Two questions about my GCC. Baths and feather plucking

I've had my GCC for about 2 months now and things seem to be going well. Most of my questions have been easy enough to search for to find answers but I'm having trouble finding answers to these couple.

I can't tell if my GCC likes baths or not. She never gets in little baking dishes of water, or the sink and hates the spray bottle. I brought her into the shower two times. The first time she started by shaking her feathers and... not squacking but talking like she didn't like it. After about a minute of this she had her eyes closed and wasn't moving. I could pet or scratch her and she didn't respond. When i asked her to step up, it looked like she was waking up. When I put her back down she went back into this...trance like state. I took her out after that and let her dry off under a heat lamp. The second time was last night. She was squacking and running around and a lot more animated. She was splashing in the water running on the bottom and kind of rubbing her head around. But she also tried to run under me to get out of the (light) water coming down.

What's this all mean? I don't think my GCC likes water but what should I do?


Second question is if my GCC is feather plucking or not. I've never owned a bird so I don't know if this is plucking or not, but lately she has lost about 5 big feathers, most recently one of her long tail feathers. She seems to be preening a lot and I don't know if 5 big feathers in a week is a big deal or not? I think I can address feather plucking, but I don't know if this is plucking or just preening and having feathers fall out on their own. Thanks in advance!

If your bird really likes to bath, you'll know. Here are some videos of conures bathing.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJkEn7e8ynQ"]Cinnamon green cheek conure taking a bath - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mJze_dJR64"]Rockin' Ron Sedaille's Green Cheek Conure Poppy Takes a Bath! - YouTube[/ame]



Here's some bathing techniques you can try....

• Try luke-warm water
• Try cold water
• Try ice-cold water
• Try a spray bottle
• Try a plant mister
• Try in the sink with the water running or just some water in the bottom
• Try in the sink with the sprayer
• Try in the tub with some water in the bottom
• Try a casserole dish or similar with some water
• Try the dish with ice
• Try the dish with foot toys
• Try the dish with some leafy greens like endive or other types of lettuces that may create a "natural" bowl
• Try the dish with a vacuum cleaner
• Try in the shower with you - watching you having a blast getting wet!
• Try dancing the bird into the shower with the water already going
• Try spritzing yourself, and have fun doing it! Then spritz the bird
• Try outside in an empty cage large enough to spread wings during a nice rain shower
• Try outside in an empty cage using the hose with a mist/shower attachment

I would say that if she doesn't seem to be enjoying bath time, just give her time. Some birds loves bathes immediately while others take time to warm up to a bath. Sometimes it helps to watch other birds bathing, too.



As far as the feathers go, that sounds like molting which is completely normal!

Wow, Monica, that's a great list! Thank you

Most of mine love being misted while the vacuum is running, and the laughing thrush takes baths but only if I put a piece of kale in the water.
Hopefully one of the methods that Monica mention works for your GCC.
What is her name?

Haha, yeah Rey HATES the vacuum cleaner. Screams at the top of her lungs when it gets turned on. From those videos and your description it seems like Rey likes the water, just might be weird about it. And thanks for your help, I was nervous that I might have a depressed bird.

I've had people tell me they thought I was nuts for recommending to use a vacuum cleaner in order to get their birds to bathe! And yet, they come back and tell me it works! LOL

It certainly doesn't work for my birds!


Casey, my first tiel I've had since she was 5 months old. Within the first year of her life she didn't like bathes at all. Because of this, I gave her bathes infrequently. Then one day, she loved it! She did the famous "cockatiel rain dance" and I was amazed! She's enjoyed bathes ever since! (via getting misted)



My conures though prefer open water bathes... i.e. a dish. Charlie even loves to dunk his feet into the water splashing it around, then dipping his head in and then flicking water all over the place.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEDT9_nheIY"]Charlie's Bath - YouTube[/ame]




Except for the time he bathed on the turkey... Ô.o

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrbLjhpPog"]Bird meets Bird - YouTube[/ame]