I had Mango on my bed wearing the diaper just for bonding to get him used to me and I noticed a few times his foot goes inside the diaper and I took the diaper off and felt his stomach and I can feel the bone,so how can I get him to gain weight in that area.He eats watermelon and veg in the morning and seed and nuts later along with sprouts and lentils included in his diet.Also I am very confused with Mango he's so small compared to the large tall plum heads you see on youtube and their really long tails whereas Mango's tail is shorter than the tiels.And they reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age so would there be some growing during that time?

Well, it's not much that you can feel the bone, but more so that you can see it. You should probably weigh him to be sure though, or talk to a vet about it.

Plum heads look to be the same size of indian ringnecks to me, and that really isn't as big as you'd probably think. Though I couldn't really find a good size reference, other than this video of one dancing. If you've seen a guitar, you would probably be able to tell how big this one is.



This person is also holding a lutino plumhead in his hand, and you can see that that the bird isn't very big. Is Mango smaller than that?

I wouldn't be worried. Keel bone testing can be tricky at times. It's done by feeling the keel bone. If there is some meat covering the bone area than it can mean normal weight but it you jeel a sharp keel bone than they say it means the bird is underweight. Some birds can be smaller than average and not have any medical condition but have a sharpish bone.

You state his feel has been getting stuck in his harness. According to the flight suit company, they say you are supposed to use the 'ribbon meathod' for when the flight suit is little too big. Weight can fluctuate for us humans, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same implied to birds too. I don't really see a medical problem but I am not a vet and I could be wrong as well. If you want to be safe, a vet check up won't hurt.

Hes sleeping now so ill check on him tomorrow and see if its sharp or if it can be seen.Where have you been lol how is Rio doing.

Ive seen baby indian Ringnecks and they were Mango's size lol I've seen that Guitar video lots of times Mango actually does look that size but its the tail Mango has a shorter tail than that and before getting him I knew their tails are supposed to be very long like in the video.Also Rocko and Loki are bigger than him.

It's possible that the shorter tail is making him look smaller than he actually is.

As for why the tale is short, younger birds have brittle feathers that break easily, so it's possible that the tips broke, or something. You said he's going through his molt, yes? That's another possible reason why it's short right now, because the longer feathers might have already come out. Or his tail could still be growing.

I agree his tail could be still growing but I don't think he's moulting though he did have pin feathers all over his head when I brought him home but I removed them and haven't seen any since.And it doesn't look unusual it looks like a normal tail.

Now look at the length of his tail and his body he's huge even compared to the one dancing on the guitar.
http://youtu.be/B4l0OL7xpS8

I have been fine. Just took a small break from all the forums for a bit. Rio is well, too. Thanks for asking.

I get the impression that plumheads might vary a lot in size, because the internet shows such a wide range of weights. Feeling the keel bone is the best way to determine how appropriate a bird's weight is, but it's not easy for an inexperienced person to judge. Here's an article on the Feather Talk group that might help: http://feathertalk.proboards.com/thread ... s-keelbone