FINCHforum

Hey everybody....here is a picture of one of my Societies who has virtually no hair left on its head....any thoughts on why????? Is the other Society plucking?

Oh gosh, yes, get him removed ASAP

yep-he is being plucked-seperate him

Yup like the other said, looks like plucking, put him in another cage for now and feed him eggfood. At least let him rest and grow his feathers out again, then you can put him back and see if the plucking continues or not.

Thanks everybody. I did remove him and placed him with my two cutthroats in a seperate cage as I don't have another one to put him into. He's doing very well and the cutthroats are leaving him alone.

You should get a small cage to use as a hospital cage.
That way you can treat the "ill" bird w/o treating any other bird.

You should feed the society LOTs of egg to regrow his feathers.

I don't know if you want to give the cut throats extra egg. For some birds, that might trigger breeding.

They normally all get hardboiled egg every other day

Also, my husband will FREAK if he came home from work, with yet ANOTHER bird cage in the house...LOL

@Jackie
Tell him you NEED to have a "hospital" cage for sick birds.
I use a small cage, since it is only temporary.
Also it is easier to wrap a smaller cage to keep the heat in, when I have to provide heat for the ill bird.

ac12 wrote:@Jackie
Tell him you NEED to have a "hospital" cage for sick birds.
I use a small cage, since it is only temporary.
Also it is easier to wrap a smaller cage to keep the heat in, when I have to provide heat for the ill bird.

If it's causing tension between you, make sure he understands that it is just a hospital cage, to be used only when you have a hurt or sick bird, that you do not plan on filling it with more birds. (I know that "extra" cages are sometimes an excuse for us finchaholics to find more birds to fill them with).
Most small cages are easily flattened to be tucked away when not in use.
But I agree with Gary- a hospital cage is a must have. Right now, it would be useful for your plucked bird, but in the future you could have an even more serious issue -illness, parasites, etc- when you might need to remove a bird much more urgently. Having a cage (and a heat lamp) on hand will allow you to react much more quickly, which might mean saving one or more of your birds' lives.

nelloyello11 wrote:

ac12 wrote:@Jackie
Tell him you NEED to have a "hospital" cage for sick birds.
I use a small cage, since it is only temporary.
Also it is easier to wrap a smaller cage to keep the heat in, when I have to provide heat for the ill bird.

If it's causing tension between you, make sure he understands that it is just a hospital cage, to be used only when you have a hurt or sick bird, that you do not plan on filling it with more birds. (I know that "extra" cages are sometimes an excuse for us finchaholics to find more birds to fill them with).
Most small cages are easily flattened to be tucked away when not in use.
But I agree with Gary- a hospital cage is a must have. Right now, it would be useful for your plucked bird, but in the future you could have an even more serious issue -illness, parasites, etc- when you might need to remove a bird much more urgently. Having a cage (and a heat lamp) on hand will allow you to react much more quickly, which might mean saving one or more of your birds' lives.

I have a small carrying cage, but it's VERY small. More like a carrying cage for a small rabbit. Is that ok?

I use a small transport cage, probably about the same size as your rabbit cage.
https://ladygouldian.com/node/138
the bottom cage

Depending on why you are isolating the bird, that small cage can be just right or a bit small. If the bird is ill, the small cage is probably a good thing.

ac12 wrote:I use a small transport cage, probably about the same size as your rabbit cage.
https://ladygouldian.com/node/138
the bottom cage

Depending on why you are isolating the bird, that small cage can be just right or a bit small. If the bird is ill, the small cage is probably a good thing.

Yeah, that's the thing.....the bird isn't "ill" per se.....just balding..lol.

I've kept them in the small cage for more than a week.
Yeah its cramped, but if that is all you have...you make do with what you have. But I do think you need to separate the pluckee from the pluckor, so the pluckee can grow her feathers back.

ac12 wrote:I've kept them in the small cage for more than a week.
Yeah its cramped, but if that is all you have...you make do with what you have. But I do think you need to separate the pluckee from the pluckor, so the pluckee can grow her feathers back.

I've had the balding finch in a separate cage now for a few weeks, and nothing is happening...not even a smidge of feathers coming back on his balding head. Any other ideas????