Piemur, are those little pin feathers I see?

[lovezebs]

Hello Friends.

As some of you may recall, I went to my favorite Pet Shop on February 20th.
I ended up coming home with a poor shadow of a lovely Gouldian, whom I named Piemur.

Well poor little Piemur, had had a terrible molt in the store, and sort of got stuck In molt, and never recovered from it. So he stayed in that back room for quite sometime, considered not pretty enough to be put up for sale. I also think that he might have been plucked by another bird (but don't know for certain).

Anyway, it would appear, that he has started molting again. Yay! I found feathers in his cage, and he's starting to get the look of a molting Gouldian, instead of a tiny vulture. Hopefully this time around, with proper food, light and care , he will complete a good molt and go on to growing all of his pretty feathers back again.

I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I think I'm seeing some feather fluff starting to grow in on his bald spots. Now maybe its just wishfull thinking on my part, so tell me what you all think.

~Elana~

[Atbird]

I can't wait to see him in all his glory.

[lovezebs]

fetching

Thank you, we do our best.

~ Elana~

[lovezebs]

Atbird

Hi Anna,

I really hope he makes a complete recovery. He is such a sweet little guy, he deserves to get his beauty back

~Elana~

[Arama]

I knew it wouldn't take you long. That's fantastic, soon he will be back to his beautiful self. Not that he isn't beautiful now.

Trisha

[debbie276]

Usually they will not molt till their regular yearly molt but can be triggered with adding extra protein to their diet after having a limited diet which was probably the case. You should start to see pin feathers and he will look rather porcupiney when his molt starts. The new feathers will come out of the sheath (pin feather).
Best of luck, I'm sure he will be beautiful in your care

[MiaCarter]

Aw, horray for Piemur!

I agree - he deserves to move past the uglies so he can reclaim his beauty!

He's going to be stunning. I can't wait to see his before and after pics side by side!

You're going to be handsome again very soon, little boy!

[lovezebs]

Thanks ladies.

I'm seeing soft fluff feathers around the cage, plus a few real feathers, longer and grayish. Sorry, don't know the proper name for them. There are too many for it to be just a random feather here, feather there sort of thing. I honestly think he's starting to molt again and hopefully will complete his molt this time around. I've been keeping the temperature quite warm for him, plus longer hours of light with the hope that it will trigger a molt, so that he can grow in some proper feathers.

He eats like a horse, loves his super-duper egg food and greens, and his spray millet.

Today I actually saw Piemur attempt his first real bath. He was watching the crew splashing around like maniacs, and decided that it can't be all that bad.

Fluttering down (his flying isn't all that great yet) he landed in the warm water and sat there with a puzzled look on his face. Then he shot out of the bath right up to the highest branch and sat there fluffing and sputtering as if he'd swam the channel. I had to laugh at him, he was so funny. All that was wet on him, were his legs .

~Elana ~

[Atbird]

lovezebs

Gouldians sound a lot like canaries. Are their personality similar?

[lovezebs]

Atbird

Hi Anna.

I would say, that Gouldians tend to be more easy going than Canaries. They are more tolerant, and not territorial like Canaries. You can house both males/females/juveniles together in a community flight without confrontations, where with Canaries, it can get a little problematic, especially during breeding season.

~Elana~

[Atbird]

If only I knew that before I got canaries, they can be pesky . Although canaries are very interactive with me (for finches) and one, Sunday, even takes millet from my hand...sometimes . That makes up for their aggressiveness. Now, if you tell me gouldians are pretty tame, like canaries, I might just have to go out and get some ...just kidding.....maybe

[lovezebs]

Atbird
Hi Anna.

Gouldians, are inquisitive, intelligent, curious and sweet natured. I find them to be friendly, as in they will come right up to you, if you stand beside the flight, close enough that if you blow gently, you'll ruffle their feathers.

If you handle them as babies in the nest, I find that they retain some memories of you, and don't tend to be as flighty.

Personally, I haven't tried to really tame one, but that's not to say that it can't be done. It would probably take a lot of patience and time.

~Elana~

[Atbird]

lovezebs
Thanks. You are giving me dangerous info...

[lovezebs]

Atbird

I like to play devil's advocate

~Elana~

[Kiishka]

For the sake of condensing threads, I'm jumping onto this one since it's so similar to my hen. I bought a pair of goulds from a lovely lady about two months ago, and while the male is absolutely stunning, the poor sister-hen is a mess. Her body is all right, but her head was patchy to start with and is growing increasingly bald with no sign of pinfeathers. Any tips for how to treat? She's an egg laying fool- I'm wondering if pulling her out into isolation would be a good decision, but then I'm concerned her mate will start harrassing my other pair due to losing 'his' hen. She's not being plucked, and gets a good selection of hardboiled eggs, eggbread, fresh greens and veggies, and sproutable seed (unsprouted, but quality).

Elana, what magic have you been working on Sir Piemur the Bald?