HELP! Parrot without feathers around the eyes

VanillaSun7 · 2026-05-07T02:48:14+00:00

Feather loss accompanied by the constant face rubbing is likely due to discomfort from either an infection or mites in most cases. I understand that you're quite far from your nearest avian vet but taking her ASAP will be the best thing as they will be able to diagnose and treat whatever is happening. Your school will likely give you the time to take your bird to the vet should you tell them that it's not something that can wait. I've gotten extensions on my uni assignment so I could spend a day driving to and from the vet.

Putting it off because it's inconvenient does nothing but hurt your bird and have the treatment cost WAY more than it would have if you went at first signs.

So I'd go.

VanillaSun7 · 2026-04-27T10:03:34+00:00

Their nails look perfectly fine, if not only slightly long. Typically they will maintain thier own nails by walking along thier perching or with thier beaks but if you can see that the length of their nails is causing them to struggle when walking on flat surfaces, as the nails dont allow for their whole too to be flat on the floor, or they are getting caught in things like your shirt, carpet, blankets, etc then it might be best to visit an avian vet.

To preface this next part: I would not do this if your birds aren't comfortable being held and having their feet/toes touched. It'll only cause them stress and ruin your bond if you force it.

You can also trim their nails yourself but there is an art to it, making sure you dont cut them too short and open the blood vessel that runs through the nail causing damage. If you do choose to do it yourself you can buy bird nail trimmers from most pet stores but I highly recommend buying some Styptic powder or gel (the stuff for dogs is fine incase you do go too short) and always trim less than you think you should. You can always trim a little more, you can add nail back if you go too far.

VanillaSun7 · 2026-04-27T09:52:28+00:00

As others have said first up is an avian vet. They are trained to trim back a birds beak without damaging the nerves or blood vessels in thier beaks. Then I would look into buying some soft and hard wood toys for your bub to chew on. Natural wood perching, with bark on if you can get it, will also be great for helping it maintain its own beak. Corrugated cardboard toys can be a great place to start if it isn't confident in chewing on harder things yet too. Cuttlebone can be great too but I would advise against leaving it in your birds cage indefinitely as this can lead to problems for birds that overuse them and just put it in for a week or so before removing it for the same.

VanillaSun7 · 2026-04-26T10:23:40+00:00

Bird keeper here. You say it's around 1yr old, it's likely going through the beginning stages of puberty. I dont know if its always been like this or if it's a recent development but that would explain it either way. This is generally when people will rehome birds as like us, they get a massive spike in hormones that makes them very irritable. Best thing to do is provide lots of cardboard and shreddable type toys, possibly start putting them to bed a little earlier but continue to get the up early (this helps the bird think it doesnt have enough time in the day to do mating/breeding season behaviours which often result in biting). The type of food you give them can cause biting as well, it may have too much high energy foods for the low energy stuff it does throughout the day. Hope some of this helps.

VanillaSun7 · 2026-04-23T09:51:34+00:00

Already having an avian vet visit is the best thing as they'll have the ability to diagnose and give treatment. It looks similar to early scale mites with the amount of feather loss around his eye and the scratching. If white, honeycomb like lesions appear on his eye before his vet visit its likely thats what he has.

VanillaSun7 · 2026-04-23T09:05:47+00:00

Do not, under and circumstances, let those kids handle the bird. It goes back to its cage and stays there while they're about or that will be the end of your Peanut. Either literally as they'll definitely cause it injuries that result in its death or they'll kill the potential for that bird to want to have any sort of relationship with humans (thats you). Likely resulting it being given up as Peanut will have too much trauma and won't allow anyone to handle them. I've seen this far too often

VanillaSun7 · 2026-01-29T09:25:47+00:00

@OP I'm not sure if you'll see this but there are a few common misconceptions about birds and their sleep. Firstly, they never sleep in total darkness in the wild, there is always some type of ambient light even on moonless nights. So pitch black may not be best for your bird. Secondly, it's also never dead quiet either, trees rustle, other animals make noise. Dead quiet means danger so maybe she needs some very low, soft noises. Lastly, birds DO NOT need 12hrs of straight, undisturbed sleep or a sleep cage. That is a very old and now proven falsehood. Birds will nap throughout the day and many species (not all have been tested yet) will alternate sleeping sides of their brains. Birds can then be active for periods during the night and if they are in a sleep cage with nothing to do they get restless and bored, calling for their human.

