Stinky

[ethanol]

Im not sure I’m correct in saying this but my sun conures breath stinks. Im usually chill with him just “grooming” my nose and mouth area but now everytime he gets close I just cant stand the smell.

Now it could just be him because he refuses all bathing options besides his food bowl …. while he also dunks every piece of food in there so its not clean water when he does it.

All this to say - if it can be breath is there a remedy? Or if its just his overall stink how can I coerce him to like other bathing options.

(side note - kinda weird but just last night i was sniffing the top of his head and it was fine but the mouth region got that stank)

 

[hiriki]

Ok so birds should not stink. Bathing is important but it's mostly going to help keep dust levels low and feathers healthy. A bird who does not bathe should not stink.

Since you're noticing it when your bird tries to preen you, is the stink coming from your birds beak? I would be immediately concerned about a bacterial infection. Even bird poop should be relatively odorless... a stinky bird is a really bad sign.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I agree with Hiriki. Probably not a good sign. In my experience, It could also be related to what your bird ate very recently.

When my tiel steals a few bites of my food, it smells kind of like that food for a short period of time, with the smell of pellets, but his breath isn’t stanky.

But like I said, it has to be very recent, as in my experience it doesn’t last long. This sounds like it’s 24/7 for you, which probably isn’t good.

 

[Jcas]

I Agree with above posters, stinky breath is very likely an indication of some sort of infection in the mouth or crop which needs to be treated. I’ve never known a healthy bird to have bad breath.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Im not sure I’m correct in saying this but my sun conures breath stinks. Im usually chill with him just “grooming” my nose and mouth area but now everytime he gets close I just cant stand the smell.

Now it could just be him because he refuses all bathing options besides his food bowl …. while he also dunks every piece of food in there so its not clean water when he does it.

All this to say - if it can be breath is there a remedy? Or if its just his overall stink how can I coerce him to like other bathing options.

(side note - kinda weird but just last night i was sniffing the top of his head and it was fine but the mouth region got that stank)

I've never heard of a bird with BO or bad breath. Dirty cages can certainly start to smell bad, but birds are almost odor free. I would most definitely bring your bird to an avian vet to get a medical evaluation and opinion.

 

[ethanol]

I've never heard of a bird with BO or bad breath. Dirty cages can certainly start to smell bad, but birds are almost odor free. I would most definitely bring your bird to an avian vet to get a medical evaluation and opinion.

oh gosh ok thanks

 

[ethanol]

Ok so birds should not stink. Bathing is important but it's mostly going to help keep dust levels low and feathers healthy. A bird who does not bathe should not stink.

Since you're noticing it when your bird tries to preen you, is the stink coming from your birds beak? I would be immediately concerned about a bacterial infection. Even bird poop should be relatively odorless... a stinky bird is a really bad sign.

definitely from his beak … will be calling up my vet

 

[ethanol]

I agree with Hiriki. Probably not a good sign. In my experience, It could also be related to what your bird ate very recently.

When my tiel steals a few bites of my food, it smells kind of like that food for a short period of time, with the smell of pellets, but his breath isn’t stanky.

But like I said, it has to be very recent, as in my experience it doesn’t last long. This sounds like it’s 24/7 for you, which probably isn’t good.

he did have some jalapeños but it’s definitely more than that cause i noticed it before he ate that - will be contacting my vet

 

[ethanol]

Ok so birds should not stink. Bathing is important but it's mostly going to help keep dust levels low and feathers healthy. A bird who does not bathe should not stink.

Since you're noticing it when your bird tries to preen you, is the stink coming from your birds beak? I would be immediately concerned about a bacterial infection. Even bird poop should be relatively odorless... a stinky bird is a really bad sign.

just wanted to come back and say thank you and everyone that replied - just went to the vet and he had food stuck in his crop - i had no idea but now i do

 

[DonnaBudgie]

just wanted to come back and say thank you and everyone that replied - just went to the vet and he had food stuck in his crop - i had no idea but now i do

How are they treating this condition?

 

[ethanol]

How are they treating this condition?

cleared out the waste and giving him an antibacterial medication

 

[DonnaBudgie]

cleared out the waste and giving him an antibacterial medication

I hope he's feeling better and his breath becomes parrot-sweet once again!

 

[Jobaby]

Im not sure I’m correct in saying this but my sun conures breath stinks. Im usually chill with him just “grooming” my nose and mouth area but now everytime he gets close I just cant stand the smell.

Now it could just be him because he refuses all bathing options besides his food bowl …. while he also dunks every piece of food in there so its not clean water when he does it.

All this to say - if it can be breath is there a remedy? Or if its just his overall stink how can I coerce him to like other bathing options.

(side note - kinda weird but just last night i was sniffing the top of his head and it was fine but the mouth region got that stank)

My Superb has fish breath but not bad enough I can't get near him. His breath has a light fish smell. His is the only one (of 4) that's like that. I am thinking it's just him.

 

[ethanol]

My Superb has fish breath but not bad enough I can't get near him. His breath has a light fish smell. His is the only one (of 4) that's like that. I am thinking it's just him.

Id definitely get it checked out! My conures breath started stinky but manageable until I had to constantly get him off me. He’s now on antibiotics and the vet said that a smelly bird = vet visit

 

[Jobaby]

Id definitely get it checked out! My conures breath started stinky but manageable until I had to constantly get him off me. He’s now on antibiotics and the vet said that a smelly bird = vet visit

He's going, thanks!