# bald patch across breast/wing tips 8week old female tiel



## des68 (Jun 25, 2008)

Hello, this is my second post to this forum... on the first I got great advice which led me to purchasing a beautiful whiteface pied pearl 8 week old girl from a hobby breeder. The girl arrive 2 days ago with a temporary cage until we finish quarantine and introduce her to one of our resident boys... 

Last night we decided to give the cage she came in a good wash, and at the same time mist her down since she came from a smoking home and had an odour... In misting her we discovered that the feathers across her breast are missing, and there are two bald spots at her wing joint. She does have a lot of pin feathers around her neck and shoulders... so we wondered if perhaps this is normal for an 8 week old baby...

Then, when we were washing her cage and had finished, we noticed a red mite on the floor of our bathroom. Since we have never had one there before we started putting two and two together... and are now worried. 

So, my question is - could the baldness on her breast be "normal" feather development at 8 weeks, in which case we might wonder if the might came in on the cage during transport (she was delivered by the breeder).

OR could we have a bigger problem here? We covered her cage last night with a white sheet and saw nothing this morning... I'd hate to do the vet visit $$$ and mite spray if not needed...

THANK you!


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

Could she be younger than 8 weeks? My baby Snickers had the bald wing joints and the breast is the last place to feather up. She really shouldn't have pin feathers around her neck and shoulders if she's 8 weeks old...

Is she eating on her own alright?

Here's a photo of my baby Snickers at the bald wing joint (i think they're always bald but hidden by other feathers) and bald breast age (4-5 weeks), and then at 8 weeks:


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Was she hand fed or could she have been plucked a bit by her parents? If you are worried mabey you could call an avian vet and see what they say. I have all white cage covers for my birds, I think it is a good idea


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## des68 (Jun 25, 2008)

Well, we got a hatch certificate that points to 8 weeks almost exactly... we think they were hand fed, especially judging by how sweet she is. From your photos it seems the feather pattern is common - with the baldness on the breast. We'll keep a very close eye on her and maybe give her another week to see what happens... I fluffed her feathers around and found no visual sign of mites during the day... we'll keep up with the white sheet over her cage at night...

thanks for the photos - they do seem to suggest the baldness might be a stage...


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## CindyM (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi im a breeder and it is common for there to be bald spots up to 8 weeks of age. some of mine did and some didn't. Also like they said the parents sometimes pull the feathers out. So as long as your bird is eating good and doesn't have mites I wouldn't worry.


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