shower to hard?

[mrgoogls]

hey guys. so, cooper for the most part hates water. i have tried to bathe him with a misting bottle, with a small dish, with wet veggies and he hates it all, and is mad at me all day after i try haha. the strange thing is once in a great while(like 6 or 7 times since i got him(almost a year)) he bathes on his own in his water dish. and i just dont think thats enough compared to what i hear about other birds. his feathers look fine, and he seems to be in perfect health, i just think he should bathe more. i was wondering if a shower is to hard/harsh for a small bird like a quaker. i was hoping if i could get him in the shower me in the water would help him enjoy it. also, can i wash with body wash/shampoo with cooper there or is the smell of it bad for him? thanks!

[JadeC]

I've taken Meiko in the shower with me, but I block the water with my hand and let it drip onto him like that. I was wondering the same about the body wash. Mine is pretty smelly haha Meiko is scared in the shower, so I don't do it often, but maybe Cooper will like it.

[mrgoogls]

i was going to just put his training stand outside the curtain at first, until maybe he isnt as afraid of it. and i can defiantly do that with the water, good idea! unless someone else has a small bird that lets the water go right on them. and i guess the body wash is still the big question :D

[mrgoogls]

does anyone know if the shampoo/body wash smell is safe? cooper wont be touching it, just in the small bathroom with it. i want to try to get cooper in(or near) the shower with me in the morning, so it would help to know! thanks! :D

[Mare]

I don't think the smell?, is that what you mean?, is harmful, I wouldn't put it on him. Your idea sounds good with the play stand. I know some folks that set their birds on the shower rod to start getting them use to being near. Sassy also is hard to get sprayed with the water bottle but when she starts bathing in her water dish, that's when she will allow the water bottle spray. She'll come running to the top of her cage and flip her wings and butt in the air, and finally allow a shower! It would be nice, I think, if she would allow it more but about once every two weeks is all she gets. Amigo, in the summer, loves them twice a day, in the winter, around once a week.

[Mayden]

The scenting should be fine, just don't put them on him! :)


I 'bounce' the water off the wall and let my guys get soaked with that water instead, so it's not a 'hard' stream of water too. :)

[headfeathermistress]

I think it should be fine. Turn the bathroom fan on too. No shampoo or soap for birdie. I also let them get wet by the bounce back water off the wall or my hand

[Blancaej]

With Savannah I run the shower next to her then take my hand fill it with water and dribble it over her head. I just started showers with her and she is slowly easing into it! Quincy on the other hand hates all methods, too. So I have a bowl in his cage just for bathing now and he does use it about once a week or so. He's had this issue for years! So I'm sure your Cooper is fine, but just keep doing what you can to encourage bathing! Good luck!

[mrgoogls]

i took him into the bathroom with me on his t-stand this morning. i started him on the opposite side on the bathroom, and he was fine. then i moved the stand right next to the shower and he was fine to. when i tried the bring him in on my hand he got a bit freaked out so i held him somewhere in the middle. i let the water bouncing off my body hit him and he liked in for about 10 seconds then tried to run away. so then i got the water in my hand and petted him with it to get it wet and he didnt seem to mind. i guess ill just keep doing it a few times per week and maybe he will learn to enjoy it.

[Blancaej]

Sounds like the first attempt went well! Keep it up and he will enjoy it in no time! :D

[Turquoise]

Roscoe & Angel as well as Leyla Belle love the spray mister. They get super excited when they see me get the mister out. Angel flaps his wings long before I get over to him with it. Peta & the budgies have gotten used to the spray mister now. Peta still will dunk her head & what ever part of her body she can in her water bowl when she feels the need. None of them like the shower, but Roscoe & Angel will sit still for it.

Ruby Jewel is a holy terror anytime water gets near her as long as it is not her playing in her bowl with her pellets. She doesn't even try to bathe in her small water bowl. Geez, I have never seen a female of any species hate showers or baths as much as this girl!!:th_LOL: Her breeder claims she loved showers & getting into the sink, but I haven't seen any evidence of this since she came to live with me.

Ruby Jewel got plumb mad as a redhead can get this past week at me when I told her she had to get a misting. The other 2 went to the shower & Leyla Belle got her misting. This was my last day off last week. Her feathers were needing it & she was mad at me all my work days. One day she didn't even want out of her enclosure for her play perch time. And the rest of the days she would get on my arm to come out, but she would nip the dickens out of my arm coming & going. Then she wouldn't talk to me or have anything to do with me til today. This has been the first time she has gotten so mad about getting wet! Macaw PMS, I swear!!:th_eek::th_faint:

[coltfire]

ive noticed with the aviary birds, they will play in the bird bath i have in there, but only a few of them like it when i put the hose on mist for them they will all have a few fly bys but its only really juliet that will sit there under the hose, and she will sit until you turn it off she always looks like a drowned rat, and i think she is getting to wet so ill move it over but she just follows the hose and stays under it , never had a bird that likes its showers so much.