Amazon Bathing

[forbey]

Skittles tends to bath two or three times a week, in his water bowl. It is kind of comical to watch him try to get water to where he needs it. He usually does it shortly after I change his water in the morning. (Yes, as soon as the bath is over, I wash the dish and refill it.) he seems to like bathing in cold water, it is colder when I first fill it than at room temperature.

I want to try and introduce him to a less strenuous bathing opportunity.

If I were to put him on a perch in the shower, or in a larger bird bath.

Should I use cold, luke-warm or warm water. (No hot ... never did like boiled chicken anyway.)

(Sorry, the chicken reference is strictly inside joke ...inside my head, LOL. When I approach his cage and move in close to the bars, I usually rub my thumb and forefinger together and ask him to give me some "chicken". He sticks his beak through the bars and fluffs up his feathers for me to scratch his head or neck.)

Forbey

 

[SandyBee]

I use luke warm in the shower.

My DYH favorite shower is outside (I bring his cage on to my deck) in the sun with a garden hose on the shower/mist settings!!

 

[RitaS]

My bird does the same thing with his water bowl. I just took it to mean he wants a bath. I have a spray bottle and just go to town on Norman. He loves it! I used to fill bath tub with an inch or so of coolish water but he walked under the facet an got knocked down before I could catch him and has never liked it since. Love the Chicken comment! My partner calls Norman the "Fancy Chicken" or when he slides down his cage "Stripper Bird." My mother used threaten him with Norman Fricassee when he's being nasty...Terms of endearment

 

[gemini84]

prince and bruno will try and bathe in their water dish too, even though i bought a larger bowl just for this, they prefer trying to squeeze in the smaller one. like Rita, when i see them doing this ill spray them with the spray bottle. Oxy has been trying to copy prince and bruno's bathing habit but all he suceeds in doing is getting a wet face, water in his nose and water on the floor.

I also give them showers. The water temp is totally upto the birds preference. Prince and bruno like it cold outta the tap (its pretty warm up here so there is no chill in the water) oxy on the other hand likes his warm showers. only way to find the answer to that question is by trial and error

 

[JerseyWendy]

Whenever the outside temps allow it, I take both my Amazons outside, place them on the back of a garden chair and mist them with the hose (set on MIST). They go absolutely crazy!

On cooler days I use a mister in the house, and fill it up with warm water. They like that as well, but they do prefer the great outdoors.

 

[RitaS]

My vet lectured me about not bathing Norman enough in the winter. So I started to do it more but one day he was shaking so I raised the heat & he still was shaking. I got out my blow dryer, kept it on medium setting about a foot away from him. He was on top of cage and I was inside blowing up. He was scared at first from the noise but within a couple of minutes he was laughing and dancing on top of the air. No more shivering.

 

[BACON]

Interesting. My bf zon hates a shower from a spray bottle. She also won't use other water trays I put in the cage for her BUT she to will use her water dish. Anything else is a big no no. I even took her out side in a light shower and she hated it??!!!

 

[forbey]

Whenever the outside temps allow it, I take both my Amazons outside, place them on the back of a garden chair and mist them with the hose (set on MIST). They go absolutely crazy!

On cooler days I use a mister in the house, and fill it up with warm water. They like that as well, but they do prefer the great outdoors.

Are your birds clipped, harnesed or just well trained?

I think, at this point, I could only allow Skittles to bath outside if I had an outside cage. As soon as we get settled into the new house, I hope to begin building an outside aviary. (Can't leave him outside alone without being in a cage. Either the hawks, owls, vultures or the local eagle might find him appetizing. Plus coyotes, raccoons and other pests.)

 

[RitaS]

I have Norman's wings clipped at the beginning of the summer. He can still glide but can't really fly up. Still need to be cautious. My bird is not trained. Like Wendy's birds he loves baths outside. I usually roll his cage out. But NEVER leave him alone. Figure I can rinse it and him at the same time. You might want to try spraying up with bottle or hose so the water is falling on them as opposed to at them, like rain. It can scare them at first if you just start shooting water at them. That's how I start then he gets really into it and I can spray under his wings. Like the picture I attached earlier. He will strut around with his wings open for a long time. I've given him baths as long as 20-30 minutes! Oddly he doesn't respond the same when other people try to bath him.

 

[Karigan]

They can never just settle in their water bowl and bath like wild birds can they? Mine all dart around their cages and dive-bomb their bowls when they run by.