Multiple Showers in 1 Day?

[BoomBoom]

Hi! I was wondering if giving conures more than 1 shower a day is bad for their skin? Does it dry it out and make them itch? Are there any other side effects?

I have a 6 month old conure who is covered with pin feathers all over and I read that frequent showers help. While he doesn't seem to be extra grouchy, I know that the pin feathers make him uncomrtable. Just want to offer a little bit of relief.

Thanks in advance!

 

[crazyforfeathers]

This is a good question. I would like to know this as well!!! I have the cutest green cheek conure who was molting a few months ago but all done now. I want to shower him for a different reason, that being this crazy heat. Our AC is broken and not sure how soon I can get it repaired so I wanted to give my bird several showers to cool him down.

I want to know also if frequent showering causes dry skin / feathers?

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

Look at where you birds come from in the wild and look at the natural habitat of the birds in that area. I know my GCC's love to take multiple showers on some days. My biggest concern is if you have hard or soft water. If you have hard water than it is possible that your bird may get dry skin. Recommend speaking to your Avian vet to see how to handle the situation.

 

[Remy]

When my AC in my car broke and I had to drive around with Puck when it was hot out, I would often pull over to wet him so he'd stay cool. I only did this 1 day a week though, but his skin and feathers were fine from that much.

 

[antoinette]

I shower Mishka each morning, in the bath using a shower nozzle, plain warm water.
When the weather is hotter, he plays in his shower bowl, or I place him in a baby bath, where he plays for ages.

I found a very interesting link, pertaining to Parrots Bathing & Showering

Parrot Bathing and Showering



[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-PRntjuS4"][/ame]

 

[Alisana]

Look at where you birds come from in the wild and look at the natural habitat of the birds in that area. I know my GCC's love to take multiple showers on some days. My biggest concern is if you have hard or soft water. If you have hard water than it is possible that your bird may get dry skin. Recommend speaking to your Avian vet to see how to handle the situation.

You can get test kits from pool shops or aquarium stores to check the hard/softness of your water

 

[BoomBoom]

Thank you for all the tips and suggestions! I wish Boomer would play in his water bowl willingly, but he only does it once or twice a week with a little manipulation from me. That's why I have to resort to giving him 5 minute showers.

On Molly's advice, I researched that Sun Conures' natural habitats were generally where the desert meets the forest in Brazil. Please correct me if I am wrong in that. I guess that would be low to medium humidity. I really am only able to give him his showers during the weekends and once or twice on weekdays so I guess that's ok.

I was just worried of multiple showers spanning a few hours. I don't know if that dries out their skin and feathers too much. I haven't looked into the hardness/softness of our water but I would guess its hard.

Hmmm I can always purchase natural aloe vera juice from a drugstore and spray it on him. I just don't know if its wise to use it if he has no symptoms of dry skin/feathers. Anyone here use aloe vera juice as a preventative?

 

[AFP520]

I would not bathe them that often, but if it is every once in awhile, I don't see how two showers could hurt. The article mentions to be careful in the shower as the birds could try to fly when wet.

Lucy and I had a mishap yesterday. Normally I get her wet and let her dry off on her shower perch. I did this, and went to shower myself as usual, but I dropped the soap in the tub. The loud thud scared her and she flew off the perch. Luckily it was in the shower and I immediately turned the water off. She was fine and gave me a look like "nice job, ass."

But always take precaution with your bird!

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

If he chooses to shower every day that is perfectly fine although, I would not shower him multiple time every day, on a daily basis.

The main thing to remember about showers is it stimulates preening. When a bird preens it preens the uropygial gland which is a white "downy" looking feather on the low back just above the tail area. When the bird preen this gland it gathers oils on it's beak and then spreads this oil on the feathers throughout it's body. It is said that a bird preens every feather every day. That's some busy work. Anyway, this oil helps to clean and waterproof the feathers. You can read more here: Bathing and Showering for Pet Parrots by Steve Hartman    The Parrot University

 

[Boomer]

Turd, you should have mentioned that he only gets showered twice a day on weekends and doesn't get showered during the week.

 

[BoomBoom]

Thanks for that article, was a very good read. And yes, we only shower Boomer on weekends. If we're home early on weekdays or have day off, we'd shower him but those days are irregular.