MY bird is stretching his wings a lot

[ninky3]

About 5 or 6 weeks ago the younger of my 2 parakeets died (about 1 month after we had to put our 17 y.o cockapoo down). We have another parakeet, Angelo, who is about 6. He's always been incredibly hearty and animated and very bonded to me. While Lavan was sick, (many vet visits, etc) Angelo was losing ALOT of feathers, but he did not appear ill. At that time he was stretching his wings frequently...a new behavior. He is no longer losing feathers, but is stretching his wings often and barely flying. He eats, drinks, plays with his toys that are right next to him, but can't seem to fly very far. We spent quite a lot of money taking our other bird to the vet...to no avail. I can't afford to keep pouring $ into vet bills, but I can't bear to lose yet another pet in such a short time. Any advice?javascript:add(%22%20???%22)

[Sivin]

Well, as you can see this is a very sleepy board. I hope that by now things are either status quo with your bird or you have taken him to the vet. I can well understand the financial situation you speak of. One pet becomes ill and after perhaps months and months of pouring money into a possible cure you are without a companion and out a lot of money. It's tough, especially in this economy.

However, that said, the only real way of knowing whether anything is wrong with your bird is to have him examined. A loss of feathers cold be from a normal molt, or one brought on by temperature change. A normal molt should not produce any bald patches. It is also important to know what your other bird expired of. Was it contagious?

I don't know what the stretching of the wings is all about. Birds will sometimes hold their wings away from their bodies to cool themselves off, but this doesn't sound like what you are describing. Could this be a mite infection? I don't know and over-the-counter mite treatments should not be attempted.

I hope your vet is a bird specialist or at the least, someone who sees and competently treats lots of birds. You should mention your financial concerns. There is also a possibility that your bird is exhibiting stress but you can't count on that as a reason for his behavior. You really should have the little guy examined. I hope you will let us know how things work out.