Hi all
My IRN Elmo was in a bad way when i bought him from a breeder. They had a leak in they shed and so had to put the babies back with their mother who rejected them and plucked their feathers out. When i got him his feather condition was poor and he was missing a lot of feathers on his head. These grew back in but a year later his feathers are still in quite poor condition. I have tried to mist him but he hates the spray bottle and flies away. Any ideas on how to get him used to being misted? Also i have noticed when he is preening he is seperating his tail feathers and is making quite a mess of his tail and im not sure why as i have not noticed any feather picking and i think he is actually molting at the moment but im not entirely sure?
Try a stainless steel dog bowl of water in Elmo's cage, mist higher keep the spray out of Elmo's vision. By Bird Billie has one or two showers as day in the bath room which she prefers to a spray.
It could be a long process, but start by holding the spray bottle as close as he feels comfortable and rewarding him for staying calm. I would probably teach him to come over and touch the bottle using targeting, if I wanted to train my birds to like misting. Then move the bottle away and do one spray it AWAY from him. Reward him for staying still. Do that until he is comfortable with you spraying near him. When he gets comfortable with the spray right by him, he might decide he wants to wash himself with it.
