What’s wrong with his tail feathers?

[NikkiRonx3]

Hi! I’m thinking of buying this pineapple conure from a local store, however I noticed his tail feathers don’t seem okay Does anyone know why they’re like this? Is he plucking? Sick? Is his cage too small there and he’s getting injured? Will they grow back? Will he be okay?

 

[April]

Depending if he's young it's probably a mix of playing to hard and being in a small cage with it being easy for his tail to be crammed against the bars.
If it's just from "normal" wear and tear then yes they'll molt out and grow back normal providing he doesn't keep doing it in a new cage.

 

[NikkiRonx3]

Depending if he's young it's probably a mix of playing to hard and being in a small cage with it being easy for his tail to be crammed against the bars.
If it's just from "normal" wear and tear then yes they'll molt out and grow back normal providing he doesn't keep doing it in a new cage.

They told me he’s about 8 months old. I’ll attach a picture of him inside the cage so you can see the size too. I saw what appeared to be one of the feathers at the bottom of the cage, he went down to pick it up. Thank you so much for responding!

 

[April]

Oh yeah with a cage like that,I really do think that's a big part of it. It's just to small for a young active long tailed Conure.

 

[Peachfaced]

Oh yeah with a cage like that,I really do think that's a big part of it. It's just to small for a young active long tailed Conure.

This plus, with only two perches in there, he’s probably having to climb the bars more so than normal and that could certainly contribute to broken tail feathers (because as they scale the bars, the tail pokes through the bars or smushes up against them).

 

[NikkiRonx3]

This plus, with only two perches in there, he’s probably having to climb the bars more so than normal and that could certainly contribute to broken tail feathers (because as they scale the bars, the tail pokes through the bars or smushes up against them).

Oh my goodness is he gonna be okay? Will they grow back? I plan to pick him up from them on Tuesday. If there’s anything I can do to help him out with the broken tail feathers please let me know

 

[NikkiRonx3]

Oh yeah with a cage like that,I really do think that's a big part of it. It's just to small for a young active long tailed Conure.

Oh my goodness is he gonna be okay? Will they grow back? I plan to pick him up from them on Tuesday. If there’s anything I can do to help him out with the broken tail feathers please let me know

 

[Peachfaced]

The ones he has will eventually molt out and new ones will replace them. It’ll just be a matter of time.

 

[April]

Oh my goodness is he gonna be okay? Will they grow back? I plan to pick him up from them on Tuesday. If there’s anything I can do to help him out with the broken tail feathers please let me know

I think he'll be fine. I'd just give him the biggest cage you can so he has lots of room to maneuver and have his perches be well spaced out to limit his tail knocking against things.
Odds are that once he goes through a molt with all his future space the new feathers will be just fine.

 

[T. gillii]

He will be totally okay! He should molt fairly soon and have a beautiful tail