Another question

[Finnysmommie]

Ok I know I am full of them but I want to be sure I am doing the best for Finny that I possibly can :-)

Ok ... As I posted before, Finny does not like to take a bath. I have been spraying him with a spray and to be honest he kind of smells :-(

So...... Last night I put a bit of luke warm water in the kitchen sink and gave Finny a bath. OMG! YOu would have thought I was trying to kill him! Can it actually hurt them to bathe? He was quite soaked and after I finished his bath I used a towel to wrap him up in and we sat sort of near the fireplace as to not catch a chill. He was so mad at me he ran under our couch and would not come out!

What I want to know is this... Is there a method for doing the whole bath thing? The leaving water for him thing will not work he will only make soup of it not get in it.

I would also like to add one more thing...Finny smells great today and is a clean birdie for a change!

Please let me know if I did anything wrong.

Thanks,
Cindy

[Janie]

Cindy, if what you did is wrong, I'm guilty of doing "wrong" to Oliver at least once a week....when I bathe him! In my case, it got much better after the first 10 or 15 baths! :lol At least now he knows it won't hurt him and I think he's also figured out that it makes him feel much better, especially when he's molting. Oliver really is a very trusting bird and I hesitated for months to do something to him that I knew would frighten him in the beginning but he really has adjusted and while I'm not sure he loves his bath, he certainly doesn't seem to mind it at all in the last year. I am very careful that no water gets above his neck. I figure he can dunk his own head in his water dish if he wants a wet head! :lol

[shylevon]

My Neaera acts the same way. She is convinced I am out to drown her.

A good deal of the reason that bathing my birds works so well is that they trust me. I hold them gently, but firmly. I put my hand under their bellies and my thumb behind their necks, and make sure they can wrap their toes around at least one of my fingers, like they are perched. This gives them confidence. I don't dunk them to the neck immediately, but hold them about half way in and scoop water gently over their backs with my free hand. I slowly immerse them deeper in the water to the neck, if I can. I hold up one wing at a time to get wet under there and I run my fingers gently all over their bodies. This gets the water to penetrate to the skin and gives me a chance to inspect their bodies for weird things growing under their feathers.

Some people can hold their birdies under a gently running faucet. Can't say as that worked for me, as the little guys tried to bite the water stream and got water up their nosies. But, if the tap is running slowly, and birdie is placed into the sink, he may take a little shower.

[butterfly1061]

I did the "Janie Dunk Bath" with Piper a few times. I think he became so scared I would continue he started taking his own bath in his water dish. Now, he takes a bath on the "big plate" with Daisy and Olivia. He's not a stinky bird anymore. :D

[Z28Taxman]

Some people can hold their birdies under a gently running faucet. Can't say as that worked for me, as the little guys tried to bite the water stream and got water up their nosies. But, if the tap is running slowly, and birdie is placed into the sink, he may take a little shower.


Ditto loves taking showers under the faucet. He started it one day when I was cleaning his toys and perches in the bathtub. I was rinsing a perch under the faucet and he ran down my arm, stood on my wrist and slowly walked into the trickling water and splashed away. Now it's part of our sunday morning ritual. I have to stop cleaning his stuff and let him shower. :cool: If he doesn't shower then he waits until I'm finished cleaning the cage and put fresh water in his bowl and takes a bath in there so I have to change the water again. :whistle: