Scarlet macaw raspy and wheezing after showers

[kysoti]

I have a young scarlet, about 5 months old, that has raspy or wheezing breathing after being in the shower. He loves the shower and walks around under the spray. After we dry him, for about 30 minutes he is raspy, but not constantly as he breathes in and out, just every few seconds.

He had a vet check two weeks ago and he wasn't raspy at the time but she did listen to his lungs and said they sound fine.

Anyone else have this with your macaw?

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[itzjbean]

How do you dry him? The only thing I can think of is if he is being dried by hand-dryer and maybe is getting too dry, or perhaps its because of returning to less-humidity after a nice humid shower. Any other macaw owners out there care to throw in their 2 cents?

 

[EllenD]

It may be that the the warm water/steam is opening him up a bit, but if the vet checked him out and his breathing sounded normal then I'm not sure he would have much in his upper respiratory system to loosen up.

Is he drinking a lot of water while he showers? What temperature is the water, i.e. is it just like warm or does he like it more towards hot? The way you describe it sounds like it's his breathing and not something to do with his throat. "Raspy" can describe how someone sounds when they talk, and that would be his throat, but "wheezing" is dealing with his breathing. It's possible he's getting a bit of water down the wrong pipe if he's trying to drink from the shower above, so he's actually trying to get that water out of his chest after he's done, or as I said he's got some junk down there that loosens up because of the steam...

Or possibly as stated above, if you're using a blow dryer to dry him and it's causing his skin to dry out, he may be inhaling some dust.

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[Anansi]

It may be a case of too much water getting into his mouth. I shower my ekkies, but due to Maya's constant need to try and catch the water in her mouth I quickly learned that I had to get a shower head with a hose that I could aim. She never started to wheeze or anything, but she did drink down enough to be bringing up water for the next 15 minutes or so!

Not quite the same as your situation, but they might be different reactions to the same cause. Know what I mean?

 

[EllenD]

It may be a case of too much water getting into his mouth. I shower my ekkies, but due to Maya's constant need to try and catch the water in her mouth I quickly learned that I had to get a shower head with a hose that I could aim. She never started to wheeze or anything, but she did drink down enough to be bringing up water for the next 15 minutes or so!

Not quite the same as your situation, but they might be different reactions to the same cause. Know what I mean?

That's exactly what I was thinking, she's under the shower, looking up at the water trying to swallow too much of it, and it's getting down the wrong tube.

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[kysoti]

Thanks for the replies. I dry him with a hair dryer but he isn't completely dry when I stop, mostly but still a bit damp.
I am not sure about what he does in the shower. It is warm water but usually I just enjoy watching him have fun walking through the water. I will watch to see if he is drinking water or allowing a lot to get in his mouth. I wonder if some may be getting in through his nostrils above his beak and that is causing it.


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[Scott]

Just a note of caution re using a hair dryer. Some units contain Teflon, a terribly lethal substance when raised above a specific temperature. It can be difficult to trace whether or not the mfgr uses Teflon, so best bet is to use on a lower heat setting.

 

[davefv92c]

Just a note of caution re using a hair dryer. Some units contain Teflon, a terribly lethal substance when raised above a specific temperature. It can be difficult to trace whether or not the mfgr uses Teflon, so best bet is to use on a lower heat setting.

man thank you I never even thought of anything like that. no more blow dryer for the birds.

thanks again dude you are a walking bird book and I'm greatfull to folks like yourself here who post all the good info.

 

[JBassset]

Just a note of caution re using a hair dryer. Some units contain Teflon, a terribly lethal substance when raised above a specific temperature. It can be difficult to trace whether or not the mfgr uses Teflon, so best bet is to use on a lower heat setting.

man thank you I never even thought of anything like that. no more blow dryer for the birds.

thanks again dude you are a walking bird book and I'm greatfull to folks like yourself here who post all the good info.

I just let Romeo air dry. But that's because I'm too lazy to buy a hair dryer for him. Since my hair is usually short I have no need of a dryer

 

[plumsmum2005]

Just one word of warning about shower heads that are not cleaned regularly for both humans and birds.

Showers can make you ill: How clean is your shower head? | Daily Mail Online