# Aggressive tiel during molt?



## subatomiccherry (Jun 26, 2018)

Hi everyone! 

I have a rescued tiel who has been with me for a little over 2 months now. He is 11 years old (approx.) and I believe he's going through a molt right now. 

Poor baby has tons of pin feathers, especially on his little head. They are partially white and partly pink, which I think means has blood and I shouldn't touch it for now. 

He's pretty grumpy nowadays. He used to sing every other minute and now it's more like every 30 minutes. He will let me kiss him and pet him for a minute or two, but then he gets nippy. I let him nip me and once he stops I put him down, I'm not sure if this is the best way to curb nipping, but he wasn't a nippy bird before. His previous owners loved him very much and his transition to me was very smooth. 

Is this normal for tiels in a molt? He's lost about 15-20 small feathers, 6 medium feathers, and two large feathers, that I know of and have seen. He's been to just about every room in the house under my supervision so I may have missed some, but that's what I've kept track of. 

I'm very new to all of this and the rescue didn't give me any info on molts and how to care for him! 

I've given him lots of carrots and red bell peppers, along with lots of water and two mists a week. I help him preen by gently rubbing pin feathers that don't have any pink or red on them. Anything else I should be doing?


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

He’s grumpy because moulting is uncomfortable and stressful but he sounds like a regular girl to me lol they are often abit bipolar! If you accidentally knock a pin feather it will hurt so he will bite you then but I wouldn’t say he’s being aggressive he’s just letting you know he’s uncomfortable. Regular daily baths or misting will help soften the casing which helps speed up the moult and reduce the dust. Make sure he’s got plenty of calcium and veggies and extra vitamins to make sure it goes as quick as possible


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Also I find cockatiels to be fans of green veggies more than others. When the birds moult they end up losing every feather just not all at once but it sounds pretty normal to me. If you notice any very bald spots then you have a reason to be worried


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