Birds need a bath or shower. No getting around it. Mine like showers but they are, shall we say, “less than animated” when they are taking a shower. Normally you see videos of birds and they’re all very loud and rambunctious. Such as these two here:
Mine? Not so much as you will see here. With a little help from my friends Nan and Lisa, we got the birds showered. Here is a video of the festivities. We all had a lot of fun making the video and of course the birds are really clean!
Patricia Sund
Parrot Nation 
August 23, 2010 at 12:02 pm
love it love it love it! Parker really zones in the shower! Love the credits too…………
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August 23, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Have you ever put P, P and N under the faucet like in the first video? I’m wondering if they would play around more if you did that……Not that they have to flap around and play or anything, just another way to take a shower.
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August 23, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Nope. Never tried. But it’s a thought. Let’s try that next time!
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August 23, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Sounds like a plan!
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August 23, 2010 at 8:31 pm
LOVED IT!
I think they might have been the three least impressed parrots i’ve ever seen in the water!
Elmo, my jenday, is obsessed with showering – she’ll stay under the water forever if i’d let her.
Pickles, my quaker, prefers a bath in a stainless steel baking tray.
Pookie, my greencheek, will either bath in the baking tray or in my cupped hands under a running tap.
Oh – and they’ll all sit in their waterbowls in their cage if the mood strikes them!
It’s funny how they all have their own preferences. Luckily we live in Australia so even if they choose to have as ‘water-bowl-bath’ right before bed they dry quickly.
Elmo adores a quick blast from the hair-dryer too (low heat, low speed and just a quick ‘flick’ over her feathers). There have been times we’ve showered and i’ve popped her on a perch nearby while I dry my hair and she’ll squark to let me know she wants some air too!
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August 23, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Patricia, P, P & N looked like the enjoyed the shower very much, just chill’in, Who doesn’t? My kids, Louie & Libby (IRN’s) take showers several times a week but they are on shower perches. Have your kids ever tried a shower this way. If not, maybe they would get more involved if they were at your eye level.
Mine really like to be up even with me. I’ve put them on the bottom and they weren’t comfortable plus they didn’t like the full shower pressure. They are smaller than yours.
It’s funny how they know if they are in the mood to get really wet or not. If it’s yes, their wings come right out waiting for me to splash them, if not they just stand there and watch me. Ok, Louie critiques my washing style sometimes but he is a very clean bird, so?? There shower videos are on youtube, can they be posted here?
Thanks for sharing their fun video with us!!
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August 24, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Loved the video Patricia!
This is the same method I’ve had to take up with my CAG, Kinglsey.
It’s quite different from my GCC and BHC who love taking a few baths every week in their big glass bathing bowls. Kingsley will go into his bathing bowl that I offer and flap around a bit, but never gets really “drenched”.
I agree about the shower perches, I’ve had a few shaky experiences with them as well and as far as Kinglsey goes, he seems to somewhat “prefer” the tub a lil better.
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August 25, 2010 at 10:49 am
That’s how Monroe looks every time Mom showers him. He just stands there and “takes it”. I’m a lot like that too most of the time but once in a while I get really jazzed about the spray bottle and flap, flap, flap!!
Excellent video! I loved it. They’re all so calm and well behaved!!
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August 25, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I brought my greys into the shower with me this morning, I usually just let them sit on top of the shower door frame, but after watching you put your gang in the tub, I decided to place them on the floor.
Well, at first it was a frenzy to escape, the more I talked to them they seem to settle and find a corner to “wait it out”. I now have two fresher parrots and look forward to trying this again. Wish me luck!
I also have two Senegals, the female behaves just the same as your greys, almost comatose, it pretty funny.
Next adventure-to make chop.
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September 9, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Only one thing comes to mind when I watched your shower video… “Misery loves company!” They look so pitiful! đŸ™‚
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September 9, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I know! They do look pathetic don’t they! But they aren’t miserable…they’re just relaxed, is all. They really like their showers. It’s just like we are when we get a massage, I guess.
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September 11, 2010 at 11:04 am
Great, entertaining videos. I’ve showered my cockatiels before and they loved it. My younger one, Rita, wasn’t so sure at first. But after a little coaxing she was all over it. I try to keep my bird cages clean, so my parrots aren’t living in a mess. I clean their bird cage every week and give it a thorough scrub every month. The parrot cage is made by Cages By Design, which has removable floors and trays so daily cleaning is pretty easy. How often should you bathe your parrots if you keep their cage nice and clean?
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October 3, 2010 at 6:09 am
Why do they need such long showers? Isn’t 10 mins too long for them? They just seemed so frightened? đŸ˜¦
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October 3, 2010 at 8:45 am
Anneka,
They aren’t frightened at all. Don’t worry, they were fine! They’re actually very relaxed.
Greys are a powder down species and I’ve found that it takes that long for the water to cut through the dander and soak their skin. If it’s shorter, the water just bounces off of their feathers. If you think about it, it sometimes rains a long time. I give them showers to mimic those rainstorms in the wild.
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March 25, 2011 at 1:00 am
Definately not the screamingly annimated DYHA Jose! I am sometimes afraid he’ll hurt himself with his antics when he’s wet! He is much more like the macaws in the first video… a complete nut when it’s bathtime! I’ve even seen him stick his head in his water dish to the point that he’s almost under water; guess I need a parrot sized snorkel for him! It’s funny and interesting to see the difference between your placid greys and him… thanks for sharing this video. How do you feel about using the blow-dryer on your birds? I’ve heard different opinions on the matter…
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March 25, 2011 at 8:18 am
I don’t blow dry my Greys because I don’t feel it’s necessary. When they dry naturally, they are using energy to dry off and warm up. Using that energy blows off even more steam and they seem more content. When you have tired birds at the end of the day, you have happy birds! I just think using that extra energy is a good thing.
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