Help w/Molting

[pilsdogurl]

Hi everyone...my little Potter is going through a moulting stage...i can tell he's very miserable...what can i do in order to make him feel better...i'm still trying to change his diet to pellets but i read on the internet that this adds to his stress...so is it best to just leave that part alone for now and try to change his diet again after this is overwith...and is there a special diet for birds that are moulting...it hurts me to see him so unhappy....lastly, what are your opinions regarding the canopy scientific spray...thank you in advance

[Jenny]

Hi again! Sorry to hear Potter's having a miserable molting experience. I agree with what you read about waiting to change his diet until this is over. There's no special "moulting diet" that I know of, he just needs to be on a healthy diet all year round. Do you know what the ingredients in the Canopy spray are? I've never used it but know of people who do use it on their birds, though my opinion is that water is just as good if not better. Does he get baths often? Also...what signs is he showing that make you think he's unhappy?

[Squawksx3]

We give baths and spray them alot, always with plain regular water when they're molting.. seems to help our guys. Good luck :)

[pilsdogurl]

well...for instance, lately when he's preening...he would get very agressive...he would preen himself very hard...i would say not the usual preening...and he bites me when i try to scratch him...he still lets me scratch him on the head but not too long...he would try to bite my finger...he's also very moody lately...as far as baths, i would just spray him with water...he definitely doesnt like it....he gets nervous and try to fly or hop of my hand...i even tried putting spinach in a bowl with water, he just stayed at the edge and ate the spinach...i thought that birds like to take baths...LOL

[Jenny]

When birds moult the new feathers growing in are very sensitive and it may hurt for them to be touched, so until this is over I wouldn't try to pet him. As far as baths, you may want to buy a cockatiel bath available at most petstores and give it a try. Some birds just like that better than a spray bath. Also if you're using a spray bottle, that's probably scaring him.