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Moody Molting Cockatiel

We have had him since 1993. His molt has been ongoing for two weeks. His preening is consistent. Only change is he will squawk or screech for no apparent reason. His feather condition has moved from normal to raggedy back to normal now looking a little ragged. We fine mist spray him with warm water usually daily to help with dander and he likes its. Spreading his wings sometimes so we get all of him. As I said could the molt and feathers cause him discomfort. I knew it did one time he had trouble getting a pin feather out.

Hi Timothy,

Congratulations on having a senior bird! You have certainly taken great care of him for him to reach this age. I would suspect this is age related. Molting takes a lot of their resources and yes, they can be very cranky. The pin feathers can be uncomfortable while they are growing in. I wouldn’t make major changes at his age, but we do offer a senior bird diet that has specific supplements for senior birds. These might ease the molting process and give him some support for other age related issues. If you do get some for him to try, just add to his normal food. While the senior diet can be fed exclusively, I would not recommend going to any extremes to convert him to these. Just see if he likes them and ideally he will start to eat more of the senior food than his regular foods. I hope his current molt ends soon and he is back to his usual self.

https://lafeber.com/pet-food/bird-food/senior-bird/

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda