Do Too's have a smell??

[amazing greys]

Not coming from his beak, but his overall body? When I have Turks cage covered for the night and get him in the am. you can smell it. I don't know if its from the Rescue I got him from, or they normally have a smell?

I do know when I shower the birds you can smell the normal bird smell, but his is different. Trying to see if Sinbad has the same smell, but Turks is more pugnant (prob because he has more feathers and fluff).

I've heard before you can use Aveno wash to clean them if their feathers get yuckie, how much, and how do you clean a bird like that??

I just went through and disinfected (w/bleach) all his toys again that I got from the Rescue and see if that helps.

Any thoughts or advise?

[Shirley]

Cockatoos have a wonderful fresh baby smell... even when they are just washed... you can bury your face in their feathers and they just smell wonderful. It's not what I'd call pungent at all, but just a wonderful powdery smell.

The only thing deemed safe by the two avian vets I use is Dawn dish soap, and then rinse like crazy! Dawn is what they use to clean the oil off birds in the ocean when their is an oil spill disaster. I rarely use anything... maybe once every 6 months if that. Plain water is best.

~ Shirley

[Junkzoo]

Ditto what Shirley said, My 'Too just gives off a powder, no smell at all to speak of,,,ever during the last 20 years i've had Sinbad. Now Amazons,,,thats another story, they can be ,,,a,,,,a bit musty in smell,not that bad, just enough to notice.
Since you got it from a rescue, and prob do not know it's past (home life /conditions etc.) try a water spray mist/bath every other or third day,and let it preen itself,for a while b4 you try a soap of any kind.Kind of a last resort thing.
Dawn is said to be good for birds, for the reasons Shirley mentioned, but unless the smell really bothers you, or you think it's gotta have a Dawn washing. I'd see what happens over a lil bit of time,and then decide
One reason for my opinion here is, the bird has probably been thru a lot lately, with possibly it's prev home life, and the moving it's been thru as of late,and not to stress the bird more now with the process of giving it a bath,,,

This just came to me,,,
'Toos have that oil gland at the base of the tail ,correct? just wondering if there might be a problem along those lines,,,Watta you think Shirley?(and anyone else?)think it might be a infected/impacted oil gland problem?
ever hear of that?:shrug2: :confused: ( I know dogs can have problems with anal glands getting impacted,and having them needed to be expressed(a term vets use) Those problems will often give a odor problem related to the condition)
Kinda,sorta, related?dunno:confused:

[Islandzoo]

Yes, I was going to say the same, they smell like baby powder, almost perfumed kind of smell, certainly not nasty, quite nice!
as for the breath.. that's another matter, basil's breath smells like old cabbage sometimes!

[Shirley]

Jeff... you may be onto something with the preening gland.

Barb.. if you're concerned... a call to your avian vet is likely in order... just to be on the safe side. Let us know.

[amazing greys]

thanks, the preening glad looks fine. I think its the more of a musty smell more than anything. I do give him light mists everyday, and a good rinse once a week. He's not totally fond of a complete soaking, but does ok for me.

[Shirley]

Cockatoos have never smelled musty in my esperience. I'd at least ask your avian vet...

[Joe]

A musky smell is not normal for a Too. I suggest calling your vet and asking them this question. What are you feeding? Sometimes, food can trigger odd things to happen. Has this smell been present since you have had the bird?

[Shirley]

Agreed, except everytime our birds eat weird stuff, their breath smells funny, not their bodies.... You sure don't want a hidden fungal or skin bacterial infection...

[Jean]

Interesting conversation. Elvie smells refreshing like a clean baby.

Higgins, had a musty smell at first.He had never had a bath in years, and not one since he spent 2 years in a basement in dirty conditions. Now that you mention it, it could be a smell that came with him.:scratchch

You do not think coming from his breath? Garlic and some vegetables can cause bad breath.

[Jean]

I agree, It is something to ask your vet about.

[amazing greys]

well after talking to the vet, she had me look at a few things on Turk, everything looks good, and the preening gland is not an issue. After I cleaned/soaked his toys again yesterday, it seemed to help w/the musty smell. I think it was just his toys that held the musty smell in and rubbed off on him.



