Kiwi's Progress (ongoing thread)

731 Views 16 Replies 4 Participants Last post by TimmyTomatoes, 2 mo ago

TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago (Edited)

He is as active as ever and chirping and chattering.

I noticed his beak flaking a little, I assume it's just regular molting. But I noticed a little flaky white stuff just under his cere now.

He has flaking or molting of his beak on both sides from tip of beak.. and flaking also on his lower beak on sides as well. Its hard to notice but I did when I was feeding him a treat..
Is it normal fir bottom beak to molting and flake off as well?

And im not sure if it's the glare of light hitting his beak or he has white thin like in the middle of his beak.
Just want to make extra sure he doesn't have anything.

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karenblodgett3261

· #2 · 3 mo ago

Your best course of action would be to take him to a vet. The staff on this forum can tell you what it appears to be, but only a vet can diagnose and treat illness. From the stripes on the head, it looks like a young bird. Those stripes fade as they molt and get older.
What is your baby's name? Where did you get him from? Does he have other cage mates? If you haven't done so already, it's extremely important to take your new friend for an initial well birdy check up! Birds in the wild, being a prey animal, will hide illness (and injuries) to prevent being taken by a predator. Like us humans, all living beings want a quick easy meal, and a prey animal thats weak fro illness or injury gives a predator the perfect opportunity. By the time a budgie starts to show signs of illness they have been sick for quite some time. Ideally an avian vet would be your best choice, or a vet with experience with exotic animals. It's awesome by the way, that you are being vigilant about observing your sweet, adorable baby 😊!

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Cody

· #3 · 3 mo ago

From what I can see it just looks dry. When there are mites, the surface begins to have a honeycomb appearance from the burrowing of the mites, I don't see anything like that, do you see that in person?

TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #4 · 3 mo ago

Cody said:
From what I can see it just looks dry. When there are mites, the surface begins to have a honeycomb appearance from the burrowing of the mites, I don't see anything like that, do you see that in person?

No. No honeycomb appearance.

where do you first usually see signs of the mites? on the edges of beak and/or base of cere?

(and he wont bathe. i haven't yet been able to get him to bathe; maybe thats why he is dry?)
problem is i can't handle him yet. we haven't built that bond yet. Working on it. but taking time.
hard to get a STRAIGHT forward look at the little guy. he moves a lot lol

Cody

· #5 · 3 mo ago

Mites are commonly around the cere but can encompass the beak and also the feet. Not all birds like to bathe and that is OK, give him some time he may change his mind eventually.

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TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #6 · 3 mo ago

karenblodgett3261 said:
Your best course of action would be to take him to a vet. The staff on this forum can tell you what it appears to be, but only a vet can diagnose and treat illness. From the stripes on the head, it looks like a young bird. Those stripes fade as they molt and get older.
What is your baby's name? Where did you get him from? Does he have other cage mates? If you haven't done so already, it's extremely important to take your new friend for an initial well birdy check up! Birds in the wild, being a prey animal, will hide illness (and injuries) to prevent being taken by a predator. Like us humans, all living beings want a quick easy meal, and a prey animal thats weak fro illness or injury gives a predator the perfect opportunity. By the time a budgie starts to show signs of illness they have been sick for quite some time. Ideally an avian vet would be your best choice, or a vet with experience with exotic animals. It's awesome by the way, that you are being vigilant about observing your sweet, adorable baby 😊!

Yea, i chose him young on purpose.

BTW, what does their first molt look like? Cuz it is Spring where i am right now and he is starting to have little fuzzy feathers fly everywhere lol. No full full feathers tho. just the fuzzies. Is that how it starts? Or just cuz it's now getting warmer?
His name is Kiwi
I got him from Petsmart
And no, he does not have cage mates. (I don't work or leave house much; so i'm with him pretty much always and his taming is progressing well)

Cody

· #7 · 3 mo ago

When they are babies the first molt usually begins with the smaller feathers on the head and chest, you will see him lose those baby stripes on his head and his forehead will be solid yellow like his cheeks. You may also see the shade of green change a bit with the new feathers. I had two green birds years ago named Kiwi and Peewee, that I got from a shelter, here they are when I first brought them home, I used to refer to them as my little green martians

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TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #8 · 2 mo ago

Cody said:
When they are babies the first molt usually begins with the smaller feathers on the head and chest, you will see him lose those baby stripes on his head and his forehead will be solid yellow like his cheeks. You may also see the shade of green change a bit with the new feathers. I had two green birds years ago named Kiwi and Peewee, that I got from a shelter, here they are when I first brought them home, I used to refer to them as my little green martians
View attachment 266706

I don't want him to grow up >_< lol

Those are such cute birdies!
Look identical to mine.

I have discovered Kiwi LOVES to climb on his toys. He doesn't munch on them much or at last not yet. He just nibbles and CLIMBS everything. He just started to play with his toys A LOT (makes me so happy), be WAY more vocal and he finally goes on my hand to eat his millet or seed out of my palm. He is still a little jumpy at my hand in his cage but he will hop on my palm and eat from it when he sees i have food.

He TOOK TWO BATHS in the last 3 days that i know of so far!!!!! I think it's the warmer weather. He takes baths in his drinking bowl; i'll have to get him a bath bowl.

