Blondie is a lovebird from Venezuela. Due to illness, he has lost almost all his feathers and now looks very exotic. But his owner, Bella Escobar, loves him no less for this. 
Meet Blondie, an adorable lovebird from Venezuela. His owner, Bella Escobar, received Blondie as a gift from her father's friend, who used to breed birds. The lovebird was about 3 weeks old when he arrived at their home. “He was just a baby bird, very tiny,” Bella recalls. 
Blondie is bald. This is the result of a very rare parrot beak and feather disease - PBF. 
Blondie wasn't always like he is now. It used to have beautiful orange and yellow feathers. According to Bella, Blondie loved to fly at the time. “I remember his favorite place was the lamp in the house. He is very playful, he flew after us all the time. He is also a very curious bird and loved to fly to new places and explore.” 
However, when Blondie was one year old, the family began to notice that the bird was losing the feathers on its legs. 
As the days passed, the bird lost more and more feathers, and eventually it became almost completely bald and could no longer fly. 
Veterinarians told Bella that stress was likely the cause. However, after several studies, the girl learned that Blondie has PBF disease, which affects the bird's feathers and beak.
“We went to the vet with Blondie and they did a test to see if he had parasites, but the result was negative. The vets said it was most likely stress and that he was plucking his own feathers. We didn’t believe it, it didn’t make any sense, because how could Blondie pluck feathers from his own head? - says Bella. “I started looking for information myself, and soon we found out that he had PBF. This disease affects the beak and feathers and can be transmitted from bird to bird. We suspect his mother had the same disease and passed it on to Blondie. This disease is incurable, but there are cases where birds have restored their feathers. Unfortunately, this rarely happens." 
In 9 months, Blondie was almost completely bald. Due to Blondie's condition, Bella needs to take some precautions. Because the bird's skin is exposed, Bella has to moisturize it with coconut oil. Due to the lack of feathers, Blondie gets cold quickly, so Bella bought him a plush toy in which he can take a nap and warm up. He also has a heating pad in his cage that keeps him warm when he sleeps. 
According to Bella, it was difficult for Blondie to give up his favorite pastime - flying. He fell into a depressed state. Blondie became sleepy and indifferent. He didn't want to do anything. The family wanted to help him, the bird was shown different places that he had never seen, toys and other things so that he could have fun. And luckily it worked. 
Now Blondie is happy again! 
Bella says she likes living with Blondie. According to the owner, although he is grumpy, he has his own charm. "He's stubborn, very funny, curious and very loud. Whether you're cooking or studying, he'll always be right next to you, trying to see what you're doing and playing with what you have around. When I bring friends, they're always are delighted with Blondie, although they admit that he scares them a little. Some say he looks like a dinosaur,” says Bella. Although, according to her, Blondie himself does not like guests: he loudly grumbles at them and sometimes even tries to peck. 
“Caring for an animal with special needs can be challenging, but communicating with your animal to get to know them better, what they like and what they don't like is the key to understanding animals and their behavior. Blondie is amazing and I'm really proud of him,” says Bella.
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