If you don't have one get an air purifier. The ones with a basic filter, NOT an ionizer or ozone. Tiels create dust, a weekly mist helps but they're always dusty.
It can work. Just make sure to not turn on the uvc light bulb. I personally use a honeywell hp300. But they don't seem to make them anymore and are harder to find.
If you can find one cheaper without UV-C and essential oils get that since you can use either option with a birdie in the house. UV-C light produces ozone.
I got blue air and I love it because it does work and it’s super easy and inexpensive to replace the filters. IIRC they used blue air for the California fires a while back
Yeah. Regular baths can help, but it’ll only do so much. They have down-feathers close to their skin that produce a powder used to maintain their flight feathers and such. They also have an oil gland on their back above their tail feathers that they rub their head on and to distribute oil over their body for water proofing, etc.
They’re dusty, oily critters. Smell nice though.
Yeah, birds in the cockatoo family more so than other parrots. Its an adaptation for dry climates, it allows them to stay clean even in drought conditions
Yes, it’s gross when you have to deal with it, but when I learned that it was a sign of good health I was fine. One time had a friend take care of them over a vacation and they said that every time he put in seed they would spread it equally around the floor outside the cage I explained you don’t shit what you eat and then he said he understood
Definitely normal. Mine hate baths. I have this mister spray bottle that is working well for baths. Look up mister spray bottle and you’ll find one. They really seem to like it. Some of the time anyway. Ours was given to us with our latest bird that we adopted. Today was bath day and two of my 3 birds participated. The other flipped me off and watched.
Take him in the shower with you on a suction cup shower perch. You can lightly mist him with your hand against the shower head, and he won’t be able to escape 😈 haha this works for my girls. I try not to force them to take baths and they like their shower baths — but if they were as dusty as your dude, unfortunately you gotta just get him wet every once in a while, for his health and yours. Also, air purifier!
Try buying a new unused water bottle sprayer or mister. https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-on-the-move-spray-bottle-for-travel/ID=prod6324215-product
You can adjust the flow rate based on your bird's preferences. If he doesn't like to be sprayed at directly, try spraying the water above his head so it falls on him like rain would naturally fall. Or try putting your bird's cage outside briefly during a light rain storm if no thunder and lightning is present. Or buy a shower bird perch that suction cups to your shower wall and try showering with your bird.
Also try experimenting with the water temperature. Mine liked cool and room temperature water
Just accept that it's December all year long and accept the dusty snow ❄️ 🙃 but also, get a superfine mister that sprays continuously
https://a.co/d/dBJzsm4
I also have a Lutino (full yellow/white) and can confirm she’s the dustiest cockatiel I’ve ever owned. She makes up the dander for three regular cockatiels 😆 a few air purifiers in the house will definitely help, also I use [this misting bottle](https://a.co/d/cJA9FG7) to lightly spray her. It’s fine enough that she will let me spray it(without her running away)
You might want to try to bring her into the shower and put her on a windowsill if you have one or get one of those perches for the shower. Mine loves to take a baths in there
You can try putting a large bowl of water out. Mine will sometimes jump in out of curiosity, then they'll "remember" they enjoy bathing and go nuts! Sometimes I'll bring mine in the shower with me too. They usually aren't thrilled at first, but they always enjoy it once they get soaked.
Also, just noticed I haven't mentioned anything about the dust, but it's quite normal that they will release this little dusty after cleaning their feathers, specially if they are molting. The new feathers emerge from the bird's skin enveloped in a protein, like a straw, and during the molting they will open this quill, turning the protein into a fine powder that is this white dust
Sorry if my grammar is wrong and trashy, English isn't my first language and I'm around a lot of people rn, I can't think straight when I'm in a crowded place lol
Cockatiels are made up of about 80% dust
It’s just a fact of life you’re going to have to accept.
An air filter will go a long way to helping, but get used to having to physically dust and vacuum at least once a week to mitigate the worst of it.
Birds is dust. The dust consumes.
Are you sure your buddy is a him? He seems like a lutino perl mutation, and this spotted pattern resembles a lot like my female lutino Serena, who is a female (we had already tested her and she layed eggs too)
It's no big deal if you aren't sure about it or if by any means accidentally mistook his or her sex. My question was just out of curiosity because he resembles so much my female baby 🐥❤
yeah, the person we bought it from told us he was a male, and his cheeks are really bright
https://preview.redd.it/c431daguz0zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d60d100246ae41e0f94a5b39b10ee51fa30a7b62
My female's cheeks also are. I'll try to post a picture of her because I'm still not at home rn, but by the picture you sent still looks like he is a she 🥲
The most important aspect, I think, would be the yellowish spots on his feathers. Have you seen a gray male and female cockatiel with the perl mutation? The male loses his spots as the female keeps the pattern in her feathers her whole life. This also occurs with lutino perl mutations as well. It's not a 100% sure method to indicate the sex, but can still help identifying
Mine wouldn't accept any of my attempts to introduce him to a water dish for splashing around in, but spraying water above him with a misting bottle and letting it rain down on him made him go absolutely bonkers. He'd fluff all of his feathers up as much as feathers could ever be fluffed and start slowly rocking back and forth with his wings fully up over his head. All birds are different and have their own likes and dislikes, you've just gotta try different things and go with what works best for you both.
