lol... yeah, saturday night is not a good time to do something about it.... i'll call the vet on monday to see if i can stop by and have them take a look at it...

thanks for the advices....
cindy, seems like i've pretty good instinct LOL - besides the weather being gloomy as it is, i did keep the light on the low side since friday (aka half shut the blinds so they don't get bright sun light - not that there's much of that right now, but still). also, this morning i took valo out before pita so he can ramble around and fly to get his morning energy down before giving them their food which was birdie omlett

pita has feathers coming in on his wings and on the tail... so pretty much all over... containing him for 4 days every time i see a new feather might be a little bit of a stretch - the poor guy would literally stay in his cage all the time... i try to take him out so he can get some fun time too, but i keep everything careful, limited and on the mellow side (at least i try - he LOVES to flap his wings... hard to find a good distraction for that which is not a reinforcement)

Kathie, yeah remember before you could dna birds they used to pull all the Tiel tail feathers out to sex them young ...so they'd grow in sooner ? Well, not my breeders but alot of them did....

Bee, yep you have good instincts I remember when you wanted to let Valo's wings grow and fly!

Well, I think it's ok to flap when he's out and on a bed or in the middle of a room on the floor or somewhere safe. No standing on the top of the cage. Then I'd do what you're doing, keep him away from Valo when it's his time to be out and flying. Like in a different room. So he doesnt start flapping wildly in the cage. I agree about the rope perches and would keep the middle of the cage empty. I put all the stuff around the periphery.

Somehow Toby regrew all his wings in three months...between end of Sept and beginning of January even with breaking those three. Hopefully PITA will be even quicker!

I dont know how long this feather thing has been going on but I'd speak to the vet about it can't hurt.

Ask your vet about cooking some quinoa and adding half as much cooked lentils a couple times a week over and above what he normally eats. It depends on his diet. Maybe about a tablespoon each time. Or maybe you can pick up some Protein 25 its a dry concentrated granulated egg food that you just moisten to crumbly with a little warm water.

I also agree about the calcium ask your vet about it after reviewing his diet. Just to cover all the bases. And amino acids are a big part of the protein deal so if you feel like soaking some grains they offer more amino acids that way.

Some people dont want to supplement calcium because it's not a natural source....and shouldnt in a pellet eating bird, unless the vet directs it after some dx. But I use Calciboost/Calcivet especially in the winter. Once a week. From this company in the link below..only available online from a couple distributers...(in fact the guy who's Finch is in the picture is the guy I order it from...Marvin the Canary breeder!)

Feather quality

(this is good practice for the REAL molting season later this summer! )

Would Pita eat legumes, I thought he is only a pellet man.

i got him to eat quite a bit actually - seems to help that valo eats almost everything that i offer him... he loves ginich's birdie bread, but endulges in bean mix/soak (with corn of course), sweet potatoes, yam puffs and similar...

[should i mention that i'm actually holding their food bowls while they eat?! makes them eat better ]

Oh no! I don't recall that! How horrible. Did they really do that? I just figured if you get rid of the old ones, the new ones would grow in. Also, I don't like having blood feathers hanging around - as you well know! Remember??