Bird Baths? Please weigh in...

[Minimaker]

Hey guys, I have a question. I'm in the market for some type of waterfall style bird bath for my goffins. Mako panics the bathtub, panics in the shower, literally pulled a button off my kitchen sink faucet trying to pull himself out of it. He plucks if he gets too nervous and he can't handle stress at all. He will bathe in his small water dish that doesn't get all of him wet, but runs like heck from a spray bottle. I'm at my wits end so I need to get something stationary that he may get used to in time and try to bath himself in. I saw this and I'm wondering what you guys think of it (I plan to protect the cord by putting it through a small PVC pipe he can't chew through).

Repti Rapids LED Waterfall Rock Style Large | eBay

There is also this one which wouldn't allow him to get underneath the water flow as well because it seems too low:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291589907914?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and this one which doesn't seem to have as large of a dish area to bathe in and doesn't seem to be made of as sturdy material which makes me worry about chewing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321897697312?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

So which of these would you pick for a medium sized parrot? Do any of these seem safe to you? I would rather have a running water fountain than a stagnant bowl of water. He tends to ignore bowls of water I sit out, but a running water fountain might jog his curiosity in time. This is such a nervous bird that I don't want to keep trying to get him wet myself-I'd rather he do it because showering him makes him fear me.

 

[ToMang07]

Have you tried a shower perch?

 

[Aquila]

Check the home and garden section of Lowes or Home depot, they have some fountains with the plants and such, you can also check out ones that are marketed as bird baths for wild birds.

 

[bigbluemacaw]

Hey guys, I have a question. I'm in the market for some type of waterfall style bird bath for my goffins. Mako panics the bathtub, panics in the shower, literally pulled a button off my kitchen sink faucet trying to pull himself out of it. He plucks if he gets too nervous and he can't handle stress at all. He will bathe in his small water dish that doesn't get all of him wet, but runs like heck from a spray bottle. I'm at my wits end so I need to get something stationary that he may get used to in time and try to bath himself in. I saw this and I'm wondering what you guys think of it (I plan to protect the cord by putting it through a small PVC pipe he can't chew through).

Repti Rapids LED Waterfall Rock Style Large | eBay

There is also this one which wouldn't allow him to get underneath the water flow as well because it seems too low:
New Pioneer Pet Big Max Pet Ceramic Drinking Fountain Fast Free Shipping | eBay

and this one which doesn't seem to have as large of a dish area to bathe in and doesn't seem to be made of as sturdy material which makes me worry about chewing:
Big Dog Pet Fountain Large Pet Dogw Re | eBay

So which of these would you pick for a medium sized parrot? Do any of these seem safe to you? I would rather have a running water fountain than a stagnant bowl of water. He tends to ignore bowls of water I sit out, but a running water fountain might jog his curiosity in time. This is such a nervous bird that I don't want to keep trying to get him wet myself-I'd rather he do it because showering him makes him fear me.

Hi, I'm sure you have tried this so please accept my apologies. Have you tried sitting him on top of the shower rail when you shower and just 'getting on' with washing yourself normally? I do this with Blue but generally make pretty daft noises with him as he chunters laughs etc. etc. above me. When I first put him in the shower he hated it and was clearly very uncomfortable, but after a couple of weeks of daily observation (watching Daddy wash - and sing he became increasingly interested in the proceedings! Subsequent to that, he now showers on my arm every day for around 5 minutes (after I've washed), at a nice temperature (for me and him) happily and now even jabbers on whilst he's going it.
I appreciate that by the sounds of it your bird has a nervous disposition so this may not work, but I have found that Birds (like Children) learn by example and what 'Mummy' or 'Daddy' does is rapidly accepted as normal 'flock' behaviour. I don't know, but try it - Goffins are great fun and you may soon find his fear subsides. Good luck and lots of love from Blue and his Daddy x

[ame="https://youtu.be/8sjsYsBRn3c"]Blue; Playtime with Daddy! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Minimaker]

This is a super nervous bird. At first I had a good lovey relationship with him but I noticed that handling him much at all caused him to grab his wing feathers and viciously over preen and chew them, so now we don't pick him up unless we have to because it happens every single time we do. He can be petted about three times only on his head or else he goes into chew mode and chews off his outer feathers. It's almost like a sexual frustration thing I think. Getting him dancing on top of his cage and excited was fun, until I noticed the over-excitement caused him to chew his feathers afterward so we can't do that at all now. He have to watch all interactions with him because it doesn't take much to set him off. It's always a fine line we walk with this bird. My mother in law was back here for a week, and she gave him too much attention like we were doing previously. One night we went to bed and she was left downstairs with Mako by herself. He decided he wanted her and wasn't going to take no for an answer. He screamed incessantly (we sleep with a fan running upstairs so we didn't know) and she ended up having to cover him with a sheet so she could sleep. She has back and neck issues so she sleeps in an upright recliner which put her within sight of the bird. He went into a total fit and chewed all his outer feathers off his chest in one night because he couldn't get to her and couldn't see her anymore and she wouldn't respond to his screaming (which we don't either so that wasn't the problem). I ordered him Avicalm and Featheriffic supplements and we asked her to ignore him for the rest of her stay :-( He has so many toys and things to chew, a great diet or healthy pellets and fresh chop, plus Goldenfeast Caribbean Delight dried fruit and nut blend. He gets plenty of out of cage time on his play top. I tried to have him out on a playstand with stuff to do on it but he wants to be near his cage all the time (the last owners never let him out because they were afraid of him-they had only owned tiels before so they were used to much smaller birds).

