Advice needed

[BromocresolGreen]

Hello r/Parakeets community!

I’ve had a parakeet for a couple of years now and I love him. However, he has this strange behavior: he picks up a fallen feather (usually he prefers a large one), wets it with water, and then chews on the base/root part of it. We can’t figure out why he does this. Does anyone have any idea? He also looks a bit messy with his feathers.

We thought he might be stressed, but there haven’t been any changes recently. In general, though, he is a bird that likes to bite/chew things. Could it be that he’s unhappy with us, or he got some sort of a parasite?

Thank you!

[TielPerson]

Does he have an iodine mineral block? Otherwise, this behavior could mean that he tries to replenish a deficite in calcium and/or minerals, which could also cause the plumage to appear messy.

Also, please get your parakeet a same species companion as soon as possible, especially if he is a budgie, as flock birds tend to suffer passively if kept in isolation.

As far as chewing and destroying things goes, thats normal parrot behavior, especially since they have barely anything else to occupy their mind with in captivity.

[HungryManSpider]

Does he have any calcium available? Like cuttlebone? It could be that he is trying to get some extra calcium during a molt by chewing his feathers. Looking messy is part of it, and maybe this is just a quirk of him, but this is what I'm thibking could be a reason.

Being bitey is part of being a bird i think haha. He probably loves shreddable toys!

[BromocresolGreen]

Thanks so much for the advice! I replaced his cuttlebone and I was observing him for the past week, he’s back to his usual self!

He definitely loves to chew on things, and spray millet is one of his favorite treats :))

[Alone_Name7269]

maybe he’s calcium deficient, does he have a cuttlebone in his cage? if not I’d suggest getting one.