Any suggestions on getting my CAG to take a bath

[nesha]

Hey all, my CAG C.J hates getting wet :angry: ever since I've had him (March 08) I try to give him a bath at least twice a week and he screams and screeches so loud as if something was wrong:( I dont have a shower perch for him, but I would place him in the bath tub and slowly pour warm to cool water on him. I would start by lightly splashing the water on his feet and belly and he hates it period! I am now on my second spary bottle with him because he attacks the bottle and destroys the top. I truly dont believe he has had a proper bath since I had him because I hate to hear him scream like that and I dont keep him in there long. C.J has never been fully wet, I try to splash the water underneath his wings, but no luck. I also use dial antibacterial soap on him. I rub it on my hands first then rub his wings and try to get his stomach area. I would like for C.J to get a proper bath and enjoy it at the same time. He has all of his feathers and he does not pull them out but from time to time he does pick at his tail feathers and underneath his wings as if he's cleaning his self, but again he does not pull his feathers out or mutilate his self. Any ideas on how I can get C.J to accept taking a bath and if the dial soap thing is a good idea :dry: I believe once he gets a good bath he will no longer need to pick at his self. We have a vet appointment coming up soon and I plan on asking her for some tips! Once he's out of the bath tub though he's back to his happy grumbling self

[judygram]

Nesha don't use the soap on CJ, all you need is water for them to bathe with, the soap will dry his skin out further and may be contributing to his itchiness.

 

Some greys just do not like water but it is necessary for them to get fully soaked at least twice a week to rid the body of the dust and to make their skin feel softer, it also helps to soften the new feathers as they come in.

 

My Josey does not like baths but she will tolerate a shower spray, I take her into the shower stall and use a hand held nozzle on her, I use cool water as most prefer cool over warm water. She grumbles a little but otherwise she endures it, she doesn't try to attack it.

 

We have several threads that deal with bathing greys, do a search to find them and read thru for some other ideas.

[nesha]

Thank you! I have read that some people use some type of aloe spray also, any suggestions on that?

[nims]

Hi,

 

I had the same problem with my CAG. I had tried everything from pouring water on him, bath tray in his cage, spray bottle etc. The only thing that has seemed to work was filling the tub up to her belly area with warm water and let her walk around the tub. I then splash water on her (she does object to this!) but she takes this a lot better than the other methods.

 

Thanks

 

Nims

[siobha9]

nesha wrote:

I believe once he gets a good bath he will no longer need to pick at his self.

 

All birds will naturally preen themselves whether they have had a bath or not. In fact I find about an hour after they get out of the bath, they spend ages preening every feather!

 

If you do a search on the forum you will find lots of different ways to encourage your grey to bathe as this is a problem with a lot of our birds. Personally I put them in the bath with a couple of inches of water in it and use the hand held shower head to lightly sprinkle them. I wouldnt say they like it, but they put up with it fairly well. They have no choice and they have learned its quicker to stay quiet and let me get it over with:whistle:

[Toni]

I use this Kaytee EZCare Bath Time on Alcazar, Delilah & Dakota on Mondays and Thursdays and use Aloe Vera Juice on Wednesdays and Sundays.

[Jane08]

It does take a lot of time to find what they like and teach them to bath.

 

Only after a year can I safetly say that our male grey is ok having a bath once a week. We started off slow and at first showed him the spray bottle, sprayed the bowl we bath him and had some fun. At first he was not interested so we never forced him. We did it constantly every week until he thought this looks fun and he suddenly junped in on his stomach and started flapping his wings. Now every weekend without fail I get the bowl and spray bottle out tell him it's shower time and he hops.

 

Now our female we have had since April and we are slowely teaching her. Only once has she had a proper bath and the rest of the time she hops in on her belly and hops out. We spary her and she races off, but thinks it is fun and comes back. She is slowely learning that baths are fun. We have never forced her as in time I know she will learn and I want her to find it fun instead of this big ordeal every week which I am sure would stress her out as well as me.

[poochbabe]

Hello Nesha. I call my Grey Nesha for short as his name is Ganesha, the little Hindu Elephant Boy God. He would scream like he was being murdered when I first tried the spray bottle or putting him in the tub and pouring water over him (but he was better with the tub than the spray) and his is a terrible plucker so I have to bathe him often to try and soothe the raw skin on his butt and back. I recently was letting him watch me in the shower from a safe distance on the handle of his basket and he started to reach over to get to me in the tub, so I just picked him up on my finger and took him into the spray with me. I made sure it was not the full force but now he is starting to open his beak to catch the spray and open his wings to take more in. I think as long as I am holding him he is not so crazy scared of the water and doesn't scream at all. He actually seems to like it some.

 

My vet started him on this spray called Avi soother spray which is Aloe Vera and ammonia which has really made a difference in his plucking.

[TinyTimneh]

Try (if you can handle the mess) giving your grey a bath inside or on his cage, they often feel more relaxed there (Jacko, for example will just sit and let the water be sprayed onto him when I put him in the shower, but will go crazy and flap around jumping into his water dish if I give him a bath in his cage).

Also, don't splash them, I tried what you did early on and Jacko absolutely hated it too (oh, and as everyone said, don't use the soap, not only might it be drying out his skin and feathers but is probably toxic too).

I would use a spray bottle and hold it down and away from the grey and spray it up into the air so the water droplets fall on him for now (eventually he might like it closer or at a higher intensity)

The thing you need to focus on is for now is to get him to at least tolerate it, then you can worry about actually helping him keep his feathers clean.

Try the method I described above and go slowly (get a stand or something too, often they'll feel threatened if down low like in the bathtub). Praise him a lot while you mist him and he tolerates it, maybe give some treats. As soon as he looks really fed up and is trying to get away a lot, call it quits for that day and try again tomorrow.

 

I also find it may help if you wait for one of two things (I find they trigger bathing in my flock and my tiel is the toughest one to bath)

 

1) Wait for a storm system to come through your area, often the birds pick up on it and the increased humidity etc. will often put them into the mood for a bath. So if it's raining outside I might try a bath.

 

2) Let the grey go without a bath for a couple of weeks. Often (particularly if it's hot or dry out) they will be very relieved to get a bath because they'll get dusty etc. This often works with my tiel who won't tolerate daily baths very well but luvs a big shower every week or two.

 

Good luck!

[Tycos_mom]

What i do with Tyco is put a coule inches of water n the tub and the n set her in the water thenI turn the shower on cool finespray but not directly on her .I let the shower fill the tub up to about the middle of her crop she will go in and out of the shower herself. its the only way I have found that she likes except in her water dish of course. and never use any kind of soap on your bird.