I have tried a shower perch, and I have tried taking him in with me on my hand but he flaps wildly the whole time and then holds a grudge against me the rest of the day and will literally run from me afterward. He hates it that much. I have a free standing pvc perch and I've tried putting him on it outside the tub while I shower or take a bath to get him used to it. He never gets used to it. I talk and talk to him to no avail. He's a nervous wreck the whole time because he expects to be put in. It's damaging my already fragile relationship with him and I'd rather find another hands off way to do this. This bird has so many issues already that this is making it worse, which stress gets him plucking while calm keeps him off himself.

I need something light enough to go on top his cage where he hangs out during the day. So these were my best options. I just don't know which would be best to buy.

 

[Minimaker]

Hey guys, I have a question. I'm in the market for some type of waterfall style bird bath for my goffins. Mako panics the bathtub, panics in the shower, literally pulled a button off my kitchen sink faucet trying to pull himself out of it. He plucks if he gets too nervous and he can't handle stress at all. He will bathe in his small water dish that doesn't get all of him wet, but runs like heck from a spray bottle. I'm at my wits end so I need to get something stationary that he may get used to in time and try to bath himself in. I saw this and I'm wondering what you guys think of it (I plan to protect the cord by putting it through a small PVC pipe he can't chew through).

Repti Rapids LED Waterfall Rock Style Large | eBay

There is also this one which wouldn't allow him to get underneath the water flow as well because it seems too low:
New Pioneer Pet Big Max Pet Ceramic Drinking Fountain Fast Free Shipping | eBay

and this one which doesn't seem to have as large of a dish area to bathe in and doesn't seem to be made of as sturdy material which makes me worry about chewing:
Big Dog Pet Fountain Large Pet Dogw Re | eBay

So which of these would you pick for a medium sized parrot? Do any of these seem safe to you? I would rather have a running water fountain than a stagnant bowl of water. He tends to ignore bowls of water I sit out, but a running water fountain might jog his curiosity in time. This is such a nervous bird that I don't want to keep trying to get him wet myself-I'd rather he do it because showering him makes him fear me.

Hi, I'm sure you have tried this so please accept my apologies. Have you tried sitting him on top of the shower rail when you shower and just 'getting on' with washing yourself normally? I do this with Blue but generally make pretty daft noises with him as he chunters laughs etc. etc. above me. When I first put him in the shower he hated it and was clearly very uncomfortable, but after a couple of weeks of daily observation (watching Daddy wash - and sing he became increasingly interested in the proceedings! Subsequent to that, he now showers on my arm every day for around 5 minutes (after I've washed), at a nice temperature (for me and him) happily and now even jabbers on whilst he's going it.
I appreciate that by the sounds of it your bird has a nervous disposition so this may not work, but I have found that Birds (like Children) learn by example and what 'Mummy' or 'Daddy' does is rapidly accepted as normal 'flock' behaviour. I don't know, but try it - Goffins are great fun and you may soon find his fear subsides. Good luck and lots of love from Blue and his Daddy x

[ame="https://youtu.be/8sjsYsBRn3c"]Blue; Playtime with Daddy! - YouTube[/ame]

Oh my gosh your bird is so beautiful and funny! Lucky you

 

[Minimaker]

Have you tried a shower perch?

Willow is gorgeous by the way

 

[Kiwibird]

I would look at that reptile waterfall since it is pet-safe materials. I was actually going to suggest one of those first thing when I started reading this. They aren't exactly like a fountain, but a bird might like to stick their head under it or even just the very gentle running water noise may encourage bathing if nothing else. Make sure it is the kind you can partially submerge so you can put it in a shallow pan of water so he can bird bath or play around with the water coming out of the water fall.

 

[Minimaker]

I was looking at it tonight with my husband, and he looked up some alternate views of it that showed there really wasn't a way for him to stick his head under that one. It looks nicer, more natural-but it has a very shallow basin at the bottom for the water to collect in. Very shallow. He could barely get his butt in there if he tried. So we looked further through the listings and found the one below:
Drinkwell PetSafe Outdoor Indoor Large Big Dog Pet Fountain Auto Waterer 3 5 Gal | eBay
which he said he could build a square wooden box to cover the upper part of it to prevent chewing. It will look ugly, but should function the best of the three. There is a short water fall, a decent sized basin made for big dogs and made to resist big dog chewing. I'm sure if it's safe for dogs to chew then it will be ok for a medium sized parrot. I should have just showed him to begin with, because he could have helped me without having to bother you guys with it. I didn't know what was best and couldn't make up my mind. His reasoning helped me figure it out. Thanks guys, much appreciated for your points of view.