Small red irritation on underside of tail?

[bluegypsy]

Hi,
My young cockatiel, Dodger Peach, just came to live with us a little short of two weeks ago. He is beautiful, our 4th cockatiel so far. He seems to be healthy, but we notice he seems to preen himself in the back under his tail feathers, and upon inspection, we notice the area is somewhat red. When he puffs himself out he exudes dandruffy flutter, and I'm wondering if a bath, or a misting would be a good thing at this point. He isn't doing anything unusual, and I was just concerned that he might be hurting himself. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you, bluegypsy

[JSimko]

You should take him to an avian vet to find out what is wrong.

[Amanda]

Hi bluegypsy,

I'm a little bit concerned about your cockatiel's red spot under the tail. I've never heard that cockatiels develop plucking problems (although it's not impossible) so I'm thinking that this may be bacterial or some kind of fungus infection. Perhaps a visit to the vet is in order. If you have other birds, it is important that you get this looked at by a vet as soon as possible to protect your current birds from possible infection. Good luck.

[Jenny]

I'd definitely give him daily showers/mists for awhile, and also take him to the vet like others said. The white dandruffy stuff is normal for 'tiels.

[Redstorm1721]

Hi
The white is powder. Alot of birds have this. Also cockatiels will pluck if they have stress in their life. Did you get her from another family? I went to the pet store and saw a beautiful tiel, and they only wanted 20 dollars for her. Well, she had no feathers on her neck,at all bald. I felt so bad, I almost took her but I was affraid for my others. They might copy her? I also had a parakeet that was always bald on her butt. She plucked it. She had a male friend and I never could understand it? But I was also their 3rd home. So I new it was stress. They become addicted to their plumbage. Maybe I spelled it wrong. But you might want to take her to the vets to be an the safe side. Let us know and good luck to you. Gail

[JSimko]

We tried misting our cockatoo, because she was plucking. I decided to start giving her real baths in the bath tub. My reason for this is I don't think misting does the job. I think everyone has been to a theme park at some point in their lives, and experienced getting hot and sweaty. To cool off I'm sure that you went on a ride that sprayed you with water, only to feel itchy because it did not get rid of dirt and sweat, it only added water to the equation. Now after a few weeks of really bathing her, her feathers are almost completely back in.

[pionuspasion]

Great analogy Jason!