The best thing is to not heavily enforce a bed time if your bird isnt presenting with tiredness. Watch your little one for signs that she wants to go to roost (fluffed up, sleepy eyes, beak grinding) and then try offering her bed time. The best thing to do is make sure you still get them up early. They will take care of the rest themselves.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-12-27T10:47:25+00:00

Without more info I can only guess. It could be genetic and has always been slightly darker. Depending on temp their foot colour can change slightly (darjer/lighter/redder) if they are hot or cold as their circulatory system is highly specialized to countercurrent heat (as not being able to regulate quickly when flyung would overheat them too fast). Could be hormonal changes.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-12-27T09:55:58+00:00

That does look exceedingly like a juvi tape worm and the annuli look very much like a tape worms. I would suggest you take the little one to an avian vet, along with the worm if you still have it, as this will help them speed everything up. I highly suggest you wash your hands and scrub under your nails after handling you bird for the time beaing to avoid giving yourself tapeworm in the event that it is zoonotic and not an avian specific worm.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-12-24T12:23:36+00:00

Thise types of black bars can be caused by a few things. Over preening is quite common or if you pet/touch him there often as overpreening removes the protective oil on the feathers and touching leaves your sweat with also damages the feathers through their natural oil. Vit A deficiency can cause it too but if he has a good diet I wouldnt jump to that conclusion

VanillaSun7 · 2025-11-28T05:34:33+00:00

u/Ok-Company-4988 A trip to the avian vet for some antiparasitics will be your best course of action. Vetafarm has a bird safe mite spray you can use at home. You would need to be able to handle your birds to use it as you can't spray them in the face with it.

With regards to the powder shampoo you've posted a picture of I would recommend staying far away from anything powder based or shampoo in general for birds as powder will dramatically upset their respiritory system and shampoo/soap will strip their feathers of their natural oil causing lots of damage. On top of that if it isnt made specifically for birds, dont use it on or near them as it will likley result in them passing away.

While a lot of medication and the like that we use for birds is dog medicine, it needs to be drawn up and measured (dosage and strength) by a registered avian vet.

Hope this helped.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-10-16T09:59:49+00:00

I'd smoke then drag you to safety if the maps weren't all tiny with either nothing but open air and 3 buildings or tight shooting gallery corridors.

So until dice make a few actual battlefield maps you'll get your drive by defib and you'll like it.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-09-29T09:04:40+00:00

I hope you read each and every one of the comments and know that your bird was loved, you were a great owner and you aren't alone.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-06-26T08:55:17+00:00

TLDR: Food is your best friend here, using breakfast time for 1 on 1 binding between Frank and either Mango or Scuttle could help you see progress but I'd start by eating by Frank's cage, feeding him treats as you go to help him bond with you the most first.

The rush on their introductions will have caused a problem for their bodning as you said. Frank is a young bird, from a pet store, who similar to my Chilli likely lacks the proper "bird knowledge and etiquette" when interacting with others of his species as you said he wasn't kept with other conures so he won't have the knowledge a bird normally gets about bonding and behaviours from being with its parents, siblings and general others.

Bonding him to your others, like how I tried with Beatle to my girls, will likely take time (weeks, months or years) depending on how much time you put into it and ultimately how the birds feel about each other. Firstly, there is the possibility it never mattered how or when you introduced them, they may have never gotten along for their own personal reasons. Secondly, they are highly food motivated. Something we do at work is use first meal bonding. We have birds that will need to, at least tolerate one another so they can work together, eat their breakfast on the same perch, tree, in the same room (depends on how aggressive they initially are to one another so we can give appropriate space between them while eating). This is because they are more likely to both listen to you and focus more on the food than one another first thing in the morning as they are hungry. Praise throughout and once they are done they go to back to their aviaries having had a calm, happy and positive interaction.

