B&G macaw scared of showers / bathing

I'm not sure if this thread is in the right place here... anyway;

My 14 week old b&g is scared of showering and bathing, she either flies away or starts climbing in panic.
My other birds never had this reaction to showering, they liked it from the start.
Maybe i've been lucky with them or just unlucky with my b&g but i do prefer to bathe her every once in a while without having to force her.
What would should i do?
I've tried just taking her with me when i'm in the shower to at least make her feel comfortable in the bathroom and the sound of the water.
She's still young so i'm confident she'll understand some day but i don't want to mess it up by scaring her instead of motivating her.

Could you start by allowing her to stand on the divider of the (sanitized using avian safe cleaner) kitchen sink basin while running the faucet?---or even just try placing a large plastic (shallow) tray of water somewhere for her to splash in? Water should be no warmer than luke-warm...Too warm is bad. That tail is going to get in the way..just make sure that your home is warm afterwards and keep him/her away from drafts (if she gets wet).

If you want to try showers specifically, I would start very slowly. First, get her used to going into the bathroom without running water. Then, Let the water run and just stand by the bathroom door with your bird until she is comfortable...over time, take a step into the room with the water still running in the shower....then sit on the (CLOSED) toilet and just sort of hang out while the shower runs... Over time, open the curtain etc etc. Baby steps...

PS: If your bird has favorite treats or a favorite person, both can and should be paired with this process.

Any of those other birds still around?
the monkey-see monkey-do works great with parrots

My baby cockatiel didn't like/know what to do when I began misting him with the spray bottle but then he saw my other bird get into it, open both his wings and bend down and let me spray him, so the next time my other bird copied him and enjoyed himself!!

Maybe next time, let your bird see the other bids enjoying their shower (without forcing her into the shower, just watching) and let her decide if she wants it. You could also try a mist/spray bottle, in the sink, etc.

hmm i've tried having her see how my other birds bathe but it looked like it made her a little nervous and confused.
Right now i'm trying to let her sit on the side of the sink and i'm dripping some water on her with my hands with the tap only slightly opened.
She seems less afraid but still no fan.
Anyway.. baby steps i guess

Sunny hates hands above her in the shower, but will quite happily soak away sitting on my arm and resting her beak against my sternum or shoulder.
(She actually feel asleep like that a few weeks ago)


Do you shower together or do you bathe your bird apart fom you?


(I am lazy/practical and just go for the groupshower - I found it easier for me (and the bird) to just go for it together.

Like always: if you are having fun, chances are great your bird will join in ... )

same here christa,

plus there's some sort of logic in it right? Birds flock bathe, I'm a flock member, so all shall dive in at once!

You're not "unlucky" or "lucky" really, as birds really do seem to be hit-or-miss when it comes to how easily they take to showers/baths. Some automatically love to bathe in any way possible, some are indifferent to it, and some are scared to death of water in all forms. However, I've not ever had a bird who couldn't be eased-into eventually liking to take a shower. It's all about taking it slowly, at the bird's pace and not your pace. Some birds take to it sooner than others, but eventually they all do seem to eventually like it.

I'd start-out using the method Noodles described, where you keep taking him into the bathroom with you while you shower every day. Put him on a T-Stand or whatever he sits on and just put him in the bathroom every time you shower, so that he gets used to the sounds, to the steam, etc. It will also get him used to his feathers becoming a bit dampened from the steam. It can also help to attach a favorite toy of his to the stand, or something that he loves to chew on, so that he can work on it while he's in the bathroom, as it can help to associate the bathroom/shower with something he likes doing, and it can keep him occupied/entertained so he slowly forgets that he's "afraid" of the shower/bathroom. Once he seems like he has no fear at all of going into the bathroom with you while you shower, then you can move him closer and closer to the shower...It helps if you have a shower-perch for him, if you don't have one already, because you can stick it to the back wall of the shower and as far away from the water and the inside of the shower as you can, so that once he's comfortable sitting on his stand very close to the shower, then the next step is putting him on the shower-perch while it's attached to the back wall of the shower, still far away from the water. Then he'll be able to watch you taking a shower...and when he seems to be very comfortable sitting on the shower-perch while it's that far away from the shower, then you can slowly move the shower-perch closer and closer into the shower, until you get to the point where his shower perch will normally be when he's taking a shower. And once he's comfortable with sitting on the shower-perch in it's normal showering-position, then you can slowly start to get him wet by splashing some water from the outside shower stream on him, and so on and so forth, until he's actually taking a shower...

Just like anything else, with a bird who just hates showers right off the bat, it's going to take a while, and it's a slow process, a marathon, not a sprint. But this typically works very well. And once they realize that their feathers feel better after a shower, that their pin-feathers aren't itchy anymore, etc., then they start to associate showers with feeling better, and they do actually come to like taking a shower...

Hello, and thanks for reaching out and sharing.

Wonderful advice above.

With all the love and patience you're showing, I just know you'll work it all out. And maybe we'll get some photos or videos!

Oh...and plze ignore the bird if you are taking a shower-
if you keep staring or really checking his reaction all the time... it's telling the bird something is (probably) wrong.
(Otherwise you would not be tense and worried.)
(Staring is always a sign of agression or really, really needing to communicate something *urgent* )

Just get some shampoo in your eyes to distract yourself (or something much nicer- scrub your feet for example - anything that really grabs your attention) and let the bird work out its issues in relative peace.


I once got a cag over his irrational fear of showers by inviting a friend over and have a splash-fest, singing and throwing water all over the place (bird present but not invited to join, we ignored him like mad).
We had a blast and the next day he stoppend freaking out, and in a week was voluntarily walking in and out the spray and having his own splashfest / no singing though, he did not know any songs)

9 out of 10 times i shower together with my birds, i dont have a shower perch but instead i have a shower table at about 1.5m high. I think my other macaws prefer that over a perch becouse they can move around easier.
The showering is going a little better now!
I just put her on the table beside me when i take a shower and she'll just sit there and relax, when i put a little water on her she looks at me with a death stare but i'd say its improvement anyway

Hey progress...

not bad at all!

(Wow, I wish I had enough space in my bathroom for a table, Sunny would probably love that! She will have just to learn to bathe on the floor if she wants to run around.)

Creative use of a mister-bottle can be the gateway to an actual shower.

Buy a basic dollar store bottle, rinse thoroughly. Most have adjustable nozzles, so begin with a fine spray. One technique is to offset the bottle a foot or so and spray upwards and at an angle so the droplets fall from above. If agreeable, extend the duration and gradually increase the size of drops. At some point you may be able to directly target various parts of the body with a fine mist. Next step, hopefully the shower!

ChristaNL said:

I once got a cag over his irrational fear of showers by inviting a friend over and have a splash-fest, singing and throwing water all over the place (bird present but not invited to join, we ignored him like mad).
We had a blast and the next day he stoppend freaking out, and in a week was voluntarily walking in and out the spray and having his own splashfest / no singing though, he did not know any songs)

Click to expand...

It's funny that you mentioned that. We have a new b&g and he was terrified of spray bottles...maybe a previous owner used to spray him when he was bad. Yesterday my kids were running around spraying each other with squirt guns while he watched and he looked like he wanted some too. The spray bottle came outside and he went nuts! He had such a good time