thenabrd Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 well kallie is supremely mad at me. with the colder weather i've been giving the girls more spray baths. athena takes a bath on her own at least once a week in her water dish. kallie splashes in her water dish, maybe once a month (we always make a big deal about it when she's doing it, hoping she'll accept water on her body better). i spray both of them, athena first so kallie can see it's not this horrible, terrible ordeal she thinks it is. athena bounces back to her perky little self right away. kallie on the other hand, sulks, becomes very quiet and shakes (in anger i think). she doesn't do alot of preening afterwards, just "pouts" and waits to dry. she hates this, she runs around her cage hissing and growling and even doing her banshee screams. i just continue to try and get her soaked down as best as possible while not soaking the walls, lol! i used aloe juice today after the water for the first time (very gentle squirts). that really set her off!!! she's got a few places that she's been plucking (her neck has always been a favorite place, her belly is looking a little thin in the feather). i've bought a humidifier and crank it up after these "fun and exciting" (not) bathing sessions. when i'm spraying kallie i'm telling her that its a "rain bath" and tell her it will make her feel better, etc. i try to keep my voice light and happy, but so far, well lets just say kallie'd just as soon see me disappear forever!! since she prefers my husband more, i've been the one to bathe her so their relationship won't suffer. i hope i'm doing the right thing by kallie. i love her and just want to do what's best for her to try and reduce this plucking. she's got tons of toys, things to shred/preen and is in the living room so she's not too bored! i just don't know what to do to help her become more comfortable with the whole process. any suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated! thanks very much in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 My three love spraying/baths. They open their wings and turn and get totally wet. I use a very fine sprayer/mister I got from the beauty shop/hair stylist. I spray them upward so that they are not really hit in the face. If I forget to spray them, their cages are totally soaked with them splashing in their water bowls, big mess. I do this a couple times a week in the earlier part of the day so they will all dry out. I mix 1/2 water/1/2 aloe vera juice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 i've got the sprayer as fine as it will go and i spray upwards as well. it's a pump kind, it will spray constantly until the pressure is gone. (it's easier on my hands) athena just "endures" it, but she'll bathe in her water dish at least once a week and get really wet all the while saying, "take a bath, take a bath"! when she's being sprayed she says a very pathetic "yesss" "yyeeessss" and just stands there, lol. kallie though, she's becoming a real pill about this. after she stops pouting and starts moving around again (its a good hour or more of sitting there pouting and shaking), if i go to talk to her or maybe see if she'll let me scratch her head, she either glares at me, eyes pinning away, or shakes like i've abused her!!! i'll offer her a treat (of course they both get a treat) hoping to make friends again. this is one reason i haven't let my husband spray her. she really thinks he's the ultimate in people and i don't want to ruin that, so i'm the bad guy when it comes to bathing. i know i need to just continue on and hope she'll come to "endure" it without being so mad at me afterwards, but sometimes its hard to do what you know is the right thing and get the "cold wing" act! i'm also worried that in the process she'll really come to dislike me altogether. right now we're buddies, head scratches, talking/sounds back and forth, etc. i don't want her to lose her trust of me since i'm also the main caregiver to the girls as i'm not working, due to my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Now I believe differently, I would think having the "favorite" spraying your fids would be better then the "unliked". That to me would mean it must be all right if "Dad" is bathing/spraying me. In children to me it was always easier if the "favorite" parent did the asking or sending to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikachu Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Now I believe differently, I would think having the "favorite" spraying your fids would be better then the "unliked". That to me would mean it must be all right if "Dad" is bathing/spraying me. In children to me it was always easier if the "favorite" parent did the asking or sending to bed. I agree with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 thanks very much guys/gals i truly appreciate it. i hadn't thought of that but it makes infinite sense! well i'll have to get "dad" to take a spin at the spray bottle. i think i'll do athena 1st as usual (she is the "1st" bird after all, lol) while "dad" makes a great fun event out of it, then i'll have him do kallie while i make a big great fun event over it. hopefully kallie will start to see that this is a fun thing and not get too bent out of shape thinking "dad" has become the "great traitor", hahaha!! thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I used this method with Shadow as well. She loves my husband and and never questions his intent. Not wanting to give her any reason to love me less...I gave him the job of introducing the shower and it was a huge success! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Do you take your birds outside in nice weather? My CAG will only almost tolerate (practically like) showers outside. He, too, tries to dunk himself into his too tiny water bowl and HATES being misted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 from late spring to early fall we take them out to get some sun and talk the the birdies. athena loves to be outside. kallie's still a bit nervous since she'd never been outside before we got her (plus getting her into her "mobile" home is a process in and of itself). we load them up into their "mobile" homes and take them out. if we're doing some yard stuff, we move them around the yard with us to see what's going on! but we're in ohio, so there's about half of the year it's just too cold to take them outside, even on our shoulder to the enclosed back porch for a few minutes. i'd love to be someplace where they could enjoy the outdoors all year, but for the foreseeable future......! