Petri has to wear a collar due to an unresolved plucking & mutilating problem that he has. However, I take his collar off from time to time when I spray him down for his bath, and also to let him preen a bit. However, when he's preening and taking off his pinfeather shells and whatnot, how can I tell what feathers coming off of him are normal or part of his bad behavior??? It's so difficult to tell but if I don't let him preen (under my supervision of course) he becomes quite itchy and uncomfortable.

Based on watching mine, if he sheds the little white fluffies, cleans his feathers instead of pulling them out, and occasionally drops a feather or two, that's normal. Mine occasionally dig really hard at their backs or under their wings, but they still only lose fluffies and dander, generally speaking, unless they're molting, and now and then a whole feather falls off, but those almost always just fall off; they're not yanking them out when they preen.

Well all I can say is winter is fast approching here and Olliver has been proning and prinning more than normal 2 lost feathers and ones to replace them. He looses the fluffy white ones constantly I wouldent worry just yet.



sara