# My budgie keeps losing half of his wing feathers and tail every time a new one grows



## snowballxflake (Sep 17, 2021)

My budgie's tail and wing feathers keep falling out everytime it grows again after molting. I've got 4 budgies and all 3 of them fly except him  so he kinda gets excited watching them and tries to fly himself which usually ends up with him crashing down 😭 anyone know why this keeps happening? Help please x
I've inserted his picture and as u can see his wing is broken and and his tail falls out everytime


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi, Welcome to Talk Budgies!

The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being

Diet, hygiene and environment all play an important role in a budgie's overall health and well-being.

How long have you had this budgie?
What are you feeding this bird?
How large is the cage you have the four budgies in? Length, Width, Height
What kind of toys and perches do you have in the cage?
Are the other birds plucking at this budgie's feathers?
Does the budgie over preen itself?

The bird needs to be seen by an Avian Veterinarian for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.*
*Avian Association of Veterinarians*

*Feathers - A Window into your Budgie's Health*

*Avian Vets have special training to determine the cause of symptoms resulting from illness or trauma.
This is important as "regular" vets will often overlook symptoms that are quickly obvious to an Avian Vet.
When you rely on anyone who has not had training in Avian diagnosis and care, you may be delaying effective treatment.
This can prolong suffering that may be avoidable.
The bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.*
*If there are no Avian Vets near you, please find an Exotic Pet Veterinarian with experience in dealing with small birds.**
*
*A Healthy Diet for your Budgie*
*Quality Seed Mix*
*CuttleBones, Mineral Blocks and Manu Clay Roses*
*Safe Foods for Budgies*
*The Truth about GRIT*
*
Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and all of the Stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.
Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.
These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.*
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*


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forums! 

FaeryBee have given you great advice and resources. 

Meanwhile, you’ve come to a great place to learn even more about the best of budgie care practices! Please be sure to have a look around the forums’ many budgie articles and “stickies”, included above, to ensure you’re up to date on everything! If you have questions after doing so, please be sure to ask as we’d love to help. 

Please keep us posted! 

Cheers! 👋


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## snowballxflake (Sep 17, 2021)

So sorry for the late reply.
I've had this budgie for 7 months now and for the first 3-4 months he had a stone on his leg and we thought it was a tumor and had to be removed surgically or something but it automatically came off along with his nail and now he walks very well just like the rest of them but when he had the stone he couldn't really walk properly. Could this be a disease? Because he's just grown his wing feathers after months and tail is coming out too. He seems to be normal and preens just like my other birds and doesn't have bald patches when molting so it could not be a sign of French moult too. And the cage is quite big and they move around a lot and there's ladders and swings and toys in general and I take them outside the cage for playtime too. And I mainly offer them carrots, cabbage and cauliflower a lot bc they tend to like it. But it's the wings in general what I'm worried about. And they also feed on tbe mineral block and I recently bought cuttlefish bones. But what do u suggest for healthy wings/tail growth so when it grows again it doesn't fall off. Thankyou so much for your help everybody who's answering )


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

What do you mean he had a stone on his leg? Budgies molt seasonally so it is normal to have feathers fall and and new ones grow in, is this picture you just posted a recent picture? The wire for the cage you have the bird in could be toxic to him if it contains zinc, please read this article about metal poisoning Lead and Zinc Toxicoses in Pet Birds


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*You need to have the budgie examined by an Avian Veterinarian if you have not done so to ensure it does not have a nutritional deficiency or underlying medical condition.

Avian Vets have special training to determine the cause of symptoms resulting from illness or trauma.
This is important as "regular" vets will often overlook symptoms that are quickly obvious to an Avian Vet.
When you rely on anyone who has not had training in Avian diagnosis and care, you may be delaying effective treatment.
This can prolong suffering that may be avoidable.
The bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.
If there are no Avian Vets near you, please find an Exotic Pet Veterinarian with experience in dealing with small birds.*
*Locating an Avian Veterinarian*

*Your budgie needs to be given a complete healthy and varied diet.

Additionally, as Cody indicated, depending on the metal mesh used on the cage, the bird could have Heavy Metal Poisoning.

Have you read the budgie articles and stickies as advised in my previous post as well as the information in the links I provided?*


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## snowballxflake (Sep 17, 2021)

Yes the pictures I inserted are very recently taken and I bought the cage when it was readymade so I don't know if it contains zinc or lead. And thanks for the advice I'm going to invest in a good cage very soon. Actually he was in separate cage back at the pet shop and the shop owner sold a bird with deformities which is very cruel of him and my dad didn't notice he had a stone on his leg and a few weeks later we realised all our birds were able to fly except him. I'll try to find a picture of the stone for you to see. So I was thinking maybe it's because of an underlying medical condition or a deficiency. I might have an avian vet very close to my house so will definitely take him there and get him checked out. And yes I'll try my best to provide him with a varied and a healthy diet Also what I mean by his wing feathers and tail feathers falling out is that the tail grows for a few days and automatically falls off again,, like his wing and tail growth is never healthy. Maybe it's because of some deficiencies or the main cause would be the stone that was on his leg. It was quite big, roundish and covered half of his finger. And I'm going to insert a picture of the cage for you to see


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*That cage does not look like a good option for your budgied so I'm glad you will be getting a proper one for him soon.

As it appears you have three budgies, you will need a cage that is a minimum of 82 cm Long x 46 cm Wide x 50 cmHigh. 
The bigger the cage the better and width is more important than height. 
The spacing between the bars should be no more than 1.27 cm

I recommend you remove the wooden dowel perches in the cage and replace them with natural wooden perches of varying diameters to help prevent pressure sores.
Pressure Sores
The information in this link will give examples of better options for perches:
Essentials for a Great Cage
*


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## snowballxflake (Sep 17, 2021)

I've got four budgies actually and thankyou for the information about buying a new cage. From what I've seen and experienced my 4 birds seem to be very happy in the cage but I've still wanted to buy a bigger cage for them so yeah I'll definitely keep all that in mind. And their cage measurements are 1.5 ft- height, 1.5 ft- wide, and 2 feet long. Seem to be closer to what you've mentioned right? But I'll still trya nd get something bigger than this. And about the perches there's a dowel one that came along with the cage and I've attached 2 natural wooden branches from my garden which are of different sizes and a rope perch and a spiral rope perch I've made for them. There's also a ladder and basically they just hop into whatever they're in the mood for


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*You need to get another cage because you don't know if the one you have contains zinc or lead.
Any wood used for perches in the cage need to be from a wood that is non-toxic to budgies.*
*Safe Natural Wood for Budgies*


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## snowballxflake (Sep 17, 2021)

Sure I'll check if my garden tree branches are safe for them or not. And I'll make sure I get a new cage for them soon. Thankyou so much for the help


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