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Cody

· #9 · 2 mo ago

You might want to get one of these baths, you can mount them to the cage anywhere inside or outside

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FaeryBee

· #10 · 2 mo ago

Kiwi is absolutely adorable!!

Budgies generally have a first light molt at around 3 - 4 months old and another at 6 -7 months old.
When a budgie reaches at 1 year old their molts adjust to the Seasons.
After the adjustment the budgie will have its big molts in the Spring and Fall.
Budgies may also have lighter molts throughout the year; triggered by stress, change in diet or change in environment.

You can supplement your budgie’s diet with egg food during a molt.
This helps your budgies replenish the energy lost during the time they lose and grow in the new feathers.
Additionally, egg food promotes good and healthy feather growth.
It is possible to buy ready-made egg food at any specialized pet store but just as easy to make your own by hard boiling an egg and mashing it up.
If you wish you can mix it with a bit of cooked quinoa and flax seed.
You can also finely chop some veggies and add it to the egg food mix.

If your give your budgie cooked quinoa, be sure you rinse it well several times before cooking.

Budgies get itchy during their molt, so they'll preen and scratch more often. Additionally, they may be sleepier and quieter as molting takes a lot of energy, and their poop could be a little runnier. To make them more comfortable, you can offer them baths either in a shallow dish of water (or Lix-It bath) or by hanging wet greens (romaine lettuce or kale works best) in their cage so they can nibble on it and rub against them.

Molting FAQs
Miserable Molting

The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being
Locating an Avian Veterinarian

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and all of the Stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.
Additionally, please be sure to read the thread "Posting on the Forums" which is linked below.

Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.
(Stickies are threads “stuck” at the top of each forum sub-section)
These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.

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Quarantine - Is it Really that Important?
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karenblodgett3261

· #11 · 2 mo ago

TimmyTomatoes said:
Yea, i chose him young on purpose.
BTW, what does their first molt look like? Cuz it is Spring where i am right now and he is starting to have little fuzzy feathers fly everywhere lol. No full full feathers tho. just the fuzzies. Is that how it starts? Or just cuz it's now getting warmer?
His name is Kiwi
I got him from Petsmart
And no, he does not have cage mates. (I don't work or leave house much; so i'm with him pretty much always and his taming is progressing well)

They do molt small feathers during a molt. It's like a feather snowstorm in my room during a molt lol. The larger ones will drop eventually. I keep all the larger ones 🪶!

karenblodgett3261

· #12 · 2 mo ago

Cody said:
You might want to get one of these baths, you can mount them to the cage anywhere inside or outside

Amazon.com

You might find you need to try different water temperatures. My girl prefers room temp. I have a friend who has a Grey that prefers the water on the cool side (not cold!). I also don't use tap water in the bath since I have city water that can be a bit stinky.

TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #13 · 2 mo ago

karenblodgett3261 said:
They do molt small feathers during a molt. It's like a feather snowstorm in my room during a molt lol. The larger ones will drop eventually. I keep all the larger ones 🪶!

Thank you. I just saw 2 long tail feathers at bottom of his cage when I woke him up this morning.

I made veggie mash to help keep his strength up. And later I'll give him a bath dish w some grass in it. (It's gonna be new to him and he is afraid of everything new lol but I'm hoping he will find it and enjoy it).

karenblodgett3261 said:
You might find you need to try different water temperatures. My girl prefers room temp. I have a friend who has a Grey that prefers the water on the cool side (not cold!). I also don't use tap water in the bath since I have city water that can be a bit stinky.

Yea, I only use filtered water that we drink. Never tap water. And I give him room temp or slightly barely Luke warm. I read they like warmish water cuz they tropical birds? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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FaeryBee

· #14 · 2 mo ago

Budgies are native to Australia.

You are doing a great job with Kiwi so far.

If you would like me to change the name of this thread and make it an ongoing thread where you can make future updates regarding Kiwi's progress, just let me know.

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TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #15 · 2 mo ago

FaeryBee said:
Budgies are native to Australia.

You are doing a great job with Kiwi so far.

If you would like me to change the name of this thread and make it an ongoing thread where you can make future updates regarding Kiwi's progress, just let me know.

Yes that would be great. I almost was going to delete this post bc it's been determined he is good.
So yea that would be great, thank you.

I got him a fountain bath, placed it next to his gym he plays at and it took him a day and NOW HE bathes in it once or twice a day for awhile too. He LOVES IT! So happy.

karenblodgett3261

· #16 · 2 mo ago

TimmyTomatoes said:
I got him a fountain bath, placed it next to his gym he plays at and it took him a day and NOW HE bathes in it once or twice a day for awhile too. He LOVES IT! So happy.

If it's a fountain type of bath, be sure you take it apart as much as possible and clean it well. All kinds of icky things can build up in there. Using distilled water will lessen the build up too. There is seriously nothing cuter than watching a budgie bathe! Here's my LoVey playing in a children's toy sink...
LoVey in her play sink

TimmyTomatoes

Discussion Starter · #17 · 2 mo ago

karenblodgett3261 said:
If it's a fountain type of bath, be sure you take it apart as much as possible and clean it well. All kinds of icky things can build up in there. Using distilled water will lessen the build up too. There is seriously nothing cuter than watching a budgie bathe! Here's my LoVey playing in a children's toy sink...
LoVey in her play sink

Oh yes, I cleaned VERY thoroughly and got replaceable filters for it. I only put filtered or distilled water in the bath as well.

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