Bath Time

[Satchel]

Hi fellow parronts. I am posting here because I have read the how to bathe your bird forum (or whatever the title was) and it is not working for me.

 

In the mornings when Tango is on his playpen he tries to take a bath in his water. The water dish is to small, so I take him down and try to spray him with the mist part of a spray bottle. He hates it, and insists on trying to fly away.

 

Everyday when I go into the water room I bring him with me and set him on the toilet on a basket. For the first week I left the curtain closed, but I played in there and told him how much fun I was having. I finally started leaving the curtain open (what a mess I have to clean when I'm done) in hopes that he would inch nearer the splash. He isn't though. Instead he looks at me like I am a monster and tries running down the side of the basket to get away.

 

I also tried picking him up and bringing him in there with me. I did not splash him or get him wet, he tried to get away and even bit me.

 

I have also put a big dish at the bottom of his cage with warm water in it and set him on the side of it. He climbs away like it is an enemy or something sparing no second in his escape.

 

Please help with some different ideas as I know he needs and wants a bath.

 

Desperately seeking to clean my bird without traumatizing him.

[Tigerlily]

Tigerlily also HATED water when i got her.

 

although all methods of trying to wash her traumatised her, the least traumatic was the spray. she now accepts it although doesn't perticularly enjoy it.

 

to begin with i only sprayed her once or twice then gave her her favourite food as a reward even if she flew away or i missed (monkey nut or grape)

 

then i sprayed her a few more times before rewarding her.

even if she flew away i'd still spray her once or twice more.

 

now she will stay put most of the time whilst i spray her eagerly waiting her reward even if sometimes she just chucks it straight on the floor.

it took a few months to get her to this stage but i persisted as it's real important.

[Kaedyn]

You could try bathing him while he's caged. Try spraying a mist up in the air--well above where he is paying attention--and let the mist settle on him. Also, If he likes being outside, you could place him in a smaller cage with one of those garden misting hoses nearby. If it's too traumatic for him, don't force it, but you might be able to get the mist so fine that he doesn't really notice it.

[Kaedyn]

One thing I forgot to mention is that I always ask my fids if they "want spray?" before I even show them the bottle. They prefer to know what's going to happen, instead of being surprised. Now, instead of complaining or flying away, they fluff up their feathers in anticipation. Obviously, it might take some time before you get to that point, but it's something that might help later on.

 

If you spray them directly, you might find that they are less offended if you spray a portion of their body, such as just their feet. Over time, if they accept that, you can slowly migrate to other areas.

 

Try to find a spray bottle that puts out a very fine mist. I use AViX Bird Rain, which contains aloe vera, among other things. The AViX sprayer does a good job of diffusing the liquid and it's by the same people as Harrison's bird foods.

[nims]

Hi,

 

I tried everthing with my CAG Indy but no matter what we did she would squak the house down. I then filled up the bath tub a few inches and put her and she started to wade in it. She didn enjoy it but she didnt object either which was great. I am hoping to introduce toys and rewards for bath time as I want her to enjoy it.

 

Nims

[BaxtersMom]

I like that idea about the bath tub. I am going to try it. Thanks for sharing it.

 

I thought I was really being smart by purchasing a cheap plastic bird bath and putting a few inches of water in it. We tried it once. He acted like he could care less one way or the other.:whistle: He did walk around in the water and didn't seem to mind too much.But he wasn't grateful and he didn't have a bath party like I had anticipated. He just looked at me like I had another crazy idea that he had to endure. I should do it more often and he probably would eventually go for it, but the bath tubs sounds like it would work just as well.

 

I spray mine with a bottle. He hated it at first but I kept on doing it and he tolerates it well. I can soak him to the skin and he stays on my hand now with no problems. I don't think he enjoys it but I think it feels good to him anyway. He prefers to bath in his water bowl though;) :blink:

[Satchel]

Thanks to everyone for such great ideas. I guess I will put a towel in the bathtub on the bottom, and try that approach. I hope he likes it. I am quickly learning that he has a little mind of his own and truly know hows to get what he wants, or in this case how to not get what he doesn't want.:cheer:

[siobha9]

Just another idea here... when he is trying to take a bath in his water bowl that is a perfect time to give him a bigger dish of water in the bottom of the cage. He may just start using it instead;)

[Suzzique]

Also birds like cool water. No need to warm it up. Alex hates showers and has no interest in bathing on his own. He wasn't doing to bad until he had a fall a few months ago and broke the tip of his beak off. Now he goes nuts. He is so scared of getting wet. But sense he is now molting and is really itchy....

[Satchel]

Oh no. Is his beak gonna grow back? Now I am terrified again.

[BaxtersMom]

siobha9 wrote:

Just another idea here... when he is trying to take a bath in his water bowl that is a perfect time to give him a bigger dish of water in the bottom of the cage. He may just start using it instead;)

 

 

 

He's only done it once before and then again today but of course I was heading out the door today when he decided it was bath time:S

[Suzzique]

Satchel no worrys his beak grew back! Thier beaks are always growing. That is why you see them peeling. It is the old layers of beak peeling off. He was a bit sore for a few days so a bit grumpy. Within a week or so you couldn't even tell that anything had happened. B)

 

Alex is flighted and we had him in the shower with us. He was really soked and decided that he really didn't want to be there any more. So he flew up and over the shower curtain but because he was so wet he pretty much fell from there. He landed pretty hard but seemed ok. So we set him on the towle rack like we always did and finished showering. When we got out I saw blood on the floor under him. I freeked when I saw what happend. We took him right to the vet. I managed to clam down on the way. The breeder had given me one of the do it yourself dna tests (you have to make them bleed and I never could bring myself to do that) and I happened to still have it with me so figured he was bleeding all over the place anyway... :whistle: So we know for sure he is male.

