Cockatiel smells like wet bird when dry? Smelly boy

[RebeccaZM]

Hello all! I hope this is the correct place to post this! I'll post it on Cockatiel Corner as well. My cockatiel Obi-Wan has begun to smell like wet bird recently, even when he's dry, but it is definitely more pronounced when he is wet, downright stinky during bath time. Before this he had that lovely powdery-sweet (addictive) cockatiel scent. I took him to the vet around August 27th and everything checked out as normal, but no tests were done because we believe it may have been a combination of an old bag of food he was eating (pellets) and the onset of puberty. Obi is about to turn 10 months old and has definitely started showing signs of adolescence- less cuddly, attacked me a few times, cranky/temper tantrums, and has lost most of his pearls, (male white-faced pearl). I wipe down his cage once a week and deep clean everything once a month. He likes a few veggies and I'm working on transitioning him to a combination of pellets and chop. He gets fresh water and food every day and I'm incorporating more baths into our weekly routine. A few sources I found stated that sometimes birds can become smelly due to hormone changes from puberty or breeding season. Other than that he acts normal and chipper, his breath smells sweet which it always has done (I got him Jan. 19) and since the smell is coming from his feathers his avian vet doesn't believe it is crop-related.

Could it just be adolescence and hormones? The birdy equivalent of teenage B.O.?

Thank you in advance!

 

[expressmailtome]

I have never heard of hormones making a cockatiel smell. The only birds that I have heard of this happening in are amazons and pionus parrots.

 

[Coelle]

Interesting; I don’t have much experience but I didn’t notice a smell when Nibbler went through puberty. He smells like wet dog when he has a bath, is it this type of smell?

I feel like it’s reassuring that your avian vet gave him the all clear during his visit, though I do think it would be wise to keep an eye on him just in case.

I’d be interested to hear what some more experience members have to say about it though.