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT_Jacket Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 My guy did not care too much for misting over the sink (I didn't want to soak the cage) but loves taking a shower with me. I have a perch in there and use one of the sport misters that you pump up (very fine mist). He loves it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 i've seen videos of birds having a blast in the shower! i just haven't figured out how we'd do this in our shower. we're in an old house with a claw foot tube. we've put in the conversion kit with the riser for a shower head and the hoop for the curtain. the tub is mid way along the wall in the bathroom, so for a home with 1 full bath, i have a tub/shower that needs 2 liner shower curtains (one along the wall, the other the go around one end and along the outside edge, which covers the riser pipe), then 2 outside/decorative curtains, lol! the things we do when we love and have old houses, hahahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amali Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I take Amali in the shower with me and she just perches on my hand. I hold her up near the shower head and she will reach in to get a drink and end up drenched before it is over. I just keep my hubby on stand by duty to come take her when she's done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 UPDATE! well, this was interesting, lol!! kallie hated getting a spray bath from my husband even more than she hates it from me. we even sprayed each other first and made a big fun exciting event out of it before he tried spraying her (that was hilarious in and of itself, lol). she did her usual scream and growl while running around her cage. i think he was a bit traumatized about it as well, haha. then she completely ignored him and lunged at him when he tried to "make up" for the rest of that day. so, i've taken spray bath duty back and believe it or not, kallie seems to be handling it much better now. i "spray" myself first while being so happy and excited, then athena gets her spray then kallie, then i go back and forth between the girls (gives them time to come out from behind their toys). i can now get kallie pretty soaked and she no longer gives the silent treatment and hiding at the back of her cage for hours. she'll start talking and come to the front of her cage within a hour or so. no, she still doesn't like the spray bath, but is more willing to "accept" that she's getting one. i've been using a half and half mix of aloe juice and water. i think she might be interested in the "taste" of this since she sometimes tastes the drops on the cage bars. maybe this is why she's more tolerant or maybe her daddy "breaking her heart" and "disappointing" her was it. i'm not sure, i really don't care, i'm just delighted that she's handling this much better and not pouting about it all day anymore. thanks for all of the above advice, it is much appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kave70 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I mist Sam lightly during the week and then right before I do the major cage cleaning on the weekend, we go to town. He LOVES it, following me all over the cage for more. He's so silly that everytime I stop he runs to his water dish, attempts to plop down and continues the messy game. After we're done I know I need to clean the cage- it's a mess. The bars are all set for me to wipe down :-) Karen and Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 thenabrd... hubby needs to spritz and do the showering! Your baby needs to learn to accept BOTH of you. If given the chance, they will pick one person over the other. Most parents think they are doing a good thing, making their bird comfortable with one person. It is not the right decision.Responsibility for your bird, needs to be shared equally. Sophie steps up to all of us. We all feed her, we all love her. She loves all of us. She steps up to all of us. She Loves all of us, for different reasons. I am her "ROM".(mom) I keep her safe. Ryan teaches her how to dance and sing,( he's the fun person). Sean teaches her how to get along with the other birds, do the " responsible" choice. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 thanks nancy! i'm planning on my husband still doing this at times, but he was rather unsettled by kallie's reaction to him spraying her. sooooo now i've got to "train" him as well, lol!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mareeee Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 This is Charlie's favorite way to bathe. Whenever we see him trying to take a bath in his water dish or my water glass, I know it's time to get out the bath. He loves it. He gets all riled up. All of a sudden he'll jet out of the water and fly up to the shower or towel rod, sit for a minute, then bolt back to his bath. He chatters away the whole time. He doesn't get completely drenched on his back though this way, so every so often we'll bring him into the shower for a good soak. He doesn't quite enjoy this though. In the shower he does everything to escape, and when I make that impossible, he just sits and pouts. Anyway, maybe your fid would prefer bathing at her own ease like Charlie rather than being forced. We used to have a shallower dish, and when we switched to this one, he was afraid of it for a while, but he got used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mareeee Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Sheesh! Sorry for the monstrous picture size. I didn't realize I uploaded them at such a large size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mareeee Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 hmm... Now the photos aren't working. Lets try them a different way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenabrd Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 i like the big pictures!!! really shows motion and how much fun he's having! we tried a pan similar to that in kallie's cage, but she was having none of it, lol!! we'll just keep working at it and hope that someday she'll have a light bulb moment. i do try to explain to her that we're only doing this because we love her and it will help her feel less itchy. she watches athena intently whenever athena is taking a bath in her water dish, all the while athena is saying "take a bath, take a bath". once in a great while kallie will then go and splash around in her water dish, so we make a big deal about the good job she's doing taking a "splash, splash bath". oh well, someday, lol!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 thenabrd... I agree with everyone's advice. DADDY... needs to do the spritzing! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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