 

My oldest daughter is such a grace and I have spent more time in the er than I care to think about. I've always been able to stay totally calm while dealing with whatever had happened. But with Alex I came totally unglued!

[danmcq]

Well, they do try to bath when driven by natural instincts, in an unnatural setting...the cages water bowl. :-)

 

To quote a much loved member here (Daveoo7 aka Mr Spock)..

 

"Technically and normally, they don't need or want a bath in the house when WE wanna give it to them. In the wild, they live in cannapies. It has it's own moisture. They bathe when nature tells them to bathe. In the house a bird jumps in the bowl to bathe when nature tells it to do that. Bath or not, they get very dusty feathers and in the house, they can't flap that dust away like they do when in the wild. They do need to have that dander removed periodically by the owner. A bath or a good misting usually does the job. Many people get frustrated because their bird doesn't like baths but it does have to be done periodically but not as often as you might think.

 

This a very true scenario which is seen over and over again and not just with greys. It's nature telling the bird to bathe---This is your front row seat although, for some it just might be a rerun--

1--There's a fresh bowl of water in the cage.

2--the owner sees the bird jumping in the water and flapping.

3--the owner says "oh sh*t, ther's gonna be a mess shortly. Let me stop it"

4--The owner immediately gets the bird and thoroughly bathes or mists the bird until it's really soaked.

5--The owner is happy and puts the bird back in the cage.

6--5 minutes later, the owner hears a noise and checks it out.

7--There's the bird jumping in the bowl trying to bathe.

It's nature and instinct that's causing that to happen because the parrot is a wild animal."

 

With the wit and humor of Dave setting the tone now, I will tell you, it is a trial and error on bathing/showering/misting etc. The bottom line is you need to do it and your bird needs it to sooth the itchy scratchy skin and get the dander off those feathers building up.

 

You can try the pie pan you used, but make it fun. Place a little ball with a bell in it like a cat plays with and play with it in the water as your Grey sits close by and gets interested. He may then go start playing with it and find that the water is fun too. You will still need to mist him with 100% Aloe Juice to get him thoroughly wet all over and he probably will not approve. Let him bite the tip of the mister every once in while so he thinks he is getting his licks in on that terrible demon from hell.

 

Try placing him in a cold bath about an inch and a half or two deep making sure you block his exit and that you can prevent him from harming himself should he start to react to it and panic.

 

Mist him inside his cage so he can not get away if you have to.

 

Roll his cage outside and spray him and the cage down out there. then finish up by misting him thoroughly with 100% Aloe Juice.

 

You can also place him in a small cheap cage to confine him and mist him in it instead of the large cage.

 

There are several different variations of all of these that you can and should try to see which he likes best, if any. The bottom line is, he gets a both/misting whether he likes it or not. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/09/03 15:31

[Satchel]

Suzzieque I am glad to hear that the beak grew back. I was having nightmares about it last night. I too get all uptight and flipped out when my animals get hurt. I sure hope I never have to race Tango to the vet. I imagine if that day ever comes I will be breaking every speed law man has made.

 

Danmcq that is a great post. Thank you. I will try them things as well. Do you think he will hate his carry cage if I use that to do the spray down in, or will he somehow get used to it. I am thinking maybe I shouldn't have read so many books that have made me an over protected parront.

[Char]

I will share with you my experience with the bath and you can take as you will.

 

The popular advice is that your bird must be bathed and to force it on them until they get used to it. When I first got whisper I tried spraying her and forcing her to get wet in the shower. It terrified her. I mean literally freaked her out to the point that she looked right at me reached down and pulled a feather out of her leg. My vet said this is reaction shows EXTREME stress.

 

So I put away the mister and let her be for a few weeks. Then I started taking her into the shower with me a couple of times a week. I would just set her on top of the curtain rod and she watched.

 

Then I would have her on my hand and not really try to get her wet, just used to the water being nearby. All the time talking and keeping it all upbeat. I gr adually got her a little more wet each time. Just recently, and it has been months since I started, while on my arm in the shower she will walk toward the spray instead of away from it.

 

Just this week she walked into the spray while on my arm and lifted her wings and got totally soaked all on her own. Victory! MY patience paid off. She prefers cooler water also.

 

During these months, she has not suffered any side effects from lack of shower while I was being patient with her. She probably benefited from the moisture and steam in the shower even though she wasn't getting all that wet. Also my vet advises me not to add any other sprays or oils to the feathers. She says it only coats the feather and doesn't get down to the skin anyway but you should check with your vet.

 

Whatever you are introducing to your bird watch their body reaction. The way Whisper showed her stress was to get very rigid and her eyes would look wild. She wasn't freaking out in the normal way you would think like screeching or flapping. It wasn't until she yanked out those feathers that I realized how much it was stressing her.

 

Remember that trust lost is hard to win back again. Your bird is an individual and you should proceed by listening to her.

 

Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:08

 

Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:14<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:18