[AthenaBianca]

Need advice regarding my tiel.

my cockatiel has literally been to **** & back. after adobting him we came to find out he had a long list of problems from bumblefoot to wounds in his underarm. the vet prescribed him a cream for his wounds & it heals it but leaves my teil sooo greasy & dirty. covered in gunk which is stuck in his feathers & i know alot of people say just leave him he will take care of it himself. well i have for over a month & it only gets worse. hes greasy & dry & because of the gunk hes pulling out his feathers. but the gunk remains on remaining feathers & when the new onesgrow in they get destroyed as well. so yeahh he needs to be washed. a real good wash. what can i use. i tried spraying him everyday with water mister & it hasnt worked. so yeah let me know. thanks bunches.

 

[tielfan]

It would be helpful to call the vet and ask what he/she recommends. The vet knows more about the health of the bird than we do, and also knows what kind of cream you're using and whether there's a good way to clean it off the bird.

Is it possible that you're using too much of the cream, and that using less would help the wounds without getting gunk all over the bird? The vet could answer this question too.

 

[AthenaBianca]

ive gone thru 3 vets & to be honest i dont trust them at all. the first vet gave me a cream that was toxic for the bird. the 2nd said thete was nothing wrong with him & i knew he had bumble foot & the 3rd hasnt returned my call. we dont put much cream on him because we are trying to avoid it from getting his feathers greasy. soo yeah thats why im hoping someone been thru this before. thanks for replying to my thread. it is much appreciate .

 

[tielfan]

Can you post pictures of the bird? We can tell more about his condition if we can see him, and maybe someone here will be able to give advice.

Dawn dishwashing liquid is considered to be the best thing for cleaning up a bird that needs to be washed for health reasons when plain water isn't enough to get the job done. Wildlife rescuers use it to clean up birds that have been trapped in an oil spill. But if you do this you will need to rinse very very thoroughly, because it's much harder to rinse it out of feathers than it is to rinse it off of human skin.

 

[AthenaBianca]

ive read about dawn but wanted to ask for advice first just to make sure. i am including 2 pics. you can see his bareback which he has pulled his feathers out after trying to clean them i guess he just gave up . you can see the gunk stuck in.his feathers.

 

[AthenaBianca]

in the 2nd pic you can see some of his feathers coming back in but they are getting greasy & nasty from the already dirty ones.

 

[tielfan]

You do need to wash him because there are health issues with feathers that dirty. Besides the fact that it's making him pluck, a greasy oily feather loses its insulating properties so he won't be able to keep himself warm if the room temperature cools off.

Try to avoid traumatizing him too much while you wash him of course, and especially try to avoid getting soap and water in his eyes and nose. Be sure the room is nice and warm so he doesn't get chilled while he's drying off. Some birds like being dried with a hair dryer, but if you go that route be careful that it isn't too hot and avoid blowing directly on the bare skin.

Are you still using the cream or has that part of the treatment ended? Once he's been cleaned up it's obviously desirable to prevent him from getting so messy again, and that could be difficult if he still needs the cream.

 

[AthenaBianca]

he no longer uses the cream for his underarm wound. im gonna go out & bye some dawn & attempt to bath him. hes sooo delicate . & when the weather is above 95 degree ill wash him then. hes a biter, wish us luck. i will ofcourse update & put up pics just incase someone runs into the same problem. thank you tielfan for all the help .

 

[Donivan2009]

Oh, your poor baby! He is lucky to have such a caring owner! I would try the dawn too, as others have already stated. When I adopted my two girls, they were pretty badly neglected, and were covered in droppings that were nated into their feathers. I used dawn to loosen up all the gunk and wash them clean! Good luck, and please keep us posted with updates and pictures when you can! I will be thinking about you guys!
Luna and JayJay say hi!

 

[Fortunate]

shame poor little thing!
I had the same with Tori bu not to this level - i wet my fingers everytime i went to play with her, to loosen the cream from the feathers, they still a bith stained but not greasy anymore.
I know that talc powder or baby powder absorbs grease - i dont know if it will help or harm your baby - maybe a more experienced member can help with that.....

Good luck!

 

[tielfan]

hes a biter, wish us luck.

I've never washed a bird with soap so I'm no expert on the subject. But if I had to do it, I would drape the bird with a washcloth or small towel and put him in the water. The towel will help protect your fingers from the bites, and it might be helpful for gently rubbing the soap and water into the feathers. Feathers come out more easily when they're wet so no hard scrubbing.

Dawn is generally considered to be the best birdie wash, but baby shampoo is also an acceptable option.

 

[AthenaBianca]

thanks for all the support. our wonka is just so fragile its too hard. we are working on his bumblefoot & n time that will heal up. its already looking promising. but today i discovered he nipped at his underarm yet again & caused it to bleed. soo i wont be able to bath him until that wound has closed. apart of me is ready to call up a bird rescue & offer them 200 bucks to bath his & get all that gunk off. i doubt they would .we have cat & dog groomers, lol i need a bird groomer. i dont trust the vet as far as i could throw em so thats outta the question. i pray in time he will get better. he has a brother & sister tiel who are dying to play w. him thank you all for your support. i will update when something comes up

 

[AthenaBianca]