Suddenly visible skin around beak (pics)

[Mariya]

These are photos of a strange development on my parakeet's face...yesterday I saw that the feathers around his beak looked like they were pushed away from the beak, revealing the skin beneath. This was not there the day before. The skin appears intact and dry. He is eating normally and otherwise seems unchanged. What could this be?

You can see the yellow areas around his beak; that is his skin, previously covered by feathers.

He had been shedding feathers before, and I had bought him UltraCare Skin and Plumage Daily Supplement (liquid vitamins E, A, D3, others) upon recommendation of a pet store owner. I put it in his food daily, and his feathers were no longer coming out soon after starting this supplement. I had been giving this to him for a while, we're already on a second bottle.

He eats only regular bird food, Sunseed Sunscription Vita Parakeet Formula. The store owner said this is all he needs, as it's fortified with vitamins and minerals. I had left fruit for him a few times (apples) but he doesn't touch them.

He also has a chalk piece (? don't know the name) that he gnaws every evening.

His cage door is always open and during the day he comes out sometimes. However most of the time he wants to remain inside. He goes on my finger, but soon after I put him elsewhere in the room he flies back to his cage.

We have a little dog who barked at him after he came to our house, whenever I picked him up or he flied around the room. I trained the dog to stop, but managed to get him to truly stop only recently.

Thank you very much for your advice.

[Budgiekin]

Welcome to the forums. You've got real cutie there. ;)

Hmmmm.... this is interesting. I can't tell what might be going on there, or if there is anything you should be concerned about. :rolleyes:

My first inclination when I looked at the photos was that this could be the early stages of mites. On the other hand, it could be that this little guy is just moulting, although it doesn't usually happen in such a localized area. Is there evidence that he has been losing feathers?

Like I always say to members, when in doubt, have them checked out by an avian vet.

Oh, by the way, my budgie Gracie loves her mineral block too. ;)

[Aru]

I don't know about the development, but from what I've discovered, new foods need to be placed around things that they use all the time; like a favorite perch or toy. Sometimes they get curious enough to try it, and other times you need to teach them that such and such food/fruit is O.K.

[ronsig]

I am no expert. Is it possible that the feathers are wet and sticky?
That could mean that the bird regurgitated seeds and they stuck to the feathers around the beak.
That could be a one time only problem or it could happen again. Just watch him and take him to an avian vet if necessary.
Do you weigh your bird? That is a good way to tell when something is wrong.
There are also feather disorders, but I don't know if that could be it.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. :)

I would try to get the bird off the all seed diet and vitamins and offer fruits and vegetables and some seed instead.:) But first you have to make sure he is well.

Sigrid

[chapala]

If you already are feeding a vitamin and mineral fortified seed mix, you shouldn't be giving ANY additional vitamins. That can result in vitamin toxicity (too much of the vitamins) especially of the fat soluble vitamins such as synthetic Vitamin A and D3. I have no idea what's wrong with your bird, but I suggest stopping the vitamins immediately.

Birds naturally molt out their old feathers - you mentioned he was losing feathers so you started the vitamins. Molting is a natural process of losing old feathers and growing in new ones.

Since an all seed diet is not complete (if that's what the diet you're feeding is), you may want to read through the diet section here and get ideas about how to encourage your bird to eat some fresh vegetables. It takes consistency and perserverance to get them eat new foods. Apple is not nutritious enough to be the only fresh food offered. He needs green vegetables and a little bit of the more nutrtious fruits. You might also want to convert him partially to a pellet diet for better nutrition than all seed.

[Whistle&Steve]

I was also inclined to say it looks a little like mites. It has that signature yellow cruty look of mites. I wouls take him to an avian vet for a correct diagnosis.

[Mariya]

Thank you very much! I stopped the vitamins and am reading through the "diet" section to see what else to give him.

Can anyone recommend an avian vet in the NYC area? Preferably an inexpensive one, as my finances are limited (new graduate).

[ronsig]

Can anyone recommend an avian vet in the NYC area? Preferably an inexpensive one, as my finances are limited (new graduate).

When you look at the "stickies" at the top of this section, there is a list of avian vets.
In New York City, there are two:
http://www.aav.org/search/results.php?filter=city&q=New+York&Submit=Search

The one has an e-mail address. I would write an e-mail and ask about fees. You could call the other and ask how much a consultation is.

Sigrid

[Mariya]

Thank you again everyone for your advice. My budgie did indeed turn out to have scaly face mites...I got him an oil called Scalex, anti-mite spray, and anti-mite disk. I put the oil on him 2x a day, and am VERY happy to say that the yellow residue around his beak is falling off. It has fallen off entirely on the right side, and is almost off on the left side. I sprayed him once with the spray as well. His mites have just began, as compared to many pictures on the Internet.

How would you recommend to clean the cage using the mite spray? On the instructions is says to spray directly on the bird from a foot away. But can it be used to clean the cage as well, and if so, how? E.g. do you first spray the cage and then rinse with water, or let it air-dry?

Also, should I use the anti-mite disk? He's an only bird and is not exposed to other birds. Are the fumes ok?

[SpickyDavies]

it is mites.

mite sprays are useless

[Mariya]

Update...

I keep using Scalex (oil product) and the mites residue keeps falling off...that's the good news. The bad news is, that some mites have escaped to further regions, spreading closer to his ears. Fortunately now that I recognize the residue for what it is, I rubbed it with the Scalex as soon as it appeared around feather bases farther from his beak.

The other bad news is, he's losing all the feathers that were even touched by mites, I don't know whether due to the mites themselves or to the Scalex. His face is going quite bald, with the bald area spreading out from around his beak. I'm putting Scalex on his feet as well now, for prevention in case some of the mites decide to take a quantum leap downwards.

It seems like I'm winning, as today I didn't see any mite residue at all, whether around the feather bases or on the skin. A few more days of oil should do the trick, hopefully.