Bathing breakthrough!... and smell?

[KimKim]

So I have been trying to get Babalu use to water so I can give him a bath. We made him a shower perch about a month ago and I have been taking him with me a few times a week. At the same time I have been trying to get him use to the sprayer, in the beginning he would scream, then I would stop. (I have had him for 2 years now and have never been able to get him this wet). Now if I go slow with COOL water (like Dave recommended) he will let me spray his chest and back. Well tonight I was able to get him pretty good, more than ever before. After the shower there was a smell, not bad but smelled clean. Do greys put off a scent? I know amazons do, but I did not know if greys did or not. Maybe I was smelling something else?? This was the first time I have smelled this smell, hard to explain.. was it him or maybe something else in the air? Either way I am just so happy I was able to get him wet! I never thought the stories I read about patience and time would be us! I thought my grey was different and would never accept bath time. Ever since I joined this forum I have learned so much, thank you everyone! By the way, he accepts the water better when cold, not my shower temp. Hopefully this will help other grey owners who think their grey, is different, and will never like baths and dont take others recommendation of cold water.

[Dave007]

Well, smelling clean is lots better than smelling bad. I really don't know about them giving off a scent. I don't believe it's anything to worry about though. After a long time of bathing birds, the most common thing that a person notices is the amount of dander that was on the feathers. That's especially true if the bird is put into a sink that has a few inches of water in it. Antways, my nasal passages are numb to their odor other than medical situations. The nose knows.

In case your bird has a date, put on some Old Spice and he'll smell alluring and sexy to HER.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Dave007

[KimKim]

After that good showering I did notice his feathers were darker and shiny! I did not know grey could shine

[Azzie]

I notice a smell on Cleo as well. It is not a bad smell, it's just....the smell of a Grey I guess. I love snuggling up to her and breathing in her scent, it's warm and comforting.

[texascowboy1979]

im having trouble with hunter showering... No luck, he just gives me this horrid look like, "HOW DARE YOU, I TRUSTED YOU"... Id love to figure out how to get him to bath.

[Dave007]

texascowboy1979

There's 2 stickys here concerning bathing. They're always visible for anyone having difficulties

 

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189753-Bathing-possible-method-1

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189752-Bathing-possible-method-2

[KimKim]

Everything is going good still with the shower perch and the shower sprayer, but I dont know if the water is getting to the skin.. I know the back is waterproof but it seems like his chest feathers are too? His legs look soaked but thats it.

[judygram]

Its hard to get the back feathers wet as they are waterproof, if the bird cooperates they will fluff their feathers out and that opens up the feathers so the water gets in where the skin is but sadly my Josey will not do that when I give her a shower so I do the best I can, I do kind of lift her feathers by hand to get some water in where the skin is, wish she loved bathing.

[KimKim]

Thanks Judy, I did not even think that the feathers had to be fluffed out for water to get the skin, duh... He still does not enjoy baths enough to fluff them, and I surely can not lift them for him:) Oh well, maybe one day he will relax. Sometimes he lifts up a wing for the water but it is just a little lift.

[JDS5607]

Sully hates water... And not just... "Ehh, I don't really wanna go in there"... it's more of a glare he gives me when I even take him into the shower... it's not pleasant!

 

I know you're supposed to repeatedly try to get them to like showering by putting them in there anyway, but Sully just looks terrified by it. I've tried warm, cool, ice cold (like Joe likes it) and trickles, downpours, bath, shower... everything... he hates it. I have even tried the squirt bottle and that was a no-go... He's SO dander-y and itchy... Should I just make him do it anyway?

[KimKim]

I have another question... Babalu still wont fluff up when I bath/mist him, he still hates it. But is that better than nothing? Im sure it is.. Is there anyway to get the water to his skin? I am finding for flaking skin/dander at the bottom of his cage/playstands since it is cooling off. I have tried putting him on a bigger bowl/dish, but he wont bath himself unless its a full moon and he has a tiny food dish!!!!

[Luvparrots]

I use a very fine mist with my fids, one of those beauty shop misters. I spray from below my fids and they fluff up to take in the water. Ana Grey will even turn in a circle for me. All you can do is keep trying until your birds accept the inevitable shower/bath!!!!

[pearllyn]

All you can do is keep trying until your birds accept the inevitable shower/bath!!!!

I agree - what works for one might not work for another, when your bird doesn't like it, it's just a case of trial and error to see what they object to least. I shower Alfie in her travel cage, which she now tolerates - we have even progressed to once or twice showering on top of it rather than in it. I have also found that she prefers the water to come from underneath rather than raining down from above, which I find wierd as rain is natural!

[Buffy]

My Echo HATES bathing. I've tried every method and finally gave up which was very dumb of me as she started plucking her chest feathers. Once I started forcing her to bathe, her skin became less itchy, and she has had no more issues with plucking. I found the least traumatic method for her was to run her a bath, put her down in it and then rub water over her body with my hands. Once I got Thumper, I was amazed at how different they were concerning bath time. Echo seems completely water resistant and comes out of the tub looking dry. Thumper looks thoroughly soaked though. Thumper also emits an odor after a bath but Echo doesn't. I've always wondered about that.

[Barbara2]

I had a bathing breakthrough today also! YAY!

I put a 9" X 9" glass baking pan in the bottom of Neo's cage. He has edged around the rim before sort of drinking, sort of playing in the water. Today he got in and bathed himself pretty good. He didn't get the back enough so I'll still need to do that for now but I was so excited that he was actually bathing himself!! (It doesn't take much to make me happy!)