How do you give a bird a shower?

[Doris48]

So its been suggested I give the Amazon Paco a shower.Ive never given a large bird a shower.Our greenie baths in a bowl or the kitchen sink.
I was told they would take him in the shower and he loved it.But his nails hurt how do you hold him in there? Am I supposed to get in too?
Shouldnt I have some kind of perch in there or something? Hhow warm should the water be and wont it scare him in a new bathroom and only having had him for a few days?
Also Im really worried about stressing him out to much.Its been a really big change for him.Going from an quiet elderly couple with other large birds to our sometimes boisterious dog and sometimes people infested house.


AFter having this bird for just 3 days Im feeling rather like an unprepared idiot.I need a walk through and about another 500 dollars to do this right.

 

[lizardsmells]

Hahahaha, I think parrots are really good at making their owners feel like total idiots at times. I know Kazi manages to make me feel stupid at least weekly.

Kazi refused to bathe when he first got here. I got his interest by using a spray bottle on the mist setting and warm water. I sprayed it above him, not at him, so it fell on him. He was anxious at first but warmed up pretty quickly.

After that I got him a shower perch. Best 20.00 I've ever spent. He goes in with me every time I take a shower, but he gets a choice. I put him on his shower perch and get in. If he's looking up at the shower curtain rod I know he's not interested so I put him up there where he patrols for danger while I shower. When he's interested in a shower I put him on his perch, turn the water temp down (I love hot showers, Kazi not so much) to just warm and aim the shower head at the wall just above his perch. He loves the ambient mist and will flap and chatter and bob and dance and has a blast. It generally takes him about 10 minutes to get good and soaked and be done. I try to give him his shower before I take mine so he can sit on the curtain rod and dry off a bit while I get the bathroom all steamy. Otherwise he gets cold while I'm drying off and blowdrying my hair (he hates the blow dryer so much).

If he doesn't like any type of spray at all you might want to try a large baking dish in the bottom of his cage or on his play stand. He might go for that better.

 

[c3honey84]

I also take my bird in the shower with me. I purchased a shower perch which has the rough covering so that sh can grip it well even when it's wet. It just suction cups onto the wall. Roxy is weird with the shower. She will sit still and while I spray her with the shower head, but she doesn't splash around or anything. But she doesn't try to get away either. She just waits for me to finish spraying her and then she preens while I wash myself. She does take baths in her water bowl sometimes, but I still take her in the shower because the humidity is important to parrots. I also give her a treat when she steps up onto the shower perch, and also after I am done spraying her. Then when we are done, she gets a big macadamia nut when I put her back on her perch.

 

[triordan]

I made a simple shower perch that hangs on the shower door, pvc pipe and vetwrap~ and no I dont get in with my greenwing, shower is too small!

 

[MikeyTN]

I love the shower perch as well!!! But Java hates bath time so while he was on me yesterday I reached down and grab the shower perch in the drawer. As soon as he saw what it was he flew right into his cage and refuse to come out. So I had to abandon bath time for him yesterday...I need to sneak the shower perch out first next time....lol

 

[KellyH]

My Amazon is also strange. Sometimes he likes to go right in the shower on his special shower perch with the suction cups and spreads his wings and turns around and around. Other times he just sits there like a boy who prefers to stay dirty and gives me a totally uninterested look. I never spray the water directly at him though. I let it hit the wall just in front of him so he gets the redirected spray.

On the days he seems uninterested, I take him back to his cage and give him a good misting with the water bottle. Again, sometimes he will hang upside down from the top of the cage bars and spread his wings, then go down to wash his face and dunk his head in the water bowl. Other times he continues to just sit there looking at me like "Is it over yet"? lol

Because I live in Canada and our winters are very cold and dry, I like to give him at least a little misting every two to three days. Although sometimes I think it's probably not enough.

 

[roxynoodle]

Pete will only bathe if he goes into the shower with me. I, too, found it difficult to shower with a large bird attached to me. I made him a shower perch. I have a post about it with pictures and directions in the Do It Yourself area here if you would like to see it.

I put him on it and take my shower, then redirect the shower head to let him get his.

He likes to be blow dried afterwards.

 

[andrea.faerie]

Bleu goes in the shower with me sometimes He has a shower perch the stays on, and will sit on my hand too occasionally. I have a shower perch on the bottom of the bathtub too, he hangs out there while i wash my hair and such (no soap gets on him, my bathtub is pretty long.. it's weird....). he enjoys the hair dryer and will sqwak if I'm hogging it lol

 

[MissyMe83]

I just use a spray bottle adjusted to spray a mist. I spray until Tate's soaked. He absolutley loves it. He will spread his wings, and get in all different positions, even hang upside down so I don't miss a spot lol.

 

[Clueless]

Doris,

If you think you feel like an idiot. . . . try taking on 2 rescued Amazons and having NO experience! I couldn't find a Parrots for Idiots book . . . . I looked. Remember, you're giving out love to a feathered friend - that is the most important thing they could receive.

As to showers - I was told to purchase a large spray bottle and use it ONLY for the birds. I fill it with tap water one day in advance of a shower (something to do with chemicals?) and it can sit and get to room temperature. I then carry my little fellows into the bathroom, one at a time, and put their little perch I had made on the bottom of the shower. I sit beside of them (outside in the floor area with the door open) - and then turn the shower bottle sideways and squirt the mist into the air ABOVE the parrot so it drifts gently on them.

MC (the orange wing) loves to have a shower and bobs, opens his wings, turns his head all different directions . . . . Secret (the blue front) originally hated a shower. She has now progressed to stretching out her neck and making sounds last time (perhaps those were "I'm gonna get you for this" sounds?). I have seen her take a bath in her water dish once a few months ago though - too funny!

 

[JensFlock]

My boys LOVE their showers. I have a perch for them and they get drenched through to the skin.
They even say "shower" when they want one.
I started them out slow. I put them in the shower with me and let the water spray near them where they had the option to move over and get wet if they want. Now, they just love the water directly on them. They have the room to move away if they want, but they usually love to get drenched.

 

[suebee]

lol love all the stories

nut does not seem to like getting wet, but will take a splash in her water bowl, and when i bath or shower, she will sit an take a drink of water

she gets excited as soon as she hears running water, but has never ventured into it, but will fly into the bathroom an hurry me along, making cute little squeaks

but at the beginning she was petrified of the sound the shower made etc but after seeing me shower/bath she likes to get her feet wet and take a drink, i am hoping one day she will let herself get wet, but for now her once a wk water bowl bath will do

i have been looking out for one of them ornament water fountains that'll be big enough for her to splash in, in her cage

 

[roxynoodle]

lol love all the stories

nut does not seem to like getting wet, but will take a splash in her water bowl, and when i bath or shower, she will sit an take a drink of water

she gets excited as soon as she hears running water, but has never ventured into it, but will fly into the bathroom an hurry me along, making cute little squeaks

but at the beginning she was petrified of the sound the shower made etc but after seeing me shower/bath she likes to get her feet wet and take a drink, i am hoping one day she will let herself get wet, but for now her once a wk water bowl bath will do

i have been looking out for one of them ornament water fountains that'll be big enough for her to splash in, in her cage

What about one of the cat water fountains? I have one for my cat, and admit, I haven't wanted Rowdy to see it as I think she would jump into it. It's about the right size for your bird.