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Question:

April 1, 2019

3 Month Old Cockatiel Molting?


Hi! I have a pretty young cockatiel (3 months) that’s losing quite a bit of feathers, no large or fully grown ones. Just little fluffy contour and down feathers. He has no bald patches, isn’t acting strangely, and has a curious, playful disposition. His diet consists of seeds and pellets mainly (he will not eat vegetables yet, no matter how hard I try to get him to) and he receives quite a bit of attention daily. Is this a cause for concern or normal?


Answer:

Hi Alyssa,

I wouldn’t be too worried about it. Did you hand feed him? If you bought him weaned, he might be a bit older than you think. Cockatiels begin their adult molt as early as 6 months old. As far as diet goes, pellets are nutritionally balanced, but if you also give him loose seeds those are mainly empty calories. If you want to also provide seeds, please try some of our foraging diets. They contain the whole seeds that your bird prefers, but are combined with other ingredients so that they provide the same nutrition as the pellets. You can feed these diets along with the pellets or instead of pellets.

Bird Food Guide

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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