Do Budgies Smell Bad? (9 Interesting Facts)

If you are considering adopting a budgie as a pet, one of the questions you may be having is as to whether budgies smell bad. There are also those who may want to know whether budgies smell bad out of pure curiosity. Read on, for answers.

Do budgies smell bad? Budgies generally don’t produce body odor, and they also have a rather poor sense of smell. What they actually smell like may depend on what they feed on: for instance, if they feed on a seed mix, they may have a citrus smell.

If your budgie smells bad, it may be a sign of a health problem. Or it may be a sign of poor hygiene: like, for instance, where a budgie smells fishy on account of always being in a cage that is never cleaned.

What Are Budgies Supposed To Smell Like?

In answering the do budgies smell bad question, perhaps a good place to start would be by figuring out what budgies are supposed to smell like. Only then would we get the background information that we need, in order to answer the do budgies smell bad question properly.

So, indeed, what are budgies supposed to smell like? The answer is that, for the most part, what budgies smell like depends on what they eat. It may also depend on what they happen to rub their heads on.

For instance, if a budgie feeds on a seed mix, it is likely to end up with some citrus smell. Similarly, if a budgie feeds on fruits and vegetables, it may end up having a sweet fruity aroma.

But what if, for instance, the budgie happens to roll its head on spoiled milk (in its cage’s substrate)? In that case it may end up acquiring spoiled milk smell.

And what if you are a smoker, and you usually smoke in the area around the budgie’s cage? In this case, the smell may percolate into the budgie’s feathers. Ultimately, the budgie may end up with a cigarette smell…

The most important thing to know about budgies is that they, unlike us, generally don’t produce a body odor. That is with the exception of the mating seasons, during which the males may emit some scent to attract the females. Even then, it is mostly a pleasant smell.

Worth noting is the fact that even budgie poop doesn’t smell! That is unless you allow it to say in the budgie cage for so long that bacteria infiltrates it. But at the time when it comes out of the budgie, it doesn’t smell.

Do Budgies Have A Sense Of Smell?

To put it differently, are budgies sensitive to smell?

The answer is yes. Budgies do seem to have a sense of smell. But it is a poor sense of smell. Most avian scientists agree that the sense of smell in budgies is poorer than humans’ sense of smell.

Now in comparison to most other animals, human sense of smell is considered to be relatively poor. So you can imagine how poor budgie ‘s sense of smell is: if it is actually poorer than our (humans) already relatively bad sense of smell.

All in all, budgies do have a sense of smell – but it is a poor one.

Do Budgies Smell Bad?

By default, budgies don’t produce a body odor. This is why, in answering the question on what do budgies smell like, we usually point out that they usually smell like what they eat. Or what they roll their heads on.

An instance of budgies smelling like what they eat is where, upon regularly eating seed mixes, budgies end up having a (pleasant) citrus smell.

And an instance of budgies smelling like what they roll their heads on is where they acquire spoiled milk smell, upon rolling their heads in substrate with spoiled milk.

They may also adopt smell from their surroundings. For instance, if someone often smokes around the budgie cage, the budgies may start having some sort of cigarette smell.

On the whole, budgies smell good. This is because they absorb the smell from the foods they eat, from what they roll their heads on or from their environments. And all these are usually pleasant smells.

Indeed, this is what often leads people to wonder, why do budgies smell so good?

Yet there are cases where you notice that, without a doubt, your budgie smells bad. This is what leads someone to wonder: do budgies smell bad? Or more specifically, why does my budgie smell bad?

Seeing that budgies are more or less akin to parakeets, some people may frame the question as: do parakeets stink?

Others even go further, and seeing that budgies are pet birds, frame the question as: do pet birds smell bad?

The true position is that budgies, by default, don’t smell bad. In the cases where you notice a bad smell coming from a budgie, it is likely to be due to health problems. Or hygiene problems.

All in all, budgies don’t usually smell bad.

My Budgie Has An Unpleasant Odor – What Could Be The Reason?

