Showers/Bathing - How much? Too much?

Keupi · Aug 29, 2007

I've always been confused about how much showering to give a fid and how much 'fid-fending' of their own feathers is fine.

Keupi has his own pool (OCF - Obsessive Compulsive about Feathers parront) but he tends to only wash his face and tail. Sometimes he goes in and get's all out birdie but it's rare (though fun). He has access to it daily and seems to like to play with water...

I shower him with a mister that's like rain about every other week. If he seems more itchy/scratchy then I shower him more. But I really don't know how much is enough/too much.

Can anyone help with the bathing?

Minzer84 · Aug 29, 2007

I asked Iggy's first vet about this, saying "How often should I shower him?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Every day!"...I think that may be excessive for an all out shower, but I think it's as much as the bird will enjoy it...for example, Iggy will not participate in a shower if he doesn't think he needs one, lol. I don't shower him often enough, but I think your best judgement is fine...And as far as "too much"...IMHO it doesn't exist. Hope that helps, I'm sure other people will have other perspectives.

Keupi · Aug 29, 2007

Minzer84 said:
I asked Iggy's first vet about this, saying "How often should I shower him?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Every day!"...I think that may be excessive for an all out shower, but I think it's as much as the bird will enjoy it...for example, Iggy will not participate in a shower if he doesn't think he needs one, lol. I don't shower him often enough, but I think your best judgement is fine...And as far as "too much"...IMHO it doesn't exist. Hope that helps, I'm sure other people will have other perspectives.

Thanks so much. I can laugh (thanks to Iggy) about the 'non' participate thing... Sometimes Keupi seems so offended and other times he acts like it's a spa treatment.

I don't know, with the bathing/shower, what's right (maybe there's no right?). Though I'm also happy to know that it's seems normal. He just goes through these water spells.

Christy · Aug 30, 2007

This is a good question. Maybe it depends on the bird. Hamlet loves showering. He gets literally into the shower every day and sits on his perch saying "water" and lowering his head down until we pick him up and put him under the stream. Then he is in heaven. Mac on the other hand hates the shower. He will fly away if we even try to get some spray on him. He chooses to use a water dish, but only when he feels like it, which seems to happen every couple days. I would really like him to bathe more, but it seems like he really hates it. Do you guys think there is a point when we should force the issue?

Minzer84 · Aug 30, 2007

If Mac is doing a decent job on his own, every few days, then that should be fine, and forcing the issue may just be reinforcing his hatred of water...if he NEVER showered that would be different...but since it's on his terms and he does it when he wants to, probably best to let it be.

Christy · Aug 30, 2007

I think your are right Minzer. The other thing is that sometimes he may bathe in his water dish while we are gone for the day and we would never know it, so he might be getting more then we thought. I thought he smelled a little musty after not showering for a couple days yesterday, then when I came home he smelled a little better. (Tex thinks I have a weird sniffer, very sensitive). I always wish I had a video camera so I could see what they do when we are gone.

Minzer84 · Aug 30, 2007

I would only really worry if his feathers started to look less than spectacular...but like I said, I definitely don't shower Iggy enough (his feathers always look pretty good anyway for some reason). But as long as his feathers are looking good, and he doesn't look like he's too itchy, I'm sure he's fine. I bet Tex smells musty after not showering for a few days too!!

Deanna · Aug 30, 2007

I also don't shower my fiddies as often as I probably should. But, one thing I do is do a mister/spritzer bottle on them when they are out playing. I also use a product called AviRain that I purchase from my vet.

I like to use the AviRain especially on lil Timothy after getting clipped. It helps keep the "bothersome itching" down. (During those times, and times of stress, I spritz three and four times a day).

pheobus · Aug 30, 2007

After listening to what you guys told me I shower Phoebus every day

, I believe it has helped a lot with the plucking as well!By the way he is doing very well on that, has almost stopped plucking at all, maybe a feather every 2-3 days...He is also going through a molt this period.Is it normal?When I am at home in the morning he loves to shower and asks for it,I also use a mister but I soak him to skin, his feathers look much better now and water helps the new ones out decreasing the itch...In the afternoon that he usually takes a shower he is quite grumpy:20_grumpy...

He growls a little bit but I will shower him anyway....

TexDot33 · Aug 30, 2007

Minzer84 said:
... I bet Tex smells musty after not showering for a few days too!!

Imagine, if you will, hot summer day, hot, sweaty Tex, baseball uniform that hasn't been washed for about a week ...

THIS IS EASY COMPARED TO WHAT IT USED TO BE

In high school, it was hockey practice in the morning, school ... hockey practice at night (equipment, underclothing still soaked from the morning's practice ...) and this occurred every day ... the equipment was never aired out until the end of the season ... and this wasn't just me, it was 22 guys ...

Deanna · Aug 30, 2007

TexDot33 said:
Imagine, if you will, ...

Let's not and say we did.

ParrotKid · Aug 31, 2007

Only have experience with our Amazon "Cha Cha", I read several articles that said to many showers gets them cranky, because it does something to kick a natural hormonal drive.

