Misting new Eckies - one likes it the other doesn't

[Swittie23]

I have been misting my new Eckies every few days since I got them a 3 weeks ago. Yogi has always stayed put for extra sprays, Iris says See Ya after a handful and climbs to the other side of the cage.

Yesterday morning I snapped a couple of pics during bath time. This is the first time Yogi came to the front of the cage and opened his wings for more.

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Regarding the clipped wings, I do intend to let them grow out.

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Poor Iris, as soon as she feels more comfortable in the kitchen or bathroom, I'll try other bathing methods with her. She's fearless in a lot of ways, but bath time isn't one of them. :heart:

 

[GaleriaGila]

Beautiful birds...

Have you tried other water delivery styles... bathing in a shallow pan... maybe a gentle shower...

My conure hates misting but loves shallow baths.

 

[Swittie23]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will start putting a bigger dish of water in the cage to see if she takes to that better. They are still getting used to my place and will fly if they get too scared. For this reason I'm taking things pretty slowly outside the cage. I feel like I'm unlocking about 10 ft of new space a week lol. They just got used to sitting with me at the table, so I'll start putting a dish of water on the table when we're there as well.

They have much better control of their flight these days, can fly between their cage and playstand. If she doesn't bathe in the dish, I may introduce her to the shower in a week or two. I can get her to lean into the hallway if I have a piece of almond in my hand, but she leans away from the hall as soon as she has the almond (I use almond pieces and sometimes apple pieces as training treats). I'm also open to any tips about getting them used to new rooms

 

[SilleIN]

My eckie isn't used to showers like my other birds are. I place him on the bathroom sink and fill the sink with warm water. I then wet both my hands and gently stroke him. Then wet my hands again and continue until he is as wet as I want him to be.

I am now able to pick up small amounts of water in both my hands and pour the water over him.

 

[Swittie23]

I think the kitchen sink is a good option too. She's just started wanting in the kitchen and seems to like looking out the kitchen window. I'll place a dish in the sink tomorrow with a little water instead of misting her. We'll see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[plumsmum2005]

A few members have posted about taking their birds into the shower with them. If you have two shower perches then the one that likes it can make the most of it while the other can watch and hopefully gain some confidence that it wont hurt her?

 

[coopedup]

Im the shower perch LOL. When its not his turn I park him up on the fixture. He hates misting but now tolerates the shower pretty well. You can tell he likes it when he gets wet. His head goes down, his eyes close and he just hangs in a coma until I decide he's done. I dont get the wing spreading, ohmygawdicantwait reaction, but he is more than agreeable about it. He LOVES the light blow dry afterwards, I credit that with him learning to be more chill about the whole thing. Now that its warm I dont use it if I dont have to, but that's where we started. Interestingly enough, kitchen sink isnt as popular even though it's essentially the same. Maybe because Im not showering too (at least intentionally!)

 

[Swittie23]

I like the idea of 2 shower perches. They definitely pay attention to what the other one is doing when I'm interacting with them. I was my GCCs shower perch too lol! he also liked to bathe in a dish in the kitchen sink.

I put a dish in the cage this morning with some greens floating in it. She likes her greens, so maybe she'll venture down to check it out. She did perch on my hand as I was standing at the kitchen sink with water running. I sprinkled a little water on her but it wasn't a very good soaking, she was getting stressed out. I'll keep getting her used to water so she gets comfortable with bath time! It's fun to try new ways to interact with them as we're getting to know each other. Thank you for all the great suggestions everyone! I'm sure I'll find a good solution.

 

[katie_fleming]

Jasper HATED misting, wouldn't go in a basin, wouldn't go in the bathtub, but as soon as I introduced a shower perch he was in birdie heaven. It's just a matter of trying everything and seeing what they like!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Im the shower perch LOL. When its not his turn I park him up on the fixture. He hates misting but now tolerates the shower pretty well. You can tell he likes it when he gets wet. His head goes down, his eyes close and he just hangs in a coma until I decide he's done. I dont get the wing spreading, ohmygawdicantwait reaction, but he is more than agreeable about it. He LOVES the light blow dry afterwards, I credit that with him learning to be more chill about the whole thing. Now that its warm I dont use it if I dont have to, but that's where we started. Interestingly enough, kitchen sink isnt as popular even though it's essentially the same. Maybe because Im not showering too (at least intentionally!)

I'm fortunate with Amy...she likes both methods,misting and shower time with Dad
When it is nice outside,I put her on her favorite tree limb and mist away,as she opens her arms wide,fluffs up,shakes her booty and twists her head this way and that.
Yesterday,she took a shower with me.she sits on the shower curtain rod,as I shower first,and she starts in with Amazon gibberish ( probably saying " Me next! Me next!")
I then have her step up onto her "walk around perch" and bring her in and under the luke warm shower head. As she yells out in excitement,I turn the perch so she is upside down,and tell her to open her arms wide. She does and then shakes them vigorously.
She gets a real good soaking lol.
I put her back on the curtain rod,dry myself off,then throw a fluffy towel over her..she tolerates that,usually just chewing the towel and not ME

I wish BB was as receptive to bath time as Amy is..


Jim

 

[Swittie23]

shower perches really seem to be the way to go . I misted her again this morning. Until she takes to something else I thought I'd give her the only bath I can. Yogi still loved it. She came out for some play time afterwards and there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings :heart:

 

[Swittie23]

Re: Misting new Eckies - one likes it the other doesn't - Update

Update for Iris : A couple of weeks ago I started misting Yogi on the top of the cage so he could really spread and flap his wings. Iris had been flying over to join him, but still only tolerated a few spritzes before going to the other side of the cage. Today she finally spread her wings to get a full soaking! Here are some pictures of bath time today.

 

[Inger]

Fantastic pictures!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[plumsmum2005]

Oh they are so cute, love Yogi and Iris. Great they both like showers now LOL.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Iris is stunning..love the "action" pictures " Look at me! I'm FLYING!"




Jim

 

[drlisaort]

Beautiful Eckies!!! Oliver loves showers but hates misting.

 

[Swittie23]

Thanks everyone!

Iris is stunning..love the "action" pictures " Look at me! I'm FLYING!"




Jim

lol, she did seem to be enjoying her wing flapping. I was just happy that she was showing some preening behavior as well, cleaning and ruffling her feathers. She had never really done that after a bath.

 

[Anansi]

Iris is stunning..love the "action" pictures " Look at me! I'm FLYING!"

Hahahaha! My thought exactly!

 

[LordTriggs]

showering with them is one of my favorite things. Mainly because the shower was where me and Rio my late conure began to bond after our first night together where he decided to dive bomb into the shower as I was about to get in. when it wasn't his turn I would put him on the towel rack and let him hang out. Very useful for towel training, he was fine with towels so quickly. Only dark blue ones though, bright blue were scary and were legit going to murder him. At least that's what he told me

 

[greytness]

Another trick you might try is misting them with the vacuum cleaner going. Several of my birds immediately want to bathe when they hear the vacuum running. Go figure. One of my birds hated misting, but will now tolerate it if the vacuum is turned on.