FINCHforum

I have a male Gouldian who has a dirty vent. I have never seen this on him before. He is eating and drinking and looks happy and normal, except for the poop on his vent. He is not puffed up at all. Singing away. The thing is, I have never observed my boys taking a bath. I have offered a separate water dish for baths, and it is never dirty and I have never seen them use it. Do some finches not take baths? I need to trim his nails today or tomorrow, so should I clean his vent then since I need to handle him anyway? If so, how? With a wet washcloth? Oil? Also, since they don't seem to bathe, should I be spraying them with those fine mist sprays I have seen at the pet store? Thanks!

I would clean his vent myself with warm water and my fingers . Ver rarely this might happen, it happened to my canaries sometimes, the poop would just hang there even if the bird was healthy- this happened very rarely but it did. Some of the birds don't jump in the water with the whole body they only immerse their head and chest...

I would also clean the vent with warm water while your handling him. My birds do not like to be sprayed with water at all, they totally freak out. Continue offering the bath and over time they may be brave enough to try it. Hope yours get over the fear of bath water and learn to enjoy it like all mine

I think it really helps when you have other birds that bathe to teach them how nice a bath can really be. My parrot finches have taught all my gouldians that bathing is fun! Sometimes I have a dozen birds bathing at the same time. Looks like a community whirlpool!!

I went ahead and wiped his bum clean with a wet washcloth when I had hi out for a nail trim. I couldn't get it completely clean, but enough that I felt better about it. I also am trying a new dish for a bath, maybe they will like it better. I am looking for another pair of males, so maybe once I get them and they are living together, the new guys will teach them how to have fun in the water! Thanks for the advice everyone!!