Bird Care

BATHING YOUR BIRD

Most parrots enjoy bathing, though not all do. Most parrots come from areas where the annual rainfall can average up to 350 inches a year. That is a lot of rain! Whether or not your bird enjoys bathing all parrots do benefit from a bath. There are many reasons why you should bathe your bird. Bathing helps to relieve dry skin. Feather condition may be improved as well. Bathing also help to make them feel better. It encourages healthy preening. Bathing has also been shown to help birds that are feather pluckers. For birds such as cockatoos and other powdery birds, it will also help cut down on the amount of powder that they produce. This is important for people who have allergies, have lung problems, or other health related issues. For other birds such Amazons and Pionus who have a strong smell to them, bathing helps to make them smell much better. It should be considered as an important part in grooming your bird.

But how do you bathe your bird? Is there one way that is better than the other? As with everything else, each bird is an individual and they will have their own preference, and as long as they enjoy it, then it is a good method.

So what are some safe ways to bathe your bird?

Some birds, especially the smaller ones such as budgies, enjoy bathing in a shallow dish of water. Many of them practically roll around until every square inch of them is drenched. They seem to have so much fun and their owners could sit and watch them splashing around all day long. Water may be flying everywhere, but they are having a great time. If you don’t want to have water all over the place, lay a towel down under their little tub. I used to own a budgie that loved to bathe but his companion didn’t. She hated being bathed. She wouldn’t have anything to do with bathing. He finally had enough of her not bathing and he actually pushed her into the water and started to splash her. He wouldn’t let her leave the little dish of water. He would do this every time I gave him his little dish. Eventually she started to enjoy the water and learned to splash around and have a good time.

Other birds enjoy being misted. They will spread their wings wide in an effort to get as wet as possible. Some will even wag their tails just to assure that it gets just as wet as the rest of them. Like the above method this can also be messy. My Amazon, Charlie is a water loving bird as well. He loves being misted and it isn’t enough until he is soaking wet. He will open his wings, place them in front of him like he is praying, he will hide his head under his wings. He loves it!

 Still there are the birds who love to go into the shower, with or without their owners. Like all the birds above they won’t come out until they are drenched. My macaw Tiny loves this method because he can get wet a lot faster than he could if he were misted. When he goes into the shower with me there is only one problem. He hogs all the water!

There are even those birds that love to bathe in the kitchen sink! If your bird likes this method make sure the sink is clean and that you place a towel or a mat in the sink so they can’t hurt themselves in the drain. The sink is also slippery and the mat or towel will help provide a little more stability for your bird.

 Out on the market there are several products available for your birds bathing experience. There is everything from a little tub with a mirror inside to specially designed shower perches that are designed to hold even the largest birds. All these products are good to use. You could even use a pie tin for the smaller birds.

 As I mentioned Tiny loves to bathe. He doesn’t care how he gets wet, as long as he gets drenched. Now that summer is finally here, he is even more excited about bathing. I bought him one of those small plastic kiddie pools. I put a few inches of water in it, along with a few toys and he splashes around just like a little kid. The hardest part is getting him out. He just wants to stay in the pool and play.

 One of my friends even uses the backyard hose set on spray on his macaw and he loves it.

 Some birds will even try bathing in their water dishes. If your bird does this it is best to switch to a water bottle.

 Other smaller birds may even enjoy rubbing up against wet veggies to get their bath.

 Does the temperature matter to your bird? I have found that right out of the lukewarm tap water works best especially in the winter. During the summer most enjoy cooler water, not cold. After all, these birds are rainforest birds and when the rain is coming down it is cool. Do not use hot water since this could burn your bird. This is a problem for people who like to take hot showers and take their birds into the shower with them. You could use lukewarm water and learn to take a colder shower.

What about the best times to bathe your bird? Generally any time works good except it is not good to bathe them right at bedtime, especially in the winter. It tends to be colder at night and while cold doesn’t hurt your bird, sudden drafts might. Don’t let your bird go to sleep wet. Wait until they are dry before putting them to bed.

 How much water should you put into the tub or dish? I don’t put more than an inch or two for most birds. For the larger birds I may put two to three inches of water in.

 How often should you bathe your bird? You should bathe your bird at least two to three times a week. You could bathe them more often if you want to.

What about the birds that are very dirty or have stains on their feathers? While there are commercial products available to bathe your bird, it is always best to check with your avian veterinarian first before using anything on your bird.

But what about those birds that don’t like to bathe? How do you go about getting them used to a bath? 

Start slowly, as you would when introducing something new to them. My African grey hated to bathe. She would hide and refuse to come out from her cage when she saw me starting to mist the other birds. For her I bought this special mister. It sprays a super fine mist that she barely noticed. Instead of the squeeze action of other sprayers, this one was a pump. You pump a few times and then you squeeze the handle and a super fine spray comes out. It is hardly noticeable but they do get wet. She slowly started to enjoy the fine mist until she reached to point that she started to demand being sprayed. Over time she started loving the regular mister that I used on the other birds.

Is there any method that you shouldn’t use when bathing your bird? Yes there is. Never take your bird into the bathtub with you, especially if you fill the tub up high. A lady I knew would take her triton cockatoo into the tub with her. She would keep him on her shoulder while she would bathe. One day he slipped and fell into the tub and went under the water. He got a lot of water in his lungs and coughed up most of it. If she didn’t take him to the avian veterinarian immediately he would have died. This is a very dangerous way to bathe your bird and should never be done. She was lucky that her bird didn’t die. Another bird may not be so lucky.

You should also never use any chemicals or perfumes in their water unless you are directed to do so by an avian veterinarian.

You also need to be careful not to get water up the bird’s respiratory tract or in his nares.

 What about drying your bird? Most birds just like to dry on their own. Other birds love being wiped down gently in a towel. Still others enjoy being dried with a blow dryer set on a cool setting. Never use a hot setting since this will burn your bird. A lady I knew did this and her bird died because of the burns she received from the blow dryer.

 So go ahead and give your bird a bath. By using a little common sense you can give your bird a bath safely and they will thank you for it.