The molting process and when your canary won’t sing are the most frustrating events for a canary owner. If you don’t have sufficient knowledge about the bodily processes of a canary, you would assume that when your bird molt and they stopped singing, it would already mean negatively. As an owner, you should be a keen observant so that you would know when to worry and when to just support your pet. In this article, we’ll know more information about canary molting and know the reason why they don’t sing.
Canary Molting
Molting is a natural process for bird species where they change their old feathers. The canaries molt within 6-12 weeks, where the feathers look disheveled and will appear loose. During the molting process, expect that your bird will loss appetite, irritated, aggressive, and will look tired and drowsy. As long as you are sure that your bird is molting, then there is nothing to worry about. Your canaries energy will go back as soon as the molting process ends. Your canary may molt its feathers a couple of times a year, especially when they haven’t reached their maturity years.
Warmer temperatures in the summer season trigger are molting, but you may also induce molting by exposing your canary to 14 hours light exposure per day. There are proper ways on how to take good care of your canary during the molting process by means of giving them foods that are high in protein content and bathing them regularly to make their skin moist to aid in comfortable molting.
Why Does Your Canary Don’t Sing?
There are a couple of reasons why your canary doesn’t sing; you should be able to know the primary cause for it because, in some cases, it could mean danger. They don’t have the ability to tell what they feel so as an owner, you must be able to translate how your bird behaves to understand the reason why it doesn’t sing. These are some of the possible reasons why your canary doesn’t sing:
- You should know the gender of your canary. A male canary is more into singing, female canaries also sing, but it is simpler and less expressive than the way how males sing. The way to know their gender is through DNA sampling, so consult the expert.
- Molting is a natural bodily process that they go through. During this period, don’t expect your canary to sing because molting itself is stressful, so their energy is just directed to it. They could stop singing for the next couple of weeks or even months.
- Your canary is sad. When your canary sings, it shows that it is in a good mood and that it is happy, however, if suddenly your canary stops singing, there is a possibility that it is because of sadness and depression. You should be able to observe the bird’s other behavior to confirm if it is just sad.
- Your canary hasn’t matured yet and is still learning how to sing. The way how canary sings is learned, so if you have a juvenile canary, the possible reason why it hasn’t sing is that it doesn’t know how to.
- When your canary is finished molting its feathers, and you see it manifest some symptoms that are associated with molting of feathers such as listlessness, loss of appetite, and low energy, it could mean that your canary is sick and is weak to sick. You need to take it to a veterinarian for you to know the diagnosis.
How the Canary’s Molting Affect its Singing?
There are behavioral problems that your canary manifests as it molts its feathers, but the most prominent behaviors are that it will stop singing. The canary, especially the males, are known to be a good singer. Their singing abilities is one of the reasons why they are popular bird to be taken into captivity. The reason why your canary stopped singing as it molts is that when the canary is exposed to light and heat, it affects their singing quality; that is why the canary will not have the motivation to sing.
The molting process also takes a lot of the canary’s energy; that is why, during this process, the bird will have listlessness to do its usual activities, even it’s singing capabilities. When the male canary stopped singing because of the molting process, there is no need to worry because as soon as the molting season is over, the male canary will have the energy and motivation to sing again.
Experts propose that it is not all the time that your canary will not sing during the molting process. The canaries that have a healthy body that is ready for molting still have the ability to sing; that is why it is important to make sure that your canary receives the right nutrients as it molts so that it already has reserve energy that will make it alive during the molting process. A rapid change into the canary’s environment is also a triggering factor why your bird is not happy and does not have the energy to sing so if you want to induce the molting process, you may need to slowly change the temperature level to give time for the canary to prepare itself for the abrupt change.
How to Help Your Canary When it Molts and Doesn’t Sing?
- Even though your canary will not have the appetite to eat, it is still important to give it healthy food mixes that are rich in protein because your canary will still have a food intake but not voracious as when it is in a normal state. You may also add its water with supplements to ensure that even though it won’t eat a lot, it can still absorb nutrients.
- You may still encourage your canary to sing by letting it hear a recording of canaries singing. The canaries effectively learn how to sing by hearing other birds do, and with this, they are motivated to sing.
- If you want your male canary to sing while it is molting, it is advisable to ensure that it won’t see a female canary because a part of the singing pattern of a male is about courtship, so singing is its way to search for a partner.
- When your bird is molting, it is not advisable to handle it, but you can need to change its mood positively by means of going near their cage and talking or singing to them softly.
- When your canary feels comfortable, there is a higher chance that it will be happy and energetic even when it molts so that you can easily persuade it to sing, you ‘ll just need to help it molt easier by bathing it regularly or by spraying its skin with fresh water. You also need to make sure that their surroundings are always clean to avoid infections while it is renewing its feathers.
Final Thoughts
When your canary molts and doesn’t sing, there is nothing to worry about because this is just a normal process that your bird undergoes. As a canary owner, you must equip yourself with knowledge about the important phases that contribute to their development.
