# Cockatiel smells horrible



## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

We've had Cyggy for a month now. The bonding and training process has been slow since he was half wild when we got him. Since we haven't been able to spritz him without getting him super stressed out, we've more or less left bathing and feather care to him.

Until now.

With the recent success we've had with step-up training, eating from our hands, and general trust while around us, I brought him into the shower to get him used to running water in a closed space, since that's what my other tiel was most comfortable with. And he was pretty chill with the whole thing, surprisingly.

And then he got a little wet.

My god, the smell. It was like unwashed teenager and unwashed dog rolled into one. He had a pretty traumatic journey to our house involving the bursting of a blood feather and subsequent dousing in blood like a feathered horror movie, and I've observed that he has a _really_ thick down coat which has probably been trapping a lot of heat. He's also been a bit of a reluctant preener as he settles into his new home.

As to his health:
1) I don't notice the smell when I'm casually around him
2) He eats fine (seed and pellet mix with the occasional leafy green if he's feeling curious)
3) He poops fine
4) He's alert, though prefers to sit on out on his cage door rather than be active in his cage. He plays with paper toys outside of his cage.

My question: Is he just a stinky boy who needs a major bath or is this something I should be concerned about? And if he's just in need of a bath, is there anything I should do specifically to combat the stench?

Thanks!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Honestly, I've never heard of a stinky tiel that wasn't in like a smoker's home. I'm not really sure what to use to get the stench out since you really don't use shampoo on a tiel. It's normally just warm water and let them preen themselves out. Hopefully others have better ideas.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Does he only smell when he's wet? Wet birds don't, as a rule, smell good.


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## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

The smell got worse when he was wet, but he didn't really smell like wet tiel either.

The smell is only on his belly, and it smells vaguely sour, like crusty milk. Otherwise he smells like a normal tiel. 

We're wondering if it might be because he's not great at grooming his belly (I don't think I've ever seen him groom that far down) or if it's because he spends his day with his butt literally planted on his cage door. He's got so much fluff on him that half the time he just poops into his feathers. We've already had to extract poop from around his vent once.

In any case, we're going to try and get him really soaking wet over the next couple days to see if that stimulates some more regular preening. Hopefully washing him helps with the smell too.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Does he need worming? It’s not normal for birds to make a mess around their vent and it’s genrally a sign something is wrong inside. Perhaps attempt worming him and if no improvement then take him to the vets to have his poop looked at


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## AutumnElf (May 2, 2017)

If you think the area is crusty you can try popping his bottom half in a large bowl of warm water or your partially filled bathroom sink. 

I have to say, my birds always smell good even though dusty. Except for when my girl was having eggs and sitting on them. She would save the biggest stinkiest poos ever for a long period of time then plop them onto the floor of the cage... Tellin you they were those large jaw breaker sizes of poo. She stank really bad because we couldn't pull her out to wash her until she was done sitting on the eggs. The smell you described reminded me of how sour she used to smell during that time. 

Hopefully a good sit in some warm water will fix him up. 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Indy smelled absolutely *awful* when he got to me. Honestly, I didn't notice until I re-entered the room after having been out for a couple of minutes. He reeked of cigarette smoke! :O I took him into the shower, which he seemed to somewhat enjoy. And more importantly, it helped get rid of some of the stink!

Puck doesn't smell at all. He just smells faintly like the pellets I feed him, which smell a bit sweet. I guess it's normal for birds to vaguely smell like the foods they eat 

Can't say I really _like_ the smell of wet bird, but it doesn't stink to me, at all. And it's nowhere nearly as bad as wet dog smell, haha. Well, at least for Puck, I'm not sure how Indy would smell now if I showered him again.


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## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

Fran.bath89 said:


> Does he need worming? It’s not normal for birds to make a mess around their vent and it’s genrally a sign something is wrong inside. Perhaps attempt worming him and if no improvement then take him to the vets to have his poop looked at


The mess mostly came from him sitting at the bottom of his cage for the first couple days we had him home, and then subsequently sitting on his cage door. He has a LOT of down. I've never had such a fluffy tiel. It makes me wonder if he's accumulated stuff in his down feathers, but he's not altogether super keen on hands yet, so we haven't been inspecting him closely.


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## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

AutumnElf said:


> If you think the area is crusty you can try popping his bottom half in a large bowl of warm water or your partially filled bathroom sink.
> 
> I have to say, my birds always smell good even though dusty. Except for when my girl was having eggs and sitting on them. She would save the biggest stinkiest poos ever for a long period of time then plop them onto the floor of the cage... Tellin you they were those large jaw breaker sizes of poo. She stank really bad because we couldn't pull her out to wash her until she was done sitting on the eggs. The smell you described reminded me of how sour she used to smell during that time.
> 
> ...


Maybe he does just have some poopy feathers. His back smells lovely (I love cockatiel smell). I guess we're gonna have to get him good and wet over the next couple days and see what happens. He's still eating like an absolute pig, lol.


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## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

Lore said:


> Indy smelled absolutely *awful* when he got to me. Honestly, I didn't notice until I re-entered the room after having been out for a couple of minutes. He reeked of cigarette smoke! :O I took him into the shower, which he seemed to somewhat enjoy. And more importantly, it helped get rid of some of the stink!
> 
> Puck doesn't smell at all. He just smells faintly like the pellets I feed him, which smell a bit sweet. I guess it's normal for birds to vaguely smell like the foods they eat
> 
> Can't say I really _like_ the smell of wet bird, but it doesn't stink to me, at all. And it's nowhere nearly as bad as wet dog smell, haha. Well, at least for Puck, I'm not sure how Indy would smell now if I showered him again.


I never minded the wet bird smell from my last tiel. Like, it's wasn't something you'd want to freshen a room with, but it wasn't so bad all things considered. 

Poor Cyggy though just reeked when he got his belly wet. It was really bad. Like, wet towel left in a corner too long bad.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

I would suggest keep giving him a good clean maybe every other day?? And hopefully the smell will get better but if it doesn’t I would say take him to the vets to make sure he hasn’t got any problems it seems weird but other animals smell when they have internal problems so could be possible for birds too. Hope he smells better soon!


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## Koikun (Sep 6, 2017)

We gave him a good, long shower which included bathing in a bowl of water that got his belly good and wet and it seems to have improved the smell. He no longer smells like sour wet towels, but like a normal wet bird.

I don't know if he'll ever forgive us for forcing him to take a bath, though.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Ok so your not so crazy sounding!!! We just got a 4 month old green cheek conure and I noticed my fingers smell disgusting after I scratch his neck!! Well they did we’ve had him a week now and the smell is gone now. It’s the smell of piercings lol I wonder if that’s the feather casings that smell??


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