Molting and bathing

Question
Hey again!

I was just wondering what is the difference between molting and feather picking.  Gracie is three months (budgie).. and lately there has been way more white fluffy feathers in her cage.  I picked up about twenty+ while cleaning her cage... is this normal?? Is this molting or feather picking?? Gracies hardly ever here alone and gets plenty of attention and toys.  I was wondering why she is doing this.

Also.. She absolutely hates the water.  She runs away from the bowl of water I put on her cage....and flies away when I try to put her under trickling water under the sink. So.. I decided when cleaning her cage....To shower her with the kitchen sink hose while she was in her empty cage so she couldnt get away.  She just looked like she hated it so much and it caused her a lot of stress.  She was running all around the cage... tripping... it was really sad!  : )  Is this cruel?? Afterwards I towel dried her and she was SOOO TAME and relaxed.. the opposite of how she usually is... so maybe its not all bad.

Thanks in advance ur replies are always really helpfuL!
PS I ordered the roudybush online and its on its way!


Answer
Feather picking is when they are purposely mutilating themselves but molting is when feathers fall out to make room for new ones. There should be no bald spots, and within a couple days you should see pin feathers (spiky feathers) underneath the existing feathers. This is the time of year when birds molt, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. There will be a couple days where there will be feathers EVERYWHERE and you'll have to vacuum constantly (well, at least it seems like it) because she'll lose lots of feathers and then flap her wings and the feathers will just fly out of that cage. Baths are good while they're molting, but I understand when some birds hate to take baths. My lovebird just LOATHES baths. I've tried a few things that seemed to work with her. The first is just filling her water bowl with warm/hot water when I feed her at night and it seems to stimulate her "I wanna bath!" attitude and she takes a bath. She wont take a bath in any other pan or place, just in the water bowl, so I just clean it out when she's done. Another trick is to get a shower perch (which the pet stores over charge you WAY too much for. I just bought a towel rack/bar with suction cups on the ends and use that. I think it was at Target for $4) and take her in the shower with you. Use your hand to trickle water on her (sticking her under the showerhead may be too much) and/or pet her and really scratch under the feathers with your wet hands. Then put her on the perch. The steam from the shower will give her a little misting bath and she'll gradually get colder and colder instead of just freezing (like we do) when she steps out of the shower. She'll dry more gradually and preen a LOT more to help molt faster, and you'll see less feathers laying around because she'll have preened them out instead of waiting until they fall out on their own. Pearl, my cockatiel, is a different story. She wont do ANY bathing. In her case, I stick her in the bottom of the tub (so she can't get out) and follow her around with the shower head. She hates it while it's happening, but she's fine once it's over. Just be careful not to chase her around for long (if you want to do it this way) so she doesn't get too stressed.
I've noticed that Lucy and Pearl usually need/want a bath every 7-10 days, so I bathe them accordingly.
I'm glad you're getting the roudybush, I hope you and Gracie love it! If she doesn't take it right away, put a drop of juice on a pellet and see if she'll take it as a treat. Usually birds will take it as a treat, and then pretty much think you're the greatest person in the world when you fill their whole bowl with the "treats"!