Training a bird to bathe???

[Cozmo luvs feet]

Hello! I have a 2 yr old cockatiel named Cozmo, and I've always tried to get him to bathe himself in water, but haven't had much luck. I've tried to see if he liked a shower, but he flew away every time. I also took a pie dish and filled it with luke warm water, and he did sit in it but didn't do the cute way of flipping the water up on him like wild birds do on a bird bath. I've heard that birds have to see another bird bathe that way in order to learn how to bathe properly, but I'm not sure if that's true. Any suggestions? Thank you

 

[msplantladi]

Curiosity...my military & scarlett were both very leery of any kind of water. I would let the kitchen sink faucet trickle and just stand there and let them look. Then I started playing (gently & slowly) w/ the water and occasionally drip alittle over their head. This took months of just watching. The military loves his baths in the kitchen sink, the scarlet still prefers a good soaking w/ the spray bottle.

 

[CeciliaZ]

Have you tried using a spray bottle? My tiels like a fine mist of water from a spray bottle. Only a couple of mine like to bathe in a shallow dish of water. One of my 4 tiels did watch another tiel bathe in the dish and then went in the dish also. Also...when I use the vacuum cleaner - they tend to spread their wings, contort their bodies and do their "rain dance". If you see your tiel doing that - you might want to try spraying him then.

 

[Cozmo luvs feet]

I've tried the spray bottle and it seems like he tolerates it, but isn't enjoying it. But he goes nuts when I'm running the vacuum, so maybe I'll see if I can do the rain dance with him too! Lol

 

[Monica]

You might also try finding videos of cockatiels bathing, play that and spray your tiel, or find videos of the sound of rain. If you've only used a spray bottle, you might try using a plant mister instead. (finer mist)

 

[msplantladi]

If he has never had a bath from shower, faucet or spray bottle it might take him sometime. My Military prefers the kitchen sink while the Scralett prefers the spray bath.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Cockatiels are desert birds. They rarely bathe in dishes of water. They will wade in the water and maybe dunk their breasts. This echoes the wild behavior of wetting the breast feathers to take moisture back to to nest to hydrate the eggs.

My tiels do well with a fine mist aimed over their heads so it falls like gentle rain. When I first start the misting, they fly away from the mist. But I follow them around the room misting them until they get wet enough to feel the wetness against their skin. Then they get excited and do their rain dance and allow me to really wet them down. Then they spend at least the next hour thoroughly preening the wetness out of their feathers.

It is theorized tiels evolved powder down feathers to help them keep clean without the use of water.

 

[SandraK]

While some of my tiels like standing in a bowl of water what most of them prefer is to be misted - very gently misted - and it takes a couple of spritz before they react and open their wings and get really, really silly.

 

[Cozmo luvs feet]

SandraK , that video is one of the cutest things I've seen!
It's funny how they all start spreading their wings and stuff at the same time. That makes me want to try using the spray bottle and persistently trying to get Cozmo to like it

 

[Odin]

Odin loves the spray bottle! He gets all opened up and silly like in the video as well.

 

[Cozmo luvs feet]

I'm definitely going to try the spray bottle again I want Cozmo to do a little dance too lol

 

[Nissili]

How's your progress on Cozmo? Does he like the spray bottle or no? c: I'm curious to hear! I've never gotten my budgie to bathe willingly, a couple times I sprinkled water on her and she insisted on burrowing herself between my side and my sleeve until she dried off, lol.

 

[shanlung]

Bath with your birdie
Works better if opposite sex.

And Riamfada a gorgeous female
Right in front of my wife too who took those fotos

Tinkerbell Legacy - Living with a flying parrot - Last time to beach for Dommie // Cats at home //3 days 2 nights at Turtle Beach Resort