself. It's only first thing when they wake up.

This morning it was definitely different. Caked on. I had to get a wet soft cloth and clean him up.
This is his little vent area, from a slight distance, and compared to Citrine's (below)




This is a slightly closer but blurrier view of his vent area.. I have *always* been able to see his skin like this, but it has also always concerned me a bit. Citrine doesn't look like this, ever. Again.. I stopped stressing after their multiple vet appts and assumed he's just different.. but maybe I shouldn't have.


Now this is the poop Cypress just took, which I think actually looks perfectly normal? (landed on a perch unfortunately, so no liquid part to look at) and is not dry but solid enough to pick up without smearing..



Then this is the poop *Citrine* took, which actually looks more like what Cypress tends to do.. A bit wetter and just smears instead of staying in a solid bit.




Also this is the squinting I noticed Cypress doing. It's not constant, but Citrine isn't really doing it. Hard to tell if he is sleepy or responding to my voice - or if he's always been this way but I'm just super extra vigilant lately




After all of this Cypress started acking in my face for being a freaking weirdo who photos their bums and touches their poops.


Basically the ragged bare area of his vent plus the multiple times poop has stuck to him really does worry me about Cypress, but I am so confused because it's been this way his entire life so far and the vet says he seems healthy. 
Because of Covid I haven't been able to have any face-to-face conversations with her, I have to sit in the car while she examines them - so I've never actually pointed at his bum and said "Is this okay?!" 

[Hezz]

If his bum seems a little raw you can put a smear of Savlon on it to help sooth the skin but also it will help cause the poops to drop rather than stick. Also, one "off' poop is not cause for concern. If they are consistently abnormal then by all means seek advice.

[elysianblight]

Updates:
So, no more obvious poop issues!
There has been a noticeable increase in volume, but there has also been a noticeable increase in how much they are eating. Structure/consistency is normal and no more pasty vent for Cypress (it had happened twice in three days, but stopped the day I posted).

Since I moved their bowl up to a flat perch instead of the cage floor, they eat ALOT more. And are eating their chop. In fact they get really excited for the chop now. I don't know if they are just eating more because they feel more comfortable on their branch instead of going down to the floor, or if they are eating more because of the molt.. maybe both.

I'm a bit concerned that they have not gained any weight despite this increase in food intake.. coming in at 30 grams each daily. I would like them to get back up to their original 32/33, but maybe they lost some "baby fat"? Is that a thing for birds??
For now I'm blaming the molting and only going to worry again if weight goes down any further..

They have been quiet the past two-three days.. still talking to each other but not not moving around .. not really playing in their cage, just sitting on their favorite branch all day.
I don't like this either but hoping it's molting related too. No puffing up or anything. Not wanting to come out of the cage much, but still very willing to take treats. 
I sprinkled some egg food on their chop today for extra protein and I'll make them a little brown rice for a treat tonight.

Dang, and I thought I used to stress over my dog



Also, I forgot to note *exactly* when the pin feathers started showing up, but this is at LEAST 4 solid weeks and still going.. is this really normal/ok? Everything I read seems to say "several weeks" but is that over a month.. ?

[Hezz]

It is perfectly normal, all of it, so stop stressing.

[elysianblight]

Sorry Hezz, don't know why I have to over analyze everything
I do that at work too, lol, can't rest until I know EVERYTHING inside and out about my project.

Either the 2 days of rest was good enough or the extra protein this morning packed a punch, cause they're flying around like normal now.

I'll have more faith in myself.