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Question:

/I heard that the wierd feather appearance one finds on many "breeder" /birds at bird shows is due to a lack of frequent high humidity as /provided by frequent trips into the shower room. Is that the "dusky" /thing? Dusty with old world parrots, oily with new world parrots. Amazons can look just god-awful if they don’t have a bath. Very oily. I’ve never seen such a transformation as with a Blue-fronted amazon that came in to the adoption center one day. He went from hideous to magnificent with about a pint of water. Layne

Response:

New world parrots (Mexican, Central and South  America) have an oil based waterproofing system can have about as many as they want. Daily is fine. African, Indian, Indonesian and Australian parrots have a powder based system and should not really be soaked more than once per week. Light mistings as often as daily are probably fine. Layne

Response:

Thanks Layne. My amazon showers with me every day. Only about once or twice a week does she go for a real rollicking thrash, the other days she sort of puffs up and sits quietly while little beads of mist precipitate on her. I think she likes both. I heard that the wierd feather appearance one finds on many "breeder" birds at bird shows is due to a lack of frequent high humidity as provided by frequent trips into the shower room. Is that the "dusky" thing? Jim J. Graham PhD

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>Is there a recommended number of showers per week?  Does it depend on >the bird?

You have answered your own question.  Give your bird a shower at least once or twice a week.  More frequently if the bird wants it.  Once in there, the bird will decide how much of a bath it wants.  My Blue front almost never wants to leave the shower.  On other occasions, he’ll just wet his feathers and indicate that he’s done.  My amazons get a shower 2-3 times a week.  My congo gets sprayed with a water bottle  every day after her morning poop (she goes in the toilet).  My own belief regarding bathing is, assuming you don’t have hard water (which could cause over-drying of the the skin)  that more is better.

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:> :>I remember reading somewhere that daily showers can cause problems for :>birds.  Right now, Froggy (YCM) is moulting, and he seems to find some :>relief in showers.  He recognizes the bathroom as the "shower" room, and :>he will lean toward his shower perch and flap his wings pitifully until I :>take him in there.  I shower him daily, but try to give him "light" :>showers for a day or two, and only douse him (soaked through and through) :>about twice weekly.  He likes to be blow-dried, which also concerns me, :>although I keep the drier on "warm," so it doesn’t dry out his skin. I do as you say as well: light baths very often, and a good soaking once in a while.  I’ve noticed that this is how my senegal operates if she’s given access to a bowl full of water daily: there’s days when she just gets her feet wet, days when she gets a bit wet all over, and days when she just soaks herself very thoroughly.  In her case, she LOVES showers, she could sit under the stream of water forever (as long as it doesn’t hit her face, I wonder if she likes the temperature AND the "shower massage" she gets!)… I have to limit the # of showers she takes just to save water  With the other birds, the ‘tiel hates being sprayed, but I do it anyhow.  The budgies like being sprayed lightly and once in a while decide it’s a good bath day, then they run up to the spray bottle and get on point-blank range.   I think its important to pay attention to their body language, which I’m sure you already do: if they look like they are having fun, then let them go for it.  Warm water tends to be more drying (it helps remove oils more easily, which we all know from doing dishes!), so it’s probably a good idea to avoid really soaking the bird with warm water on a daily basis.  That’s just my guess.  Perhaps skip bathing the bird the day after a thorough bath, to allow them to play oil catch-up   When blow-drying the birds, I only do it so that they are *almost* dry (i.e., they are still a bit moist here and there).  Once I put them back in the cage they proceed to preen; I figure that they then re-distribute some of that moisture and that it all evens out   That’s my unscientific guess o’ the day! http://www.mindspring.com/~mintz/coverpg.html = bird care info Poicephalus rule!!

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I remember reading somewhere that daily showers can cause problems for birds.  Right now, Froggy (YCM) is moulting, and he seems to find some relief in showers.  He recognizes the bathroom as the "shower" room, and he will lean toward his shower perch and flap his wings pitifully until I take him in there.  I shower him daily, but try to give him "light" showers for a day or two, and only douse him (soaked through and through) about twice weekly.  He likes to be blow-dried, which also concerns me, although I keep the drier on "warm," so it doesn’t dry out his skin. Is there a recommended number of showers per week?  Does it depend on the bird? (As an aside, I found out today why Greys are called "powder down" birds.  I was giving Kenya a head scratch, and the light was just right.   The stuff was coming off of him like smoke!) —  |/ ^(_)^   spector had a little bird, a ‘tiel hen named Merlot, _||__   and everywhere that spector went, the hen was sure to go!

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