How to i give my BG a shower..

[JJones1719]

Melanie, The best thing for him is a shower perch that has suction cups on it that stick to the wall. The perch is then placed outside the water flow of the shower head. Hitting the Macaw in the middle of their back.
Do not allow the Macaw on your arm or body in the shower or the top of your head.lol.
Only once when your are able to handle your B&G should you rub them down with aloe vera.
I always found that misting the Macaw only wets the outer side of the macaw and wet to the bone like a shower heads provides.
When your Macaw is finished with the shower and while drying, they preen themselves to remove water and also intake Vit A from their feathers. this is really good for them. Don't give up, stay strong, you can do it. Best of luck Joe

 

[goalerjones]

i am going to look for one that it permanently placed into the tile like drilled in, TK is VERY heavy and does not at all know how to fly or used his wings if he fell because a suction cup wasnt strong enough i would feel terrible

there are other versions which actually hang off the top on the shower door so the weight of the bird doesn't un-do the suction cups. I had a suction cup perch for my conure and one day the cups lets go and he never trusted it again (wise bird).

 

[MelanieAnn]

i dont have shower doors, its a walk in with a curtain and the curtain is one of those "screw tighten" pressure things, its not secure my cat has made it fall before

 

[JJones1719]

My shower perch has 3 suction cups across the top and 1 suction cup at the bottom middle. I have a Green Wing Macaw at over 1800 grams, if he can use this perch any Macaw can. He is very heavy and we have never had an issue with the shower perch ever. I also have a 4 suction cup perch for my Eclectus, it's a corner perch with 2 suction cups on both sides, I also never had an issue with this type either. I would not drill into the tile to perm attach a perch. You may end up with shower leaks, cracked tile. Your Macaw may even try to use their beak to make the drilled holes bigger, yikes.
Plus you have to keep in mind the cleaning of the perch and mold build up. It's better to buy the suction perch. Thanks Joe

 

[petiegirl]

Hi, can you please advise on bathing a gallah. The littlelady seems to not like misting and getting wet. She is very grubby from playing " tearing up newspaper"
It is winter here so not to warm out side, 20 deg c. usually at midday.
Thanks
Petiegirl

 

[BlueandGold]

you can also leave on a faucet in a clean sink, and put him next to it. he may give himself a shower. Mine does!

 

[azdesertrhino]

MAC, our B&G will tolerate spritzing but he has not acclimated to a true shower yet.

We figure as long as he gets some type of shower, it is good thing!!

 

[horsesculpter]

As it Is a new environment how about a shower perch or t stand to make him feel safer? Sunny will shower but prefers the misting bottle.

 

[Erniebird8]

I bottle mist my B&G macaw. She loves it. Run the vacuum near him first. They go crazy and want to bathe. Then dry him with a blowdryer. A newer Teflon free. I am looking forward to have her stepping up to try the shower or hose on my deck. Good luck.

 

[Birdman666]

I don't know about reluctant bathers. All the big macs I've ever owned or fostered have been the opposite. They would all play in the water til you turn it off on them.

In the summer, nothing. They drip dry on their own.

In the winter, blow dry lowest setting arms length from the bird.

 

[Kdfhuey]

We have a 5 month old BTM that we gave a bath for the first time yesterday. He was very unsure and not happy about the process. I also had issues drying him off only because I learned that the feathers don't easily dry off from a towel. Basically I did the best I could and made sure I did the bath in the morning time so it gave him time to air dry during the day. I made sure the window was open near his cage so it was warm enough for him not to get chilled. I realized its going to take time for him to get used to the bathing process.