Worried about Sammy

[andyf]

I have had Sammy about 6 months and in the last few weeks his wing feathers became spiky or matted, those feathers have been lost I think, as he now can only fly a few feet before landing gently on the floor. A number of his feathers are now twisted and deformed . He also seems to be shivering a bit and also gasping for air if i take him onto my hand. Please advise me what this might be. Thanks. (Can't see how to add photos as page asks me for http url which i don't have)

[Hezz]

There is not much we can do (or say) without a photo. Make an account with photobucket, tinypics or ....... there is another one too, can't think. Upload photos to one of these and then use one of the links they give. This might help:

budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/1788/upload-pictures-clips

[andyf]

 This was the first sign that something was wrong

[andyf]

[nat]

It looks like it could be French Moult. With French Moult the blood supply stops going to the blood feathers (his long flights) and consequently they become brittle and break off.
He can still have a good life with French Moult, but you will have to provide means for him to get around the cage easily such as ladders.

[Hezz]

Agree with Nat. I have not had a FM, but there have been plenty of members who have - some unknowingly and others who have gone out of their way to give these guys a good life. A good diet, rich in protein, will help his feathers grow, maybe not properly, but it certainly can help. Some birds are able to fly again at different stages of their lives, others never grow enough flight feathers to manage this.

There is something else called feather-stress, but I know very little about it, only that the bird loses long feathers due to over-stress ........ barrieshutt may be able to shed light on that one.

[andyf]

Ok Thanks Hezz and Nat, I was afraid of that. Will need to look at adding to his diet. The only 'over-stress' I can think of is that I work shifts and i am not here as often as i would like to be, but will check on that possibility.

[Hezz]

I doubt the shift work would cause Sammy stress, particularly if that's how it has always been. Does he have a friend?

[nat]

My present french moulter hates to be handled and gos into a fit where his feet get paralysed. I can have him sat on my hand but if I try and enclose him he does this I think through the shear terror of knowing he has no way of flying away. That might explain your budgies shivering and gasping when held?

If his feathers remain like this permanently one problem you may come across is his weight as he won't be able to fly it off, so a diet with plenty of veg will certainly help.

On the plus side, my first french moult bird became extreemly tame as he couldn't fly at all and was very useful in training other young birds to be tame, so perhaps if you could tame him well you could use his tameness to help tame a young friend for him in the future if you wanted