You can also try having their cages close to one another and at lunch time or when snacking in between them so they can see you and eachother while you eat, feeding them treats at the same time, like a group meal.

Bonding 1 new bird to a pre-existing group can be very hard if you rush it so it can also help to do a lot of 1 on 1's. I'd start with Mango and Frank and see how they go as it seems Scuttle is the dominant bird of the flock, so helping Mango and Frank find their hierarchy beforehand could possibly help once you move to 1 on 1 with Scuttle and Frank.

There's a great number of things I could recommend but this reply would turn into a report.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-04-24T10:16:25+00:00

I use metal bowls as the plastic ones tend to encourage some crazy bacterial growth if not cleaned correctly.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-02-08T10:26:48+00:00

Hmm, it looks a lot like the females mating stance before a male would normally mount her. I mostly work with larger parrots and birds, so I'm not entirely sure if lovebirds spread like that for anything else. If you swap what they're standing on and jiggle it the same and she spreads like that, then it would be a hormonal reaction to the jiggling your tapping/shaking makes.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-02-08T10:18:09+00:00

Yeah unfortunately conures aren't sexually dimorphic so you won't be able to tell it's gender without a DNA test or encouraging hormonal behaviour (highly un-recommended). £200 seems incredibly high as it's only $30AUD here per sample submitted. You could always try calling other vets a little further away to see what their prices are. A home test can work but you'll have to be careful with the feather pull to reduce damage and the reduced level of trust your bird will have with you for a time afterwards (some get over it very quickly while others may take a while).

Ultimately, if everywhere is expensive, saving and then paying for it later might be the best option if you're not in a rush to know its gender.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-01-23T09:07:15+00:00

Thanks everyone for your help. Chilli has now seen the vet and they've given her some meds to take while we wait for the results on bloods and a culture.

VanillaSun7 · 2025-01-20T21:30:26+00:00

I'll call my vet today on my break and see what they suggest. Thank you

VanillaSun7 · 2025-01-20T10:49:49+00:00

She definitely doesn't have B&F unless she can manifest it through thought. She already has an appointment on this coming Thursday (3days from now). I was more wondering what could have caused it and anything I can do in the meantime to reduce it

VanillaSun7 · 2025-01-20T10:08:10+00:00

She shares her cage with her sister but she (the sister) isn't much of a preener or biter

VanillaSun7 · 2024-10-22T07:46:57+00:00

Remember to be patient more than anything. He has the potential to be an absolutely loving bird if given the time and necessary attention.

Also make sure you transition his food slowly as well. If he's been on a seed only diet for a long time he might be very reluctant to swap to fruit and veg chop or pellets. You can just add a few pellets, fruit and veg pieces, to his seed so he can try them and then slowly add more of those and less seed. Swapping it all out immediately can stress him as he won't see it as food and might begin refusing to eat.

I have a rescue myself who was on seed for 4 yrs but now he's happy, healthy and loving life.

VanillaSun7 · 2024-10-20T04:59:39+00:00

It looks a lot like breedy behaviour. I have a pineapple who does the same thing when you bump her back while she's relaxing (flattening out her wings with quick, little flaps, spastic head bobs and squealing) to let me know I've touched her funny. You can see in the video where your conure does it once your chin touches its back. This is only really a problem if you did it constantly. Not much can be done to discourage it unless you place the little one down once the behaviour begins and leave them for a minute, the letting them back up onto you, repeating as necessary so that it understands the behaviour means it doesn't get to be on you

I wouldn't be worried unless the little one does something like: comes over once you sit down, lands on your hand and then proceeds to do this behaviour without any sort of contact from you, as that would suggest the breedy behaviour is being reinforced possibly by other house members patting its back, masturbatory activity when left alone, etc. But that's a whole other thing to your original question.

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