Winter Bathing

[Anita1250]

It has gotten really cold here in NY. I know that my Sammy wants and needs a bath, but sometimes I get worried about him getting too cold. He had a bath this morning. We put the heat up and turned on the heat lamp in the bathroom. Afterwards, he was wrapped in a towel and blow dried.

How does everyone else bathe their Amazons in the winter when it is cold and nasty out?

 

[bill_e]

In the winter I keep my house in New Hampshire at 64° during the day and Nike takes bathes in her water bowl about once every 2 weeks. We don't do anything special, I figure if she decides to bathe she must think it's warm enough

 

[Kiwibird]

I turn on the fire (we have a little electric woodstove thing) in the living room and let that warm up the room while I bathe Kiwi in the shower, then I put him back on his cage to dry off and leave the fire running for an hour or 2 afterwards. He’s always pretty happy and I’ve never seen him shaking or shivering.

 

[noodles123]

Wish I could say the same..Maybe my bird is just a giant baby but today I sprayed her in a 74 degree house and you would have thought I put ice on her (although she wanted to be sprayed). I am not sure how to heat the house when bathing after her reaction today...She's done this for years.

 

[texsize]

This is a topic I worry over every year.
Bingo likes to take showers with me but we don't do it often in winter, 1 a month or so.
I turn up the heat till he looks to be dried off.

I tried to bathe Luna in the shower but she completely panicked.
I don't think I can separate the 2 long enough for a shower.
If I see Luna taking a bath in her water dish I will help out with a spray bottle and turn up the heat a little.

 

[bill_e]

Wish I could say the same..Maybe my bird is just a giant baby but today I sprayed her in a 74 degree house and you would have thought I put ice on her (although she wanted to be sprayed). I am not sure how to heat the house when bathing after her reaction today...She's done this for years.

What if you left bathing up to her. I put a large (32oz) water bowl on her daytime perch. Eventually she just takes a bath in it and funny thing is that she seems to like to bathe right after I've changed the water with fresh, cold water.

 

[noodles123]

I do and she does, but she still acts cold! Brat...

 

[bill_e]

I think that birds are naturally hardy creatures but perhaps if your house it climate controlled to 74° that she's become acclimated to that and does not tolerate temperature swings as well as a bird like mine that only has the minimum temp controlled and sees seasonal temp swings in the house through a year of about 58-95°.

I've seen Nike while camping and spending the day outside ignore her water bowl all day with temps in the 80's only to decide to take a bath at dusk when the temp has dropped to 60 and we're putting on sweaters.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think that birds are naturally hardy creatures but perhaps if your house it climate controlled to 74° that she's become acclimated to that and does not tolerate temperature swings as well as a bird like mine that only has the minimum temp controlled and sees seasonal temp swings in the house through a year of about 58-95°.

The genetic line that led to the feathery dinosaurs in our living rooms has survived a few mass extinction events. Seems these rather durable creatures should be able to withstand drying off in a heated house during the winter I mean, I wouldn’t give a tropical bird a bath outside in sub freezing temperatures, but it does get into the 50s and 60s in the rainforest and it does rain there so... I do personally prefer warming things up a little above normal for my bird because I can, though I doubt he’d drop dead if he dried off in a 67 degree room after a bath.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Its !@#*&% cold here too. Amy showers with me,not as much in the winter though. I wrap him in a towel and roll him around a little and pat him down. Looking into a proper feather drier now.



jim

 

[Anita1250]

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one worried about the bath! Sammy dried off well, and today is his old (spoiled) self. LOL

 

[Flboy]

I don’t bother with heating my house, never gets below 58 for a couple hours inside! When it is that cold, I do warm the bathroom up for him!

 

[bill_e]

Cold, what cold? 33" of snow this week and yes, Nike also took a bath in her bowl.

 

[SailBoat]

Just a bit of a heads-up for the upper midwest of the US as we are about to receive a true shot of very cold air from our good Canada friends. So, its going to look a lot more like Winter this week!

Winter Bathing in the Great White North can be tricky as there should always be a concern of deep cold drafts that target our Parrots! Parrots will and should shake when they are wet and/or cold as it is a built-in method for them to create warmth.

How a Parrot takes a bath is as personal as there are Parrots. Our Big King Double Yellow-Head Amazon Loves his Soft Misting Spray falling from on-high! And, if anyone has some question about HIS choice, he will be happy to remove a finger of your or his choice. And as far as Timing, that is fully based on when 'The King' wants his 'Soft Misting Spray.'

 

[bill_e]

Nothing like the smell of a wet parrot on your shoulder.