Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi guys im a new member of this forum andive been reading alot of the posts and i love them their very informative. i have a male cockatiel, hes about 6 montsh old and hes beginning to molt or i should say about a week into his molt. today he was preening himself and all of a sudden i heard a loud scream, i went to the cage and saw that he pulled ne of his tail feathers out. it seemed like it was from the root. i picked up the feather and saw a little blood when i squeezed the tip of the feather so i panicd. i checked him out underneath where the feather was pulled and their was no blood or signs of blood or droppings of blood in the cage. hes normal hes been playing eating and acting normal. what should i do about this guys im really worried hes never done this before. i kept checking him no bleeding and everything is fine. his tail feathers are a little jagged because i got him from a personal breeder and when she clipped one of his wings she clipped it to short so he didnt have to much balance. but his tail feathers are growing in pretty well but im worried about this one because he pulled it from the root. should i be concerned why would he do this, please help guys im so nervous!!

Although not a wanted behavior many birds will pull a feather now and then. The only time you really need to worry about this is if they break off a blood feather that will continue to bleed and needs immediate care or if it becomes a habit. Some birds will decide that the feather pulling gives them a "rush" almost like an adrenaline rush in humans. IF they are feeling bored or sometimes sick they will do this again for the "rush" and it becomes an unwanted habit. As long as this is is a one time occurance or a very rare occurance in your bird it is nothing to worry about (as long as no continued bleeding is noted). If he continues pulling from the root it would be good to get a vet check up to make sure there is not a bacterial or viral infection making his feathers so itchy or annoying that he plucks.