Feather loss and lumpy growth

kat78 · 16 Oct 2010, 20:18

Hello folks

Hoping you can help me with this. One of my Zebs has been scratching and preening the back of his neck and has noticeably lost feathers in that area. Until he'd lost the feathers, I was just monitoring him. I thought it might be some sort of mite or something and worried about the brush I'd been collecting from the bush to put in the cage.

Anyway, so I bought some 'aristopet bird mite and lice spray', which I followed the directions for; removing food and water and spraying on the birds. That was a week ago.

Tonight I notice that he's got some light brownish coloured growth on his neck/back near the top of his right wing. It looks a bit like a pile of warts joined up together, if you know what I mean? I'll see if I can get a pic....

Any ideas?

kat78 · 16 Oct 2010, 20:50

here's some pics. Sorry, they're as good as they get.

I should add, that I tried to catch him to get a better look, the other day. Let's just say, he got out but I obviously caught him, and after a small heart attack, my main priority was to just get him back in the cage, so didn't get to have a closer look.

Needless to say, at the time, i didn't think to quarantine him. Poor little bugger, he was so tired. I felt SO BAD, I could see he was really scared. I really don't want to stress him again unnecessarily. I hope there might just be something to treat him to put in their water. (I feel worse for having stressed him, moreso than this abovementioned skin condition)

so, here you can see his obvious feather loss. his skin underneath seems fine.

and here, you can just see the scaly/bumpy brownish/yellowish growth. Might it perhaps be pussie underneath? ew

I hope one (or more) of you can help me with this.
Thanks heaps ;)
Kat

16 Oct 2010, 21:18

unknown what is causing the feather loss , but don't panic about that growth its just his / her crop full of seed. normally you dont see it because of all the feathers but next time you have babies have a closer look before they get their feathers and you will understand....hope to be of help ...pete

17 Oct 2010, 08:32

the feather loss is probably due to aggression from other birds, lots of birds lose feathers in that particular spot. Don't worry, if it is aggression they'll soon grow back. If it is and it continues, try taking all the birds out, do a big cage re-arrange and put them all back in. They then feel like they're in a new environment and they have to work out again who's dominant. Actually, if you go to a pet shop, you'll usually see lots of zebras like that.

As Pete says, don't worry it's just the crop

kat78 · 17 Oct 2010, 10:42

Geez! thanks guys. Part of me thought it looked normal, and obviously the other part thought it looked strange. (BTW I think this is my Hen

)
No, it doesn't seem to be agression from another bird. Maybe she's just as neurotic as me ;) Might just be partly due to molting

phew, I'll sleep tonight

17 Oct 2010, 11:39

it sure is a hen , yes some birds can molt heavier than others , but if the problem persists post again as some one else may know whats up..... pete