My parrotlet smells

[danadee44]

I am new to birds in general and very new to parrotlets, I have only had my little guys a week or so. My question is, Fric has an odour, he also has a bald little chest when I seperate the feathers. I checked Frac's chest and he is not bald there. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much.:(

[drab91]

Is his bum clean?? and maybe a picture of the chest would help a bit...
Try to explain this "odor"
Of course a vet visit can never hurt if you know there is a problem.

[danadee44]

No sorry I should have been more clear, My boys are very clean and freshly bathed. This is not a fecal smell. It is very hard to explain, More of a musky kind of scent, not overly offensive. Do parrotlets release scent for any reason? Fright, intimidation, ect.? Also his chest protrudes out further than my other one and he is bald in the crop area, I will try to take a picture but he is not that trusting of me yet. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Could this be a crop infection or is this normal. He is not acting ill but I have read it takes a while for illness to show in these little guys. Thanks so much.

[YWallpaper]

You should bring them to a wellness exam anyway, so I would schedule that as soon as you can.

[Pado]

Amazons have a natural musky odor to them but I haven't heard of any Parrotlets having this. Mine don't. I don't know why their crop area would be bald either.

I agree, a call to an Certified Avian Vet may be in order - at least ask them over the phone for their opinion.

http://caiquecrazycapers.5gbfree.com/parrot-illness.html
This site shows swelling in the crop area as a sign of illness - swelling could cause the feathers to separate giving the appearance of being bald - if it was me, I'd call my vet

Good Luck - let us know how this turns out.

[Buddy's Mom]

My husband often says our Parrotlet, Buddy smells like a chicken. He was very involved with 4H as a kid and often worked in the Poultry barn. So, I'm taking his word for it. But, i do know the musky scent you're talking about. I think it's very common. It does seem to be less noticeable once we give him a bath. Hope this helps.

[LyndaM]

I think I know what you're talking about as well. Though, I think part of it has to do with the smell of their seed mix...

[Koki]

My birds do have a, 'bird' smell. It's noting offensive. Sometimes I can smell their meal on them.

Bird'd feathers do not grow evenly from all over the body like mammal's hair. All feathers are grouped into 'feather tracts.' The feathers cover the body, but grow from specific areas, so much of a birds body under the feather covering does not have quills coming from that part of the body.

[cute_lil_fiend]

Jelly smells "like a chicken", but I can only tell when I get up close and personal, and take a big whiff. There's nothing I can think of (soap would probably not be a good idea LOL, neither would Febreeze) that would remove the smell, so I accept and love him, smell and all. I guess like us (we can't smell ourselves obviously) they have an individual scent. It's not too noticeable and I'm not bothered by it...oh well.

[Sally]

It is called bird huffing, ha. Chipper smells like clean clothes right out of the dryer. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Sally11/dream.jpg

[Kumiko]

Kiwi has a bald spot under his beak... it doesnt show, but it has a bit of baby feathers growing in that area, so the little bald spot is covering up, but, still, he is bald i nthe crop area, I would believe to be right underneath the beak

[chapala]

I don't think the crop is right underneath the beak. Most parrots have a bare spot there.