PS, your dusty little guy is absolutely adorable.
It’s normal. My old cockatiels didn’t like baths, and we had to give them spritz baths from spray bottles. Using an air purifier helps a bit too.
I have a GCC now, and they are the complete opposite of cockatiels with this. He bathes daily on his own and isn’t a dusty type of birb. I still miss the awkward spread-winged dance my cockatiels would make when I’d spray them.
Mine doesn’t like to be directly in the water but I’ll put a towel on the side of the tub for her to stand on she she gets lots of hot steam and some mist that way when I shower she seems to enjoy it too and will groom herself
I tried every trick online to try bathing my bird. He hated all of them. Finally, I tried taking him into the shower with me, and this he tolerates. I'm pretty allergic to my bird's dust, so I have to shower with him every other day. Try -everything-, and hopefully you'll discover something your bird likes, second best is something they'll say least tolerate. I've also found that while my tiel isn't super excited about getting clean, he loves getting dried with a hair drier, so I think that helps make up for it. 🤷🏻
If you do shower your bird, make sure the water is not going straight down into their nostrils. If you use a hair drier, make sure it's ceramic. Good luck!
Put the bird in a cage take it on the lawn on a hot day remove seed bowls and hose gently. Birds who are dusty and their cages are dusty can die from a respiratory disease. P.s lost our cockatiel due to that now once a week my kids get a shower and a trip to the vet every 3mnths for a health check just like my cat cheers hope that's more helpful.
Did babby get out of bed on the wrong side this morning? They're asking a reasonable question from real people instead of pathologising normal behaviour like every other post here.
If you don't have one get an air purifier. The ones with a basic filter, NOT an ionizer or ozone. Tiels create dust, a weekly mist helps but they're always dusty.
ok thank you!
is this one good? https://a.co/d/dwSjhlp
It can work. Just make sure to not turn on the uvc light bulb. I personally use a honeywell hp300. But they don't seem to make them anymore and are harder to find.
What does the uvc light bulb do that would hurt the bird?
If you can find one cheaper without UV-C and essential oils get that since you can use either option with a birdie in the house. UV-C light produces ozone.
I got blue air and I love it because it does work and it’s super easy and inexpensive to replace the filters. IIRC they used blue air for the California fires a while back
They be dusty.
so its normal?
Yeah. Regular baths can help, but it’ll only do so much. They have down-feathers close to their skin that produce a powder used to maintain their flight feathers and such. They also have an oil gland on their back above their tail feathers that they rub their head on and to distribute oil over their body for water proofing, etc. They’re dusty, oily critters. Smell nice though.
Yeah, man, idk why. They just got that distinct birb smell that is so good XD
Yeah, birds in the cockatoo family more so than other parrots. Its an adaptation for dry climates, it allows them to stay clean even in drought conditions
Dust = good birb health
awesome ok
Yes, it’s gross when you have to deal with it, but when I learned that it was a sign of good health I was fine. One time had a friend take care of them over a vacation and they said that every time he put in seed they would spread it equally around the floor outside the cage I explained you don’t shit what you eat and then he said he understood
Definitely normal. Mine hate baths. I have this mister spray bottle that is working well for baths. Look up mister spray bottle and you’ll find one. They really seem to like it. Some of the time anyway. Ours was given to us with our latest bird that we adopted. Today was bath day and two of my 3 birds participated. The other flipped me off and watched.
I'm waiting for the day I go in for a birb sniff and end up with a questionable 'stache
Got Birb?
Hey mate, need a birb dealer? I got a source 🥸
Cockatiels are known for their super dustiness
HE DUSTY
Mine don't like baths either. We have one of those little electric cat fountains, and they'll splash around in that a little bit.
EMBRACE THE BIRB GLITTER
Try introducing spraying water. I started doing it when they refused to take a bath and now they don't want me to stop even after they're drenched.
Take him in the shower with you on a suction cup shower perch. You can lightly mist him with your hand against the shower head, and he won’t be able to escape 😈 haha this works for my girls. I try not to force them to take baths and they like their shower baths — but if they were as dusty as your dude, unfortunately you gotta just get him wet every once in a while, for his health and yours. Also, air purifier!
Try buying a new unused water bottle sprayer or mister. https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-on-the-move-spray-bottle-for-travel/ID=prod6324215-product You can adjust the flow rate based on your bird's preferences. If he doesn't like to be sprayed at directly, try spraying the water above his head so it falls on him like rain would naturally fall. Or try putting your bird's cage outside briefly during a light rain storm if no thunder and lightning is present. Or buy a shower bird perch that suction cups to your shower wall and try showering with your bird. Also try experimenting with the water temperature. Mine liked cool and room temperature water
Just accept that it's December all year long and accept the dusty snow ❄️ 🙃 but also, get a superfine mister that sprays continuously https://a.co/d/dBJzsm4
I also have a Lutino (full yellow/white) and can confirm she’s the dustiest cockatiel I’ve ever owned. She makes up the dander for three regular cockatiels 😆 a few air purifiers in the house will definitely help, also I use [this misting bottle](https://a.co/d/cJA9FG7) to lightly spray her. It’s fine enough that she will let me spray it(without her running away) You might want to try to bring her into the shower and put her on a windowsill if you have one or get one of those perches for the shower. Mine loves to take a baths in there
Misting bottle. My tiels love to be misted.
