Don't Wanna Bath

[judygram]

Josey my grey does not like taking a bath. She tries to bathe in her water dish but it is not big enough for her to do a thorough job of getting wet. So I am forced to give her a bath in the sink which she hates but I do anyway because I believe bathing is good for their skin. Would you give me some suggestions as to how I could get her to accept this more gracefully.:side:

[birdgranna]

Quinn hates to have a bath too, but...I have a square dishpan that I half fill and float a ball and some plastic toys in. He eventually will go in it and once he is wet, he goes to town having a bath. Mind you, he does not do this all the time and I am forced to get out "the mister" which he hates, big time.Jiggy will go in the dish pan most of them time. More than Quinn does. I mist my amazons as they do not like a bath tub but love misting. If my pics fit on here, which they never do, I would send you a pic of one of my amazons soaking wet...so cute.My conures love a bath and happily have one everyday.

[hveusnthbrige]

I'm a firm believer of the "Deal with it!" state of mind. Rains in the wild. Rains in the bath tub. Deal with it.

 

He hates it, but hey, in the wild rain is cold, in the tub rain is luke warm and soft. My tiels hate it, Mirek hates it. He's only had 1 bath yet, today, and so far he didnt like it lol. But that's too bad. He lives in my bedroom and I need to keep the dust down, so all my birds get a bath at least once a week. And when they look at me with those "I hate bath time." eyes, I look back and say "Deal with it."

 

But man, after he dried off, his feathers were so smooth and his head feathers were the softest ever. He was just in a state of bliss this afternoon getting a head scratch from me, making groaning noises and the possessed exorcist garble, haha.

 

So basically, bath time isn't any fun and that's too bad. But afterwards I make sure to give them extra special attention once they are dried off. That's pretty much how I deal with bath time.

[Guest Lidia]

judygram wrote:

I am forced to give her a bath in the sink which she hates but I do anyway because I believe bathing is good for their skin. Would you give me some suggestions as to how I could get her to accept this more gracefully.:side:

 

Judy, I hate to break this to you, but you won't be able to do this for much longer. If she hates it now, she will hate it when she hits the Terrible Twos and she will take her revenge. Parrots never forget!

However, if it's any consolation to you, it's not necessary to bathe her and she won't get smelly, her preening will take care of all of that.

 

Most parrots produce an oil for preening, African Greys produce a powder to preen with. That powdery stuff that comes off their beak, near the edge of the nostrils, is the preening powder.

 

It is not good for them to be saturated with water regularly, as they don't produce the oil that other parrots do, so it can really mess with their feathers and their skin, especially if you have hard water. This can result in over-preening and even feather plucking over time.

 

You could try giving Josey a large bowl of water to jump in and splash around in, with toys.(Joshua still likes this from time to time). But I really would think twice about doing something that you have to force her to do. There is a good and logical reason for their not liking it.

 

Joshua, like so many greys in this forum flock, will bathe in his drinking water when he feels the need, but HATES being misted and I simply wouldn't even entertain the thought of bathing him because I know I would not have any hands left at the end of it.

 

So, he sits on the shower rail when I shower every morning and the small amount of steam from this (and the odd splash) does the same job as the hated bathing.

 

{Feel-bad-00020080}

 

To hveusnthbrige: In the wild, these birds don't come from a rain forest! They come from prairy lands and borderline woodlands where they feed off crops as well as berries, fruit and insects (and some carrion), etc. They would not normally get wet and can easily shelter under large leaves. How many wet wild birds have you ever seen?)<br><br>Post edited by: Lidia, at: 2007/07/16 10:37

[Bekkie]

My grey doesn't love to bath either unlike the ringnecks who will bath any time of the day,whether it's hot or cold they don't care. Lidia,the other day when I was sitting in he doctor's waiting room I read a magazine about rainforests and they actually showed the African Grey in there in the rainforests in the Congo.

B)

[Guest Lidia]

Bekkie wrote:

I read a magazine about rainforests and they actually showed the African Grey in there in the rainforests in the Congo.

B)

Well I take back what I said about rainforests then, as I was obviously wrong! :blush: The stuff about powder (greys) versus oil (other parrots) still stands.

What were they shown doing?<br><br>Post edited by: Lidia, at: 2007/07/16 16:52

[Bekkie]

It was the magazine of National Geography and they were showing all the different birds and animals in the different rainforests in the world. Unfortunately I did not have time to read everything

[danmcq]

Judy - Good News!!!

 

You will definitely be a proud "Bite" owner soon.

 

When Josey decides one day, that the bath is not going to happen!! :woohoo:

 

I am glad everyone is telling the likes and dislikes of their respective Greys.

 

It sounds like most absolutely abhor water, but will put up with it only because they love You. :-)

[judygram]

Thanks Dan for the "good news", I think you are looking forward to my first bite, just kidding.

