Spice Finch Losing Feathers

[cloudyretina]

We have a Spice Finch that we rescued last September. She has had a large cage to herself during the winter. About 2 weeks ago we introduced another Spice Finch. After a day or so of adjustments they appear to get along quite well. They cuddle several times throughout the day, eat together, drink water together, etc. I do notice some occasional teasing, where one may chase the other, but nothing that seems to be of concern.

Unfortunately, the original Spice Finch is losing feathers. She seems to pick at herself, scratch, and flutter. She is quite active, flying, jumping around, eating and drinking well. Other than the feather loss, she seems fine.

At first we considered it could have been mites brought in by the other bird, but the newer finch is unaffected and appears fine.

We just purchased Vita Flite and some straw with hay. This was recommended by the place where we purchased the 2nd bird. They dismissed the mite suggestion since only one bird has this problem.

Do you think this could have been stress related due to introducing another bird? I have attached some photos of them including a close up of Nunzio's feather issues. We feel pretty bad about this considering she was perfectly fine before we introduced her new friend.

Any input is appreciated.

[finchmix22]

I have a female Spice finch who had feather loss on top of her head when we first introduced her to our aviary setting with three other Spice finches. We gave her Thrive in the water for about one month and she began to grow her feathers back. We also made sure there were enough perches for the birds and nests for every pair. Hope that helps.

[cloudyretina]

Thanks. The bird that is affected is the bird that we have had for several months, not the new finch.

I was concerned that she would be stressed about a new bird, especially after being without a companion for several months.

She was given to us by our business landlord. They had 3 spice finches and they said she was "obnoxious" towards the other birds. They even put our bird in a Cat carrier (go figure). That really annoyed us, so we agreed to take the bird home, even though we weren't familiar with birds too much. Because of the landlord's history with the bird we were concerned about introducing another finch. A few weeks ago a wild finch was chirping outside our window and our spice finch would chirp back. We decided to get her a companion.

[cloudyretina]

I am hoping someone else can contribute their opinions on this.

I feel that our finch that is losing feathers is in good health based on the fact that she is eating and staying very active. My concern is the feather loss shortly after introducing a new finch to her. They appear to get along just fine, but only this finch is losing feathers.

[lovemyfinch]

I wonder if her new companion could possibly be a male? If so, it is possible that they are wanting to nest, thus feather plucking