Keupi · Aug 31, 2007

Thanks so much.

I wish I could shower him after a wing-clip, but he also get's a pedicure too and, well, let's just say that's never an enjoyable experience for anyone. He's a bit of a peeved-parrot and I tend not to push things.

Minzer, I think you are right when it comes to the bird. I also wonder sometimes if it has anything to do with the natural habitat. Like fids from rain forests enjoy it more and fids from more arid climates enjoy it less?

Then again, would it be too much to ask him if I just gave him a pair of swim trunks and a loofah and said 'get back to me?'

NicoleN · Aug 31, 2007

Keupi- I think that possibly smaller birds (lovebirds, parakeets) prefer a bird bath and larger birds prefer to be misted. Of course I could be completely off, but oh well.

Gigi loves to be misted every day. It's one of the only times that he makes any kind of sound. I think he would LOVE the shower, but I know there's a chance we might not ever make it there.

Sisqo on the other hand enjoys showers, but not daily. Probably 3x a week is his max. If I bust out the squirt bottle and he doesn't want to be misted, he'll sit on the opposite side of his cage until I put it away.

Keupi · Aug 31, 2007

I have to laugh at the tell-tale ways fids say no to a bath - maybe it could become a top-10 list? At the very least I've decided to wait on setting up a slip and slide water park in my living room (LOL).

pheobus · Aug 31, 2007

Nicole is it just my Amazon that becomes very vocal(not screaming but only chatting quitely) everyday after her shower or yours do it too?
It was after as hower she came too close to saying her name clearly the first time, then she didn't get it clearly enough for some time and a couple of days ago she said it again...I think it was accidental b/c she doesn't stick to it...

NicoleN · Aug 31, 2007

Pheob- Both of my 'Zons are on the quiet side. I guess you can say I've been blessed, haha. Sisqo has started to become louder though. Especially whenever we run the vacuum or give him the occassional blow dry. Plus he's become big on flock calls. Of course each Amazon is different, but I've noticed that Gigi only chats when he gets a shower and directly after. Next time you notice Pheobus chatting and he says a word, make sure to make a HUGE deal out of it...lot's of praise and attention. That way he'll be more consistent with the words.

Keupi- Birds can be pretty silly when they try to tell you they WANT a bath too! Apparently I'd been pretty negligent with my shower giving and Sisqo started shoving his pellets up his water bottle to make the water drip out. I'd heard of birds doing that before, but never saw it. It took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. I thought he was just being a bit weird.

When I went to Hartman Aviary, it rained. There was a caique that was on a rope perch, doing flips around the rope with his wings spread out. It was too funny. Wish I would've gotten a video of it.

Keupi · Aug 31, 2007

NicoleN said:
Pheob- Both of my 'Zons are on the quiet side. I guess you can say I've been blessed, haha. Sisqo has started to become louder though. Especially whenever we run the vacuum or give him the occassional blow dry. Plus he's become big on flock calls. Of course each Amazon is different, but I've noticed that Gigi only chats when he gets a shower and directly after. Next time you notice Pheobus chatting and he says a word, make sure to make a HUGE deal out of it...lot's of praise and attention. That way he'll be more consistent with the words.

Keupi- Birds can be pretty silly when they try to tell you they WANT a bath too! Apparently I'd been pretty negligent with my shower giving and Sisqo started shoving his pellets up his water bottle to make the water drip out. I'd heard of birds doing that before, but never saw it. It took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. I thought he was just being a bit weird.

When I went to Hartman Aviary, it rained. There was a caique that was on a rope perch, doing flips around the rope with his wings spread out. It was too funny. Wish I would've gotten a video of it.

That's so funny Nicole - Keupi loves sticking dehydrated fruit into water (and up the water bottle 'spickit') because it's fun to see it expand. Yet he's also been known to go and break the bottle (chew the top), then run in and shower under it. However, if I mist him during the 'seek and destroy bottle missions' he's downright peeved.

pheobus · Aug 31, 2007

Pheob- Both of my 'Zons are on the quiet side. I guess you can say I've been blessed, haha. Sisqo has started to become louder though. Especially whenever we run the vacuum or give him the occassional blow dry. Plus he's become big on flock calls. Of course each Amazon is different, but I've noticed that Gigi only chats when he gets a shower and directly after. Next time you notice Pheobus chatting and he says a word, make sure to make a HUGE deal out of it...lot's of praise and attention. That way he'll be more consistent with the words.

Oh, I do make a fuss when she tries hard and almost gets to say something quite clearly...but I find she is more motivated if I have a piece of her favourite coconut biscuits in hand

....Also my Phoebus is quite for an amazon always..Just some flock calls more often some mornings are the loud moments she has...After the shower she is chatting, mumbling, whistling and some weird low frequency shrieks that make us laugh...

amberinga · Aug 27, 2009

Our GCC, Mikey loves to shower with us! WE just bought him on Saturday and he is really taking to us (me mostly).

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