Preening gland problems

[Kurebird]

Hi, this is my first post so let me know if I am doing anything wrong! Yesterday I noticed my ggc smelling weird. I have narrowed down the smell to her preening gland/uropygial gland. I have checked her mouth and no smell so its not a yeast infection and after a bath the smell is very clearly coming from her preening gland. However I looked at it and it doesn't seem to be impacted; not swollen that I can tell and there is no visible build up, just stink. Has anyone had an experience with sudden change of preening oil smell? She just turned two so I am thinking it may be puberty but I can't find any information saying that is something that happens during puberty. Any advice is welcome, I am trying to figure out if it warrants an immediate vet visit or if i should wait it out and see. Thanks!

 

[Zara]

Hello,

Sorry, I don't know the answer, but personally if the smell was a bad smell, I would go to the vet and have the gland looked at for my own peace of mind...

 

[Pixiebeaks]

Does it smell yeasty?
Nit related to the preen gland , but once my GCC Ta-dah has a systemic or feather yeast infection. She smelled aweful, whén i gut her to the vets they treated her for it and cured her right quick .

 

[Kurebird]

Its not quite yeasty... more like musty or like dirty dog. It smells better after she has a bath but it comes back after a bit so I figure its the oil after she spreads it around on her feathers. I got her an appointment but there were none available until the week after next. She doesn't seem affected at all, and I am not really sure what to do in the meantime. (also ta-dah is a great name!)

 

[Pixiebeaks]

It should be fine too your appointment.
What's her diet ? To much sugary fruit can allow yeast overgrowth.
If that's what it is . Preen juice shouldn't really smell . I have never noticed anything.

 

[choplady]

Im not sure about the preening gland but I do know that my girl starts to smell ripe...kinda musty...if she goes more than a couple of days without a shower.

 

[Kurebird]

It should be fine too your appointment.
What's her diet ? To much sugary fruit can allow yeast overgrowth.
If that's what it is . Preen juice shouldn't really smell . I have never noticed anything.

She has a tbs zupreem natural pellets and a bowl of chop (carrots, red peppers, peas, and broccoli) in the morning and evening. Fruit is mostly a treat, the occasional apple bit or grape. I do live with my parents, they may be giving her too many dried papayas? That is her favorite treat. I will talk to them about it and see if it changes anything... I know it shouldn't be smelling, I've been scouring the internet on what it could possible be and its the best hypothesis I could come up with :/

 

[Kurebird]

Sorry it is such a weird situation and thank you for taking the time to respond. It helps so much to be able to ask about these things instead of falling down the rabbit hole of all the possible things that could be wrong

 

[Pixiebeaks]

You could have a weird preen gland issue, we aren't there smelling it !!
But it is good you aren't seeing any redness or feeling heat or seeing swelling. No indication of pain by plucking feathers around it .
It's just more common from my experience, that it's yeasty feathers . But birds can have many things , that's why we share !
I'm not a fan of wet bird smell lol , maybe we can hope it's wet bird ? Or we can hope you have a super sniffer.

But any weirdness definitely best to have a board certificatified avian veterinarian check it out . Then come back and educate us !

I think we can all commiserate about worrying about our very special birds

 

[Kurebird]

I will update ya'll after the vet! I am really curious to know what it is myself, thanks for your support.