Turk decided to be funny today and get himself yuckie w/peanut butter, lol. I had him on the counter, getting ready to make my daughter a pb & j sandwich and opened the jar..........here comes Turk almost running to the peanutbutter, and b4 I could move it, his beak was in the jar :doh: LOL this bird looooooooves p.b, hehehee So, he's got some under his lower mandible and I try to hold him to wipe it off, and he screams like a little girl. It's not coming off good enough, and I can't really wrestle him and wipe, so I guess I need to wait for hubby to help :shrug:

I'm glad I got the ok to use Dawn dishsoap on him from the vet, lol, we'll see how a drop helps w/peanutbutter, roflol

My little peanutbutter stealing Turkey bird :nuts:

[Jean]

Barb, It had to be cute as heck, to watch Turkey peanut butter dive.:roflmao2: You are lucky he did not jelly dive after that. :rofl:

[amazing greys]

you should've seen him, he was like a maniac after it, roflol :roflmao2:



This is gonna be challenging to get pb out of feathers, hehehe

little bugger :p

[Jenell]

If I mist the birds and not shower, they smell like a strong fruity smell. The toos prefer the showers about every two to three days. My vet told me to use only water on all my birds. He said that he sees more birds that have been sprayed with different stuff. They use Dawn on the birds that are in the oil slicks, but I would use only water. If the smell is like baked bread, you might want to have him checked. Guys sorry to be so long in posting, but I got really ill. First time I have been sick in over a year. I am better but my poor fids could not understand the change. They seemed content today as the mama was doing all the caretaking and not the Daddy. ha.]

[Shirley]

Jenell, I'm sorry you've been feeling badly! :(

Great to see you back here! :tighthug:

I just saw my vet today about Skyler's feather picking, which barely started up again... at night only. :(

She instructed a super soaking shower 1-2 times a week, plain water, spritz daily, (using a bit of aloe vera in the spritz won't hurt, but not necessary, go very dilute with it)


One time per month I am to use a couple two or three drops of Dawn dish soap in a large bowl of water for his soaking shower... very dilute. She does this monthly with her M2, who never plucks, but she does it anyway, nothing to do with plucking.

[Jean]

Hi Janell, :wavey: I am sorry to hear you have been ill for the past year. I hope you are feeling better and on the mend. :tighthug:

[Sue]

Barb I love the peanut butter story:roflmao2:


Jennell sorry you have been ill, hope you're feeling better now.

Re the smell, I agree with everything said about it being a fresh powdery smell. It is the best smell in the world especially after a shower and if they've been in the fresh air.
I wish I could bottle it, i'd be a millionaire:roflmao2: :funny:

I have never used soap on Toto just water, I'm lucky in that he absolutely LOVES a really good soaking (see avatar):agree: so it's not difficult to get him clean, after all they don't use soap in the wild:funny:

[amazing greys]

ty all for the help ;)


He smells much better, lol, and now the p.b is gone too. I just used water and he kinda did the rest afterwards. Anything that was left dried and came off when he preened.

Janell, bummer you're sick, hope ya get well soon!!

Sue, isn't Turkeys name fitting, hehehehe I've never seen a bird run so fast, hehehe :p

[Jean]

[QUOTE][ by Sue] have never used soap on Toto just water, I'm lucky in that he absolutely LOVES a really good soaking (see avatar):agree: so it's not difficult to get him clean, after all they don't use soap in the wild:funny: [QUOTE] :bestpost:

Sue, our ancient ancestors did not use soap in the wild either.:roflmao2: :rotflmao: :rofl:

[Sue]

[QUOTE][ by Sue] have never used soap on Toto just water, I'm lucky in that he absolutely LOVES a really good soaking (see avatar):agree: so it's not difficult to get him clean, after all they don't use soap in the wild:funny: [QUOTE] :bestpost:

Sue, our ancient ancestors did not use soap in the wild either.:roflmao2: :rotflmao: :rofl:

:roflmao2: :roflmao2: Do you know about how the Japanese took baths and the English thought "how wierd" 15-1600's they used to wear powdered wigs to disguise the smell:yikes: