Misting/bathing question

[mjones]

So since you all have great answers about eating...I thought I would ask you about misting/bathing. I do let Tink shower with me on the weekends. I don't have time during the mornings when I work though. We use a spray bottle, which she doesn't seem to like at all. She also tries and usually succeeds in taking a bath in her water dish on her kitchen perch while we eat. She loves it but it makes such a mess! How often do you mist/bath your conures? What method do you prefer? Do you use a separate bowl for bathing? I mean, once she has bathed in her water I clean it, of course. Our outside birds, also conures (they are a rescued pair) have two water bowls and seem to use one to drink and one to play in. Not Tink. Would LOVE your opinions on this one!

 

[Bridgette]

Kiwi prefers to bathe in my cupped hands while the water slowly runs out of the faucet. He will occasionally bathe in his water dish, but it's a rare occurrence.

 

[anna2684]

My Slender Bill bathes in a turtle water bowl I found at a pet store, he will roll on his side, I take forever in the shower because I am laughing so hard. My Ciaque likes a spray bottle set on fine mist, and my Sun hates everything I have tried.

 

[Coleman]

Chico my sunny will sit on the shower curtain rod while I shower and he likes the mist and steam. Although he loves the kitchen sink with the water trickling out. He also will bathe in his water bowl which makes a mess. He bathes in his water bowl when he hears the water running in the kitchen sink on occasion.

 

[ifly]

there are onyl two ways in which mango takes a bath. water dish or when he is in the kitchen w/ us he likes to take baths in one of our glass cups! lol its hilarious!

 

[Bobioden]

Maxx loves to stand on a bowl in the kitchen sink while I hose him down with the sprayer.

 

[mjones]

Too funny everyone! I guess Tink is like Mango with the public bathing! I take her in the shower with me. She acts like she doesn't want to bathe but then when I stick her in the water she seems to love it.

 

[twokidzmom]

I went on ebay and bought a Mr. Mister. It's an aerosol bottle so you aren't constantly squirting the bottle. My birds love it.

 

[Kitzj0]

Ruby and Mango never liked to be get the mist treatment. Every day I wash their water bottles and about every other day I take Ruby and Mango over to the sink with me to watch. After washing the water bottle, I usually flick them with some of the water (make sure the water is lukewarm first) and give them a taste of some of the water droplets. I turn the water down to a trickle. Usually they reach out to get in the sink and if they do I place them in the sink and they usually lay down under the water. They are so cute because they lay their head sideways and let the trickle stream of water beat down on them. It is like a warm massage. They always have a look on their face like "god, that feels good". Then they flutter their wings to wash up. After a few minutes, I pick them up and gently towel dry, then off to the bathroom for the hair dryer. They really like the hair dryer. I move the hair dryer around constantly at a distance not to get them hot. They like to move around in different positions and they fluff their feathers around to get everything dry. The whole time they are chirping away.

They aren't always in the mood so I don't force it. They let me know if they want a bath or not. If not, I try the next day and they usually are in the mood then. More often than not, they are every other day bathers. They also prefer mornings over evenings, but during the week it is evening baths because of my schedule. I tried every day and they but discovered they are more every other day bathers.

I also found that making it sound like fun by talking excited and acting like I am having fun puts them in the mood for a bath.