I will continue the sink bathing all the same though, but I am thinking of putting a big leaf of cabbage that is very wet and maybe she can roll in it, might be fun.

[Tari]

It took me 6 months to get my grey to take a bath. In the mean time she was misted. I would put a bowl of water in the cage with some veggies in it that would sink. I did this in the mornings for about 30 min before the first feeding. She would have to get wet to get to the veggies.

Now she well jump into a bowl with no problems and get a bath.

I dont like the idea of forcing a bird to do anything.

[danmcq]

Tari -

 

That is a great idea!

 

Once Dayo comes home ,I will try inducing him into bath water by employing the "You want it, go get it" method :woohoo:

[danmcq]

judygram wrote:

Thanks Dan for the "good news", I think you are looking forward to my first bite, just kidding.

I will continue the sink bathing all the same though, but I am thinking of putting a big leaf of cabbage that is very wet and maybe she can roll in it, might be fun.

 

That's a good idea too Judy.

 

I have read articles that mentioned Greys liking to roll around and rub themselves on wet leaves.

 

Let us know if that turns out to be big hit with Josey.

 

Although, am kind of hoping for at-least a minor "Bite" for you :evil: :evil: :whistle:

[Guest Lidia]

danmcq wrote:

I have read articles that mentioned Greys liking to roll around and rub themselves on wet leaves.

 

I tried this one this week with Joshua, and he wasn't the least bit impressed, and I gave him lovely wet vine leaves. He looked at them with great parrot disdain, and just ignored them. Maybe it will work better with the more curious babies.

[Guest Monique]

I just bring my Grey in the shower w/ me most days...

[danmcq]

I was thinking about taking Dayo in the Shower with me yesterday, but then I had second thoughts

 

Kim put the Spray bottle someplace and now I can't find it.

 

She always claims she put something where it should go...

 

Anyway, I tried getting him down in the kitchen sink and he started to get pretty nervous so I raised him back up.

 

I have also been placing a 9 inch pie pan with about a half inch of water in it in the bottom of his cage. He drinks out of it, but hasn't gone in yet.

 

I think I will try the Sprayer...

[judygram]

Try the sprayer, and try the shower too, Dan, don't be a woosy about it. He might like it, you don't have to actually take him under the spray but let him know how much fun you are having in the water and maybe he will want to join you.:whistle:

[danmcq]

(((SIGH))) Ok, I will try putting him up on a cross pole that exists in the shower, it's about an inch in diameter, so it should be perfect for him.

 

But, first I am going to try the sprayer ;-)

 

I can already imagine Dayo's reaction....

 

{Emotions-00020070}

[danmcq]

LOL Celery - Your last punch line is great :woohoo:

 

Yes, please make a Video of this!!!!

 

I'll see how Dayo responds :-)

[ConnieLu]

BoobieLu my 4months baby Grey hate :angry: to be put in the sink to take a bath, she scrame and flew away....I will try bottle spray. and I remenber that I read that they likes water:unsure:

[lovemyGreys]

Hi ConnieLu,

not all greys like water,some will readily accept a bath or shower & others hate it. The bottle spray is ideal to introduce your baby to water,when you spray/mist hold the bottle at an angle above your bird & spray so the water falls down over her. Use warmer water not cold, as the droop lets fall they quickly loose there temperature, she may appreciate a lukewarm spray opposed to a cold one

 

We have a welcome room why not come in & introduce yourself to us

[danmcq]

The Shower works for my Dayo. I bring him down off the Shower Pole and get him about my mid chest and divert some water towards him and get him drenched :-)

 

He does not like the Sink or the Spray bottle.

 

You will need to try different things all have suggested and see what works for your Grey....Good Luck!! :woohoo:

[Talon]

Dan, you're lucky! Talon hates showers, baths. I mist her only about once a week, because she has such a fit over it!! I wish I could do it more. I have tried all the advice and none of it worked for me.

[lovemyGreys]

Talon ,

have you tried a bowl with a little water in, put some floating toys in it & sit down & play with them infront of Talon, let him/her see what a great time you are having & he/she may well want to join in

[Guest briansmum]

i tried that with brian, he got mad at me for playing with his toys but still didn't go near the water. i empathise completely with talon :lol: i manage to "encourage" him to have a shower once a week and we are both very happy when it's over with

[Talon]

Yes, I do put a bowl of water on the bottom of Talon's play cage a few times a week with small rubber ducks in it. She will occasionally give herself a bath that way.

 

But just after I made the previous post, she was looking hot, she had her beak open, and her wings down. So I took the bird mister I have, and misted her with that. Usually she runs all over the cage and I have to chase her to get her wet, but today, she just stood there and enjoyed it! Go figure?! :pinch: