Luna's looking a bit ratty

[lizard]

Hi everyone! We've had Luna home for about 4 months now, making her 8 months old. She's doing really well and is HEALTHY! I'm so thankful.

She's much different than Jack in that she's an explorer who will leave the cage to find her foot toys on the floor to play with and throw around, or fly to the glass doors to look/listen outside.

She's looking disheveled and I'm wondering why if she eats the same and lives the same as Jack who is nice and smooth and glowing.

Pictures from today:

They bathe a bit differently too...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l_hR4v_8TTo

 

[Anansi]

Liz! So good to see an update from you!

Miss Luna sounds like quite the inquisitive little explorer. 8 months, eh? Wow. Time flies!

As for the difference in bathing styles, you can just boil that down to levels of enjoyment. She doesn't seem to mind getting a shower, but she doesn't exactly seem overly thrilled at the prospect, either. Lol!

Sometimes two birds will just have different preferences. Some prefer cooler water, some warmer. Some prefer gentler sprays, some more vigorous. Some prefer a bath to a shower. Or a misting over either. You may simply have found Jack's preference and not yet Luna's.

And on to the feathering. Could be that she's going through a bit of a heavy molt at the moment. Or she might be going at her preening with a little too much fervor.

In case it's the latter, you should probably increase her number of chew toys. Soft woods and shreddable things in particular. Adding foraging toys will also help in this regard, as it will stimulate the mind and take away from idle time that might be spent over zealously preening.

And in either case you might want to up her shower frequency as well. Even every day if possible.

How are they both getting along. btw? Have you been doing any more training with them?

 

[lizard]

Hi Stephen! Thanks so much for weighing in. I'm thinking I'll step up bath time a bit and maybe try with Luna on the sink perch where I can control the flow rate. She really is pitiful in the shower compared to Jack, haha.

My husband is always telling her to fix her feathers when he sees her and I've been wondering what's going on for a couple of months now. It has to be because it's been so dry in the house because she has SO much stuff to chew on in her cage.

 

[Anansi]

You're welcome, Liz!

Yeah, just try different variations of shower strength and temp. You might be surprised at what does it for her. But even her current apathy during shower time isn't bad. After all, like some people (sadly), some birds just aren't big fans of showering. But at least she's not trying to make a break for it. Make sure she gets a good drenching.

As for the dry air in your house potentially being the culprit, that is a definite possibility. Here is an excellent article on the effect that humidity levels can have on our birds: http://luchaschoice.blogspot.com/2009/01/importance-of-humidity-for-companion.html?m=1

You mention her having lots of chew toys, btw. Does she use them? Some birds have to be shown how to play with their toys.

 

[Uglow]

When it's hard for us to get the humidity up in the apartment, we bring Uglow into the shower with us just to hang out. I shower him once a day anyway, but when I take my shower I put his shower perch up high so he can enjoy the steam. My wife does the same. So he gets shower and steam sessions on most days. Nothing beats a shower conversation with your bird.

I also read that towel drying or blow drying might not be a good a thing. It claimed that the towel has the potential to mess up their feathers and the blow dryer is way too dry for them. I've stopped trying to dry Uglow and let him shake it off and preen himself naturally. According to what I read, part of the cleaning process happens after the shower. The water loosens the "dirt" and then they clean their feathers during their post shower preening.

I'm not as experienced as the a lot people here. So please don't take my word for it. Luna beautiful btw.

 

[Anansi]

Yeah, I've read the same thing about blow drying, though I'd never heard the thing about using a towel. I'm a believer in the natural drying and preening process as well. There's nothing like the look and feel of an ekkie's feathers after a good bath-n-preen.