Cigarette Smoke

I have recently inherited two amazon parrots from my Mom who passed away, and my father no longer wanted to take care of them because they reminded him too much of my Mom (he's taking it very hard). My parents smoked like chimneys, and now the parrots smell like smoke horribly! I actually tried spray baths, and last night took them into the shower and washed them with a small amount of gentle bath wash and rinsed them good. They both still smell like cigarette smoke. I wiped down their cages, and the one cage seems in better shape and less smelly than the other (brass cage vs. a metal cage with some paint chipping off). I am beside myself, what else can I do to get the smoke smell off these birds??

Not much, you'll just have to wait for the smell to dissipate. If they bathe, that will get rid of the smell eventually, otherwise it'll just be patience. It could do more damage trying to "scrub 'em up" that allowing the scents and tars on their feathers to dissipate naturally.

Thank you Mike, its rough smelling that in my living room (I'm a non-smoker), but I really want them in a central location in the house so I need to tough it out. Has anyone ever used an air purifier, and does it work for smoke?

Welcome to the forum, and THANK YOU for taking in the 2 Amazons.

Time and money permitting, it might not be a bad idea to have both birds checked by an Avian vet. The long term nicotine exposure couldn't have been good for their health.

What type of Amazons are they?

You are welcome! My Mom loved the birds, and really wanted them to have a good home. I was reluctant because I already have 7 birds, but believe that I am carrying out her wishes because I treat my birds like they are my children (one senegal, two cockatiels, and four parakeets).

I do plan on having a vet look at them Tuesday evening, and clipping their wings and nails to help with training (also so I don't keep getting punctured when they dig in my skin)! They are yellow naped Amazons. The one is a female - 20 years old, and the other is male - 23 years old.

You could try putting some dishes of bicarb in the room. There's also stuff called nilodor which kills smells (one drop), but you'd need to check out whether it is ok to use around birds or whether you'd need to take them out to do the room.

I got four cockatiels out of a situation where the parents were chain smokers. The cage was supposed to be an off-white color... maybe like an eggshell cream like color? But it was so covered in nicotine that it was yellow! Needless to say, that cage went into the shower where-in it was cleaned with bleach, rinsed, cleaned with vinegar, rinsed, cleaned with soap and rinsed again! I was scared by the fact the cage changed colors! It was nasty!


With the birds, I just bathed them. I have used dish soap on a bird before, but that was because she got into a pan of (cold) oil. There are also bird shampoos out there that you could use. Honestly, something like Dawn dish soap diluted into a bottle of water and spray it on them, staying away from the head region, then rinsing them off would probably be much cheaper than buying the bird shampoos. Then after that, just using plain water!!!!

Soap can dry out their skin and remove the oils from their feathers so it's not really good to use it frequently, if at all!