Odd icecube behavior

[Timbersmom]

This is a strange one. First, let me say that we don't know Timber's gender for sure. Timber like ice cubes. I put them in his bath to lure him in. Recently, hubby decided to put a couple of cubes in his water for him to enjoy. Timber is still in his handicapped cage since his seizure issues. So, there is a towel on the bottom of his cage to help if he falls. He fishes the icecube out, puts it on the towel, and sits on it. Wings spread a bit, looking like he/she is on hatch position. He/she stays there until the water melts. Then he goes on with his day. Any thoughts on this? It is very strange to watch. He doesn't seem upset when the cube melts. If we put the cubes in when he/she is out of the cage, He just picks them up, carries them around and eventually settles down to chew on the ice.

[nickraph]

SO strange.  Sounds like brooding behavior BUT are they physically carrying the ice to a spot on the towel or just tossing it out of the bowl and then wandering down to go sit on it.  I am thinking brooding behavior of they are tossing it on the floor and then noticing and 'egg like' shape down there to sit on.  If they are carrying it to the bottom of the cage, I have no clue. 

[Ray P]

Greys have this thing with ice cubes.

Put a ice cube in Corkys bath water she will jump in nd take a bath, put a ice cube in her drinking water and  she will take a bath in her water dish.

I have read that they have this thing with cold water and ice.

Get a large bowl of water and put in some ice and watch what they will do.

[nickraph]

1 minute ago, Ray P said:

Greys have this thing with ice cubes.

Put a ice cube in Corkys bath water she will jump in nd take a bath, put a ice cube in her drinking water and  she will take a bath in her water dish.

I have read that they have this thing with cold water and ice.

Get a large bowl of water and put in some ice and watch what they will do.

One of my greys loves ice and prefers really cold water if she is getting a bath or shower. 

[neoow]

How peculiar! I'm afraid I can't offer much advice.

I did spot some similar behaviours with Alfie though- certain toys will set him off and he treats them like eggs and sits on them. He is totally indifferent about ice cubes.

I have no idea whether Alfie is male or female either. I just assume male.

[LNCAG]

Tried the ice cube in water bowl trick -- it made crackling noises.  Snickers peered into his water bowl but then climbed away, unimpressed.  It's mostly melted so I went ahead and removed last fragment.

Maybe males just don't have the same interest?  

He did take a sip of water after ice cube remnant was removed (probably because me removing ice remnant gave the water some attention). 

What guarantees mine will bathe in his water dish is me hoovering/vacuuming.   It must send some message to him of "we're cleaning up now" -- works a lot as your ice cube does!

Can't imagine how cold it would be to sit on an ice cube!!!!

[Ray P]

The vacuuming is another thing that will start them doing the bath thing.

[neoow]

Hmm. Hoovering doesn't set Alfie off either. He just watches.

Do I have an imposter? My family always said Alfie was a pigeon with a painted tail... perhaps I don't have a grey at all? 😂

[Timbersmom]

Nickraph, he/she literally carries the cube to a spot and sits on it. I knew he/she was a real weirdo... He will have bloodwork at his next annual checkup, I think I'll bite the bullet and have the gender check. I'll also ask the vet about it and see what he says.

The vacuum really annoys him. He follows me around on his cage trying to attack the vacuum (got me once instead).

[thegars]

Debbie loves ice cubes! Will just sit and chew into pieces…

wish it would entice her to bathe…it doesn’t…she only wants to bathe in her small water bowl…funny to watch her put one leg in at a time…and flap like crazy..

I have to be careful with ice cubes…she’ll eat at them till she gets what I call an “ice cream headache” fluffs up and shakes her head…but wants more…

[Timbersmom]

Timber isn't a consistent bather. Every time I see him start to bathe in his water bowl, I take it away and get his "bathtub" (a 9x13 glass baking dish). I put a couple of inches of water in it, toss in a few ice cubes, and after a few minutes of consideration he will hop in. If he isn't wanting a bath, it can sit there all day and he won't get in it.

[neoow]

Alfie is a nightmare for baths. The only place he will consistently bath is in his water bowl... which he obviously can't fit in. So he sticks a foot in and flaps around, sploshing water over everything except himself. He usually waits until I'm not around as well, so I come back to a nice big puddle of water on the floor around his cage.

If I do happen to hear/catch him, I'll grab the mister and see if he wants a bath that way. He mostly hates it, but if I manage to catch him in the right mood then he'll get into it. I can only mist him in his cage though, as he'll fly away if he's out. Or just try and attack the mister/me. I've tried taking him to the sink, to the bathroom to see the bath/shower but nope, he's not having it. Only the water bowl will do. I even bought him a kids toy sink that was battery powered and had a little tap but he didn't like it at all, so I gave up on that idea.

If I put a bigger tray with water in at the bottom of his cage then he ignores it and favours the water bowl.

I did have a breakthrough more recently- I found some really big water bowls which are the same shape/material as his existing bowl and they clip on to the side of the cage. They hold 2L of water. At least he can fit both feet in that one and at least get a little bit of water on his body as well.

[thegars]

For bathing I have finally just accepted that the only way for her is the shower with me…lol…she runs around on the floor but will sit on her perch long enough to get wet..

only thing to watch out for is water temp…

tried bigger bowls, pie pan, etc…nope just stares…will grab an ice cube when within reach..