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?

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.

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- Yellow Crowned Amazon, Iggy

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.

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?

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.

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- Yellow Crowned Amazon, Iggy

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.

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!!

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- Yellow Crowned Amazon, Iggy

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).

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Namaste, Anna

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

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

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