Bourke's and baths

buurd

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May 11, 2018
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What's the status of your Bourke's bathing habits?

My B's had never been interested in bathing :| (had them since last spring)
I tried all sorts of different ways to show them and encourage it. I dont know if the person who had them before ever bathed them, at all. I would guess not.

And probably never misted them, either. Because they were not into misting. They just sat there, after id misted them; didnt even ruffle a feather. Just looked slightly incredulous that a soft mist was falling down on them from above.

Personal anecdote that Id gathered, spoke to the fact that they either didnt bathe, or it wasnt done all that often. Since they come from a more arid climate than the rest of the grass parakeets, I thought h this might be plausible. Maybe they did a little dust bathing? I dont know about that, though.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I found my Bs ( a m/m couple) dunking their bits in the water dish ;p So I provided them with a much larger bathing container and they are using it to lightly bathe, on the semi regular. They will splash their wings , or walk through it. The male had a nice old time playing in it for a good five minutes, once. The bath was placed on the floor where he was wandering around, and he just hopped in. He was shy at first. Every time i looked at him , he would stop and freeze in place with his playing, then when i turned away again, he would resume. It is warm enough in the house and under the light for then to dry quickly.

Im not sure if this is going to be a round the year thing, or if they are being extra because it is Australian springtime , now. Do Australian birbs have internal clocks set to Australia-time? Or do they just respond to springtime whereever they are?

They do not preen each other, but I wonder if bathing is a thing for B's in Australian spring, when they should be attracting a mate? Does anyone know? Has anyone observed any like behavior from their killer Bs?

I want to hear all about it, and your babies' particulars :)
 

Rozalka

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Bourkes generally don't like bathing. I've had them about 3 years and I've seem bathing only once time and then I was very suprised. I had hung a bath them and they hadn't been curious (they had been only drinking the water). I removed the bath when I hung a nesting box. After breeding, I hung the bath again. Then my male went to the water and he took a bath! I don't what's happened then he had never bathed before. And that's not all. Few hours later one of his babies decided to take the bath too:eek:
The season in Australia hasn't any matter. For example the most birds breed in the summer
 
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buurd

buurd

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Interesting, Rozalka. In general, I would think that every bird or animal would want to keep their gentials, cloaca, vents, bit n pieces, whathaveyou, clean. It only makes sense. Goopy stuff comes from those areas, and the waste/urine/feces can be an irritant and a corrosive. So it makes sense to keep the area clean. And it makes sense that a parent would show their offspring how to keep it clean. So Im not really surprised.

Since my lil guys have proved they dig a bath every now and again, Im wondering why now? Theyve been offered baths for months now, through the hottest months -- US spring & summer. But only now have they gotten into it. I guess it's possible that it took them this long to be comfortable? The male was definitely acting pretty modest, lol It was hilarious how when i turned to look at him, he stopped, and immediately started up full throttle splashing when i stopped looking. That's when I decided to name him IAMGROOT [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlYpl9rvPjU"]Groot Dances Scene w/Drax - YouTube[/ame]

The other question is, are they going to continue to enjoy a bath from now on? Only time will tell. I will continue to keep offering them the chance of a bath, at least twice a week.

The first jump into the bath was when I left it on the floor, where they were walking around. I was sitting up on the bed with my back to them (in a closed room, so they knew my dog would not be showing up). The male just jumped in, and had a fun time. The female wanted to get in, but he was hogging it, lol
 
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Rozalka

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I'll ad that a year ago I did a similar thing like this year: after breeding I hung the bath but they didn't bath. So also this was why I was suprised when I saw the male there. When I saw the babie I was more happy because I knew they were young birds which learnt yet
 

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