# Early molt



## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

For those of you that don't know, I have a 5 month old cinnamon pied Cockatiel chick Zoe whom I have been raising since day 7 because her parents rejected her.

Is it normal for a baby to begin their first molt at 4 months? She began molting around mid July (hatch date is March 14th). Everything seems to be going well and she has lots of pins and new feathers, but i've never had a cockatiel chick molt so early so I am wondering if it's okay or if something like stress might have triggered a molt? 

She really doesn't have anything to be stressed about (i'd love to trade lives with her for a day lol) but if you think there's anything not so good that might have triggered it please let me know so I can look into it!

Pictures for good measure:


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## eLZee (Apr 29, 2015)

What a cutie! Is he eating well?
I'm not sure about the age thing. My Tiel has been having extra molts this year for some reason. 
Maybe it's something in the air this year?! I'll see if I have any advice to share after we go to the vet.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Thanks!
Yep she's eating fine, nothing seems to be any different than usual so I don't think I have anything to worry about, it's just unusual. Most of my babies go through their first molt around 6-8 months. Maybe Zoe just wants to be different lol


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## Sunnie (May 5, 2015)

I actually came on the forum with the same problem. My cockatiel who'll be 5 months on September the 9th has started molting and is a bit grumpy. I was wondering if it had something to do with the weather


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Hmmm possibly!
Zoe appears to be almost through with her molt. Her flights have almost all grown back and she's not leaving a trail of feathers wherever she goes now. And she's much less nippy when I scratch her neck, which is amazing. She practically bullies me into it and then gets mad when I do it wrong lol. But she's much less touchy now and I can't feel as many pins in there, so yay.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I'd say it's normal. The first molting age is different for every bird. Coco started his first molt at around the same time.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Birds can molt as early as 3 months old, it all just depends on the bird. Very cute baby!


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