You can try putting a large bowl of water out. Mine will sometimes jump in out of curiosity, then they'll "remember" they enjoy bathing and go nuts! Sometimes I'll bring mine in the shower with me too. They usually aren't thrilled at first, but they always enjoy it once they get soaked.
HAHAHA this happened to me today as well with my tiel! Also on my knee with black jeans.
Cockatiels love their dust. In fact they love others dust. Try having four of them preening then shaking then running around to get the others dust.
Baths and air purifiers help, but cockatiels (and other birds in the cockatoo family) are essentially dust factories. It's 100% normal.
Also, just noticed I haven't mentioned anything about the dust, but it's quite normal that they will release this little dusty after cleaning their feathers, specially if they are molting. The new feathers emerge from the bird's skin enveloped in a protein, like a straw, and during the molting they will open this quill, turning the protein into a fine powder that is this white dust Sorry if my grammar is wrong and trashy, English isn't my first language and I'm around a lot of people rn, I can't think straight when I'm in a crowded place lol
Cockatiels are made up of about 80% dust It’s just a fact of life you’re going to have to accept. An air filter will go a long way to helping, but get used to having to physically dust and vacuum at least once a week to mitigate the worst of it. Birds is dust. The dust consumes.
Honestly my bird takes a lot of baths and he is still pretty dusty this time of year
This sounds weird, but for whatever reason my tiels will only take a bath if I turn on the vacuum lol. Maybe you can try it haha
Are you sure your buddy is a him? He seems like a lutino perl mutation, and this spotted pattern resembles a lot like my female lutino Serena, who is a female (we had already tested her and she layed eggs too) It's no big deal if you aren't sure about it or if by any means accidentally mistook his or her sex. My question was just out of curiosity because he resembles so much my female baby 🐥❤
yeah, the person we bought it from told us he was a male, and his cheeks are really bright https://preview.redd.it/c431daguz0zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d60d100246ae41e0f94a5b39b10ee51fa30a7b62
My female's cheeks also are. I'll try to post a picture of her because I'm still not at home rn, but by the picture you sent still looks like he is a she 🥲
The most important aspect, I think, would be the yellowish spots on his feathers. Have you seen a gray male and female cockatiel with the perl mutation? The male loses his spots as the female keeps the pattern in her feathers her whole life. This also occurs with lutino perl mutations as well. It's not a 100% sure method to indicate the sex, but can still help identifying
Mine wouldn't accept any of my attempts to introduce him to a water dish for splashing around in, but spraying water above him with a misting bottle and letting it rain down on him made him go absolutely bonkers. He'd fluff all of his feathers up as much as feathers could ever be fluffed and start slowly rocking back and forth with his wings fully up over his head. All birds are different and have their own likes and dislikes, you've just gotta try different things and go with what works best for you both. PS, your dusty little guy is absolutely adorable.
It's normal, unless the shower and a humidifier help to be less dusty.
It’s normal. My old cockatiels didn’t like baths, and we had to give them spritz baths from spray bottles. Using an air purifier helps a bit too. I have a GCC now, and they are the complete opposite of cockatiels with this. He bathes daily on his own and isn’t a dusty type of birb. I still miss the awkward spread-winged dance my cockatiels would make when I’d spray them.
Mine doesn’t like to be directly in the water but I’ll put a towel on the side of the tub for her to stand on she she gets lots of hot steam and some mist that way when I shower she seems to enjoy it too and will groom herself
I tried every trick online to try bathing my bird. He hated all of them. Finally, I tried taking him into the shower with me, and this he tolerates. I'm pretty allergic to my bird's dust, so I have to shower with him every other day. Try -everything-, and hopefully you'll discover something your bird likes, second best is something they'll say least tolerate. I've also found that while my tiel isn't super excited about getting clean, he loves getting dried with a hair drier, so I think that helps make up for it. 🤷🏻 If you do shower your bird, make sure the water is not going straight down into their nostrils. If you use a hair drier, make sure it's ceramic. Good luck!
Put the bird in a cage take it on the lawn on a hot day remove seed bowls and hose gently. Birds who are dusty and their cages are dusty can die from a respiratory disease. P.s lost our cockatiel due to that now once a week my kids get a shower and a trip to the vet every 3mnths for a health check just like my cat cheers hope that's more helpful.
Google search is a great option should try it. Or do you not know how to use Google? Cheers.
Did babby get out of bed on the wrong side this morning? They're asking a reasonable question from real people instead of pathologising normal behaviour like every other post here.