Preening and showers

Hi all.. My little guy just turned 4 months old. After having him home for three weeks, I decided to try to give him a shower. I took a mister, perched him on my fingers over the sink and sprayed away. He did not like it!! He did not bite, or try to escape, but simply complained the way he does with his mild growl. I brought him back to his cage, and he just perched and sat soaking wet. There was no preening of feathers and when I give it some thought, I have never seen him cleaning his feathers. Today, three days after his initial shower, I did it again. His complaining was less, but there was no spreading of his wings and again sat back on his perch damp and grumpy (I think!). Still no preening.
Is this uncommon? Does he still have to learn?

Generally, preening is something that young Amazons pick-up by watching their parents, older brother /sisters and other members of their group. Hand raised Parrot tend to pick this up on their own after awhile. Timing is generally tied to the appearance their Adult Feathering.

So, I would not be overly concern about your Amazon not yet preening on its own. It will come, it will just be a matter of time.

Assure that when you are showering your baby to try to create the belief that the shower is more like rain falling from above. The goal is to develop a joy for getting wet and not be unhappy about it. Keep misting every two to three days and with time, your Amazon will be looking forward to the misting /shower.

Hi Fowlstack
I can't tell you if that's normal or not, but what I can tell you is my experience.

I previously had a Blue and Gold, Dylan, for about 7 years. Dylan loved getting a shower, and would spread her wings (yea, Dylan, alas, turned out to be female...) turn back and forth and squawk with joy! I would give her a shower in my shower, with a perch that stuck to the tile.

I had to give Dylan up years ago, but now, recently, have adopted a beautiful Solomon Island Eclectus, Bogart.

I gave Bogart his first shower this weekend. I put him in a smaller cage, which is really for our Senegal, and which I had taken outdoors. I figured I'd give Bogart his shower outdoors, and then let his stay outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the world go round!

He didn't spread his wings when I misted him, or turn back and forth, just kind of stayed there... I am sure he wasn't sure what was going on, 1st, being in a new cage, 2nd, being outdoors, and 3rd, getting mist sprayed on him!

I think once I've done this a few times, Bogart will know exactly what's coming once I take him outdoors and place him in the smaller cage, and will probably look forward to it! (I only keep him in the smaller cage for 30-45 minutes, while he drys in the warm outdoor air.

My understanding is that they only need to get a shower once a week or so. Maybe someone else can chime in and let us know how often they feel our babies should be given a shower!

How often to provide a shower is most commonly dependent on where that specific species is originally from, example: New World Parrots, as a group, like MAC's and Amazons commonly enjoy /need to shower /bath more often. Some owners will report up to a couple of times per day to a couple of times a week. Where as, Old World Parrots will vary widely dependent on where they originate from. Parrots from areas that receive very little rain will need /want a shower less often compared to Parrots from areas with much greater amounts of rain.

That said, individual Parrots will either want more or less showers depending on their specific joy of or dislike of.

Sheesh my Amazon is a pain. He will grudgingly hold still for a lil misting now and then but to give him a good bath I have to toss him in the shower and soak him down good. My SC Booger however will usually bathe once a day in a dish I provide for him. He is not fond of the spray bottle however. He does enjoy me blow drying him after he soaks himself good however... makes him nice and fluffy too.

When you say "blow drying" I am assuming you mean an electric hair dryer? WOW, I never considered doing that to my baby. LOL probably due to having to bath, blue, and blow dry, with my children, their white broilers the night before the 4H show. One year had to do a 50 lb tom turkey. What an ordeal, and how the house smelled for weeks!! Not having to ever do that again is one of the perks of getting old...

OK Parront!! Try this. Take him in the shower with you. Don't use soaps, just water and show a good time. I took my GCA in at 24 yo and we shower together. He gets all into it. He has a shower perch too but your baby needs to see showering and how fun it is.


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Amy USED to LOVE the misting bottle. She'd spread her arms wide..fluff up her face and head..wiggle her butt and twist/turn in every direction,yelling at the top of her air sac!

Now...she just sits there :15:

So I tried the bathroom shower..She'll get on her perch stick,and I turn it so she is upside down,and put her under the shower stream..She's back to wavin' her arms wildly and yellin' again

Maybe coz the shower water is generally "warmer" than what comes out of the mister...I dunno...but she clearly loves getting wet..then I put her in a towel and help dry her off.

BB?...eehhhhh...that's another story..


Jim

Just a reminder not to make the water temperature 'hot' in the shower and if you use a hairdryer afterwards please ensure that it is done on cool and is a non Teflon hairdryer.

fowlstack said:

When you say "blow drying" I am assuming you mean an electric hair dryer? WOW, I never considered doing that to my baby. LOL probably due to having to bath, blue, and blow dry, with my children, their white broilers the night before the 4H show. One year had to do a 50 lb tom turkey. What an ordeal, and how the house smelled for weeks!! Not having to ever do that again is one of the perks of getting old...

Click to expand...

LOL...
yah a turkey would be a challenge. And yes I use a blowdryer set on low fan/ low heat to blow my birdies dry. Started that ages ago. Cookie will just sit there obviously enjoying the sensation of warm breeze on his body,, and my lil SC Booger will actually pose in front of the dryer for me. Im careful not to risk overheating them, avoiding the face/head and they can back away anytime if the wish.