More often than not, the people who pose the do budgies smell bad question turn out to be individuals whose budgies are having unpleasant odors.

It is from that background that they ask: do budgies smell bad, kiss and live?

And as we saw earlier, by default, budgies don’t emit a body odor. Rather, what they smell like typically depends on what they feed on. Or what they roll their heads upon. Or how the environment in which they are living smells.

Where a budgie smells bad, it could be due to a health problem. The problem may be in the budgie’s mouth: so that what you perceive as ‘bad smell’ turns out to be bad breath.

Or the problem could be further down the budgie’s digestive tract. This may cause the budgie to end up with smelly poop. Yet in a healthy budgie, the poop is not supposed to smell…

If the budgie is living in a cage that is never cleaned, you may have bits of food rotting in there. These will produce a bad smell, for sure. And the budgie may pick up the bad smell via its feathers: so that it too ends up smelling bad.

My Budgie Has An Unpleasant Odor – What To Do?

As noted earlier, most of the people who pose the do budgies smell bad question have one thing in common. They are individuals whose budgies happen to be stinking.

After understanding the possible reasons for budgies smelling bad, the question that then follows is on what to do about the whole situation.

Where it is due to the fact that you are not cleaning its cage frequently enough, then you need to ensure that you do the cleaning more frequently.

In that regard, there are people who wonder: do budgie cages smell? And the answer is that budgie cages can smell, if they go for too long without cleaning.

True, the budgie itself may not smell. The budgie poop may not even smell. But things like scrapes of food in the cage can start smelling. And the budgie then picks the smell through its feathers. It then also starts smelling bad.

It is also important to ensure that you give the budgie itself a chance to bathe frequently. This you can do through misting or through the use of wet greens (which you hang inside the cage).

This way, you can get rid of any smells that the budgie may have picked through its feathers.

Therefore if you have been wondering, do budgies need to be cleaned, now you know the answer. Cleaning them (using hanging wet greens or by way of misting) can help you rid them of any bad odors they may have picked from the surroundings.

Where the bad smell is due to apparent health problems, you should take the budgie to an avian veterinarian urgently.

With proper treatment, the bad treatment should go away: so that the budgie regains its normal pleasant scent.

How To Stop Budgies From Smelling Bad?

There are three key things that you need to do, to stop budgies from smelling bad.

Firstly, you need to ensure that you clean the budgie cage regularly. This includes at least monthly disinfection.

Secondly, you need to ensure that you change the substrate in the budgie’s cage regularly. That is the stuff on the cage’s floor.

And thirdly, you need to ensure that you take the budgie to a vet for regular checkups.

If you have been trying to figure out, how do you get rid of budgie smell, those are the key things to do.

And if you have been having the question on how to get rid of budgie smell, those are also the key things you need to do.

As we saw earlier, while answering the do budgies smell bad question, the truth of the matter is that these birds generally don’t produce body odor.

Therefore, if a budgie happens to smell bad, it is likely to be on account of being in a very dirty cage. Or in a cage with dirty substrate. Or on account of health problems.

Therefore by cleaning budgie cage, changing the substrate in the cage regularly and sorting out any health issues in the budgie, it should be possible to stop the budgie from smelling bad.

Final Verdict – Do Budgies Smell Bad

Budgies, by default, don’t smell bad. They generally don’t produce a body odor. Rather, what they smell like may depend on what they eat, what they roll their heads on and how their surroundings smell like.

Where a budgie happens to have a bad smell, it is likely to be because it is in a rather dirty cage and playing constantly. Or the substrate in the cage has not been changed for ages. Or because it has health problems that make it stink.

Therefore to get rid of budgie smell, it may be a good idea to be cleaning the cage regularly. You also need to ensure that you change the substrate in the budgie cage regularly.

Further, you need to provide the budgie with a chance to bathe: either through hanging wet greens or through the misting method.

And where the bad budgie smell seems to be due to health problems, the best thing to do is take the bird to an avian vet. The vet should then be in a position to diagnose and treat the underlying health problems, so that the budgie stops smelling bad.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet parakeet a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️