I've been given mixed information, and am curious as to how often you bathe your bird. Does it vary by species? Do you take him/her in the bath, or do you use a spray?
Before Basil was able to come of his cage, I spritzed him with a plant mister every day or two. He didn't like it that much. He tried to have a bath in his water dish once so I bought him a bird bath to mount in the cage. He used that a couple of times. Now that he comes out, he bathes once a week in the kitchen sink. I give him a chance every day to have a bath under a slow running faucet but he usually just has a drink and leaves. I figure my job is to provide the opportunity to bathe but he knows when he needs to. I would like to get a shower perch eventually so he can come in the shower with me or my daughter.
All of mine get at least one good drenching once a week. I take the Big Macs into the shower and the Amazons prefer spray baths/misters. But now that it's nice and toasty outside, they all get to go under the sprinkler outside at least twice a week.
Thanks for your replys. Currently, I use an aloe spray for Cecilia, which we do maybe once a week. Because she has PBFD, she doesn't really have any powder. One person made a comment prior to her diagnosis that we were bathing her too much before, almost daily in the shower, and I was starting to wonder if we may have done anything to aggrivate her illness.
The fact she has PBFD it is get to give even more bathes because it is very uncomfortable. I am really sorry she has that... Now you can't really have more then one bird unless the other has PBFD as well.. The disease is under control but still around humph..
We give Emmy a shower (with a spray mister) every day. She's an Amazon and can use the extra humidity. She tolerates it and gives herself a bath in her water cup every week or two.
It's nice to know people like you are out there willing and eager to take on the challenge of a chronically ill bird. I'm glad to hear aloe spray is good for them, because I've been doing that myself and a little worried that it would adversely affect the feathers while being good for the skin. This puts my mind at ease. Thank you.