how can I get my amazon accustomed to water?

[Nathan1]

I got my red crowned amazon from a rescue and he refuses to bathe. I took him to the vet and they said he seemed to be in a really filthy environment and I told them he hadn't bathed since I got him(not even a month ago at the time) even though I tried to enourage him and they said that I should make him if I have to...So even though I don't like forcing birds to do things I did and he didn't like it that's for sure(I sort of splashed him with a small bowl) luckily he didn't get the chance to bite me even though he wanted to.

I thought he'd get over it eventually, but this bird is absolutely terrified of water, his reaction to me trying to put him in water or splashing him is nothing compared to misting him. When I misted him, as soon as the water touched him he pinned his eyes, started panicing and bit himself on the leg.


I think someone punished him by squirting him, how can I get him over this fear?

 

[labell]

Baths are very important when I have a reluctant bather I find a sound that gets them excited. It drives my husband crazy so I typically do it while he is at work but I can get the zon's WORKED up with Whoo-hoo's and loud encouragement! Once they reach that level of excitement EVERYTHING becomes fun in their minds! You need to find a way to convince him it's fun which with zon's includes LOUD encouragement on your part! Bath time around here is an invitation to a madhouse, fun-house and general chaos! Once they get me laughing they start laughing, if I had close neighbors I am certain there would be men at my door with those shiny white jackets!

 

[SandyBee]

My amazons favorite way of showering is outside. I take him out in a cage either his big one or a travel cage. The garden hose on shower . Do not spray directly, spray up into the air and let it rain on him.

 

[BACON]

Amazons can be VERY stubborn. My amazon hates water to, splashed/mist/ bowl but yeah, nothing. I got to the point where I'd wet my hand and stroke her, but I've never got far with her at all.... She still hates water. Good luck tho, I hope you get it sorted... It's important

 

[EAI]

Arrow and Esther HATED water. If its a good day, I take them outside and sprits the stream function on the spray bottle above them so they can get the water that falls from underneath.
That or I combine what I did above with natural rain. That's a big hit with them. There's also the obvious bird bath where he can explore it on his own.

Sorry that I wasn't the best of help with my lack of Amazons so I don't really know how to approach this.

 

[ImmunoGoblin]

Do you have any other birds that do like to shower? My two amazons learn a lot from watching each other.

Maybe try bringing your bird into the bathroom while you shower. Mine likes to sit on the shower curtain and watch us. That's a good way for them to not get wet but get used to the environment, and if nothing else the humid air will still help their feathers even if they're not getting super soaked.

 

[Nathan1]

Some of these things could work with a bonded bird, but he's not.

Not sure where he came from, or how old he is, but I don't think he was treated very well. The rescue said he was very aggressive, wouldn't come out of the cage and they weren't able to handle him, they didn't have the time to work with him which is why I adopted him.

It took weeks before I could encourage him to come out of the cage and he has been slowly coming around since then. However, he definitely isn't bonded with anybody...While he enjoys company sometimes, steps up and will even let me "scritch" him. He relies on his cage for security and has always been cautious around people including myself.

Most of the day he sits on top of his cage, and I always leave a water dish up there that he never bathes in.

as for mist, I always spray it over them and not directly at them, but I've never actually had a bird enjoy this(Most of my birds have been rescued birds that aren't accustom to things like this, not hand-fed, exposed, socialized, well taken care of birds). Usually a bird just avoids the mist, sometimes starts giving out angry squawks. I've never seen a bird panic from it quite like my RCA though, like I said he bit his own leg and afterwards he was panting just from one spray of mist over his head.

I've only owned 2 hand-fed birds before(Both I adopted when they were older), those 2 birds didn't necessarily mind being misted, but they preferred bathing in a dish. All of the other birds haven't liked it.

Stitch is one of the hand-fed birds.

 

[Kalidasa]

How long have you had this bird?

 

[Nathan1]

How long have you had this bird?

Mid-December last year. So about 9 months.