How many is too many?

[trimblegirls]

How many bathes in a week do you give your conure? I'm in Northern CA and it's cold. My house isn't exactly a constant lovely temperature. We use a wood burning stove for heat. In the morning, before the fire gets going it's probably 65 which isn't that cold but if you're wet... I don't even want to shower before the house warms up. I generally wait until the house heats up before giving Telly a bathe and only once a week. But twice this week, I've had him on my shoulder when I went to do the dishes and he's climbed down my arm as I'm just about to start the water and gotten into my hands under the water. I knew he liked taking bathes but he gets very excited just seeing running water. Do they know when they need a bathe or is it he knows he likes it and wants it? How often is too often? I don't want to ruin his feathers. It's just warm water but....
Also, because the house is cold and he's soaking wet I turn the blow dryer on warm and put it on me so the air bounces off onto him. It's not enough to get hot just a little warm. It's blowing mainly on my face and I can easily stand the temperature. I do that for about 5 minutes just so he's not soaking wet. I know the dangers of cooking my little guy.

Thanks for your help

 

[SailBoat]

Well, if you have a water baby like my Amazon, he would be in and out of the water all day long! If there is a shower underway, he is there! If he hears running water, guess who is there. Thank God, he hasn't figured out that the toilet hold water!

Short of being wet all the time, as long as they are there and ready, bathe away!

Dryers are iffy, cool to slightly warm!

 

[GaleriaGila]

The Rickeybird isn't an eager bather which probably fits in with his origins in dry, dusty Patagonia. I should have said that he isn't an avid bather in WATER. In days past (in New Mexico) when I didn't know better, he loved to jump to the ground out of doors into dusty spots (of which there are plenty there) and dust-bathe like a finch or songbird. After he finished, he would shake off a big cloud and be surprisingly clean-looking.

 

[Flboy]

My JoJo, every three days. Let him hang in your shirt till dry.

 

[wrench13]

Salty is not a water baby and gets his spray shower once a week. I soak him good, towel dry him ( which he likes ) and then he goes into his cage with the room heater tilted just enogh to get warm air circulating. But he will still run over to his water bowl and finish off the job I did. Like - you missed a spot, Dad.

 

[SailBoat]

My JoJo, every three days. Let him hang in your shirt till dry.

With an Amazon its: Did you spill your beer or did your Amazon dry himself in there!

 

[EllenD]

All birds are different when it comes to bathing, and it seems historically (for my guys anyway) that conures love bathing. I've had 2 green cheek conures and they both have absolutely loved bathing. My current green cheek, Bowie, is almost a year old and he gives himself a bath pretty much every day in his water bowl as soon as I fill it. Short of taking his drinking water away there would be no way for me to stop him, and in my opinion there isn't a reason to stop him. He gets in the shower with me when he wants to, I give all my birds the option every day when I get in, but Bowie the green cheek and Lita the Quaker typically have already had a bath in their big stainless steel water bowl first thing in the morning. So by the time I get in the shower they've already washed and dried. I fill their stainless steel bowl that is attached to their T-stand at least three times a day because of their bathing. My cockatiel hates baths, she has no interest at all in bathing (of course it's the dusty bird that hates baths), so I put her in the shower with me once a week just to help with the dust, especially if she's molting, as a warm shower helps them with pin feathers (getting the keratin sheaths from around the new feathers). My Senegal parrot is still pretty young and he hasn't decided if he likes showers or baths yet or not. He's never bathed on his own in his bowl, but he does tend to jump in the shower with me every day (I think because he just wants to be in there with me). I'm happy if he gets in every day, he smells good, his feathers look great, and it helps with molting.

My best answer to your question is that if your conure wants to bath every day, then let him! If he doesn't want to bath every day, then don't force him, I'd say giving a bird a bath that hates baths is something that should be done once a week or every other week, just like a child that doesn't like to take a bath. They need to stay clean but weekly or bi-weekly is enough, unless they get into something of course. But bathing every day won't hurt your conure, except the possibility of dry skin. Daily bathing won't ruin his feathers, birds in the wild bath daily or are in the rain daily, their feathers aren't negatively effected by water, rather the opposite. As I said their skin may dry out, and using a good aloe vera spray made for birds weekly or bi-weekly can help that problem. I use a bath/molt-ease spray made by Ecotrition that is specifically made for birds and contains not only aloe vera and lanolin, but also purcehn oil, which is the same oil they secrete naturally from their preen gland and they rub on their feathers with their beaks when they preen themselves. When they are dry you give them a couple of good sprays with it, wetting their feathers. I use it weekly on the cockatiel and the green cheek, the green cheek because he baths daily and it keeps his skin moisturized, and the cockatiel because she has been going through a horribly rough molt for the last month. It seems to help them both, but I use it sparingly because it is quite oily.

The blow dryer I'm not sure about, I've never tried it (I think it would freak my guys out). I'd be worried #1 about burning/cooking my bird, and #2 horribly drying their skin out. That being said you certainly don't want your bird to be chilled every day after his bath. I encourage you to allow him to take a warm bath daily if he wants to, it's good for them and if he enjoys it that much then it is very good for him, but I'd either dry him well with a towel and possibly keep him wrapped in a towel until he dries, or ideally (some solution to your problem) I'd get a bird-safe space heater or better yet a cage heater made specifically for bird cages, and each day after his bath you should dry him as best you can with a small towel and then place him in his cage by the heater until he's dry, then let him back out, or whatever his schedule is of course... This is only my personal opinion. If your house is that cold I'd be online finding a cage heater immediately, regardless of whether or not he bathes, as he should never be cold, and a cage heater made specifically for bird cages is a much safer and consistent solution than a blow dryer or a space heater.



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[OutlawedSpirit]

I don't think that bathing him, even every day, is a bad thing if that's what he wants. My Chicken would take a shower 3 times a day if I'd let her. My house is usually between 67 and 70, and I don't worry too much about her being too cold. She will sit on my shoulder for like 5 minutes after her shower, then she wants to go on her stand or into her cage to do her own thing and preen. I have tried wrapping her in a towel to dry her off, and she is not a fan at all, so I don't bother.

I would be really iffy about the blow drying, since some blow driers contain Teflon which can be fatal for birds.

 

[GaleriaGila]

OS....................... wow. Teflon! I forgot all about that!!!
I recall now that we should check with manufacturers about that, which I did. It was just so long ago. The FireAndSafetyOfficer where I worked was able to research and reassure me.

THANKS for catching that.

 

[Flboy]

My JoJo, every three days. Let him hang in your shirt till dry.

With an Amazon its: Did you spill your beer or did your Amazon dry himself in there!

Duh! If I don't have my shirt off, sucking on it, then it was the bird!

 

[EllenD]

OS....................... wow. Teflon! I forgot all about that!!!
I recall now that we should check with manufacturers about that, which I did. It was just so long ago. The FireAndSafetyOfficer where I worked was able to research and reassure me.

THANKS for catching that.

I completely blanked on the Teflon as well!!! Oh my, that could be awful, especially if it's a newer blow dryer...GOOD CATCH!

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[Allee]

If 65 degrees Fahrenheit is your lowest inside temperature, your bird should be fine. I would probably wait until your house has warmed up before encouraging lots of bathing for pleasure, a couple of baths a week during the cold season will probably be sufficient but I don't think I'd insist that all bathing stop.

Please be extremely cautious using blow dryers near birds, blow dryers may have parts coated with a non stick substance that when heated may cause PTFE toxicosis in birds. The same can be true of space heaters and various other small appliances.

Another friendly word of caution, just because a product is manufactured specifically for birds does not necessarily guarantee it is completely safe. If you have misgivings about a product, take the extra step, contact the manufacturer and even then, if you don't trust the answer, don't take the chance.

 

[texsize]

Salty is not a water baby and gets his spray shower once a week. I soak him good, towel dry him ( which he likes ) and then he goes into his cage with the room heater tilted just enogh to get warm air circulating. But he will still run over to his water bowl and finish off the job I did. Like - you missed a spot, Dad.

You just described my Bingo. I take him into the shower with me (not often in winter). I hold him in my hand and let the shower spray bounce off my shoulder and indirectly get him wet.
No mater how wet he gets in the shower he has to use his water bowl to finish the job.

wes