Washing my IRN

[elpilota]

Hi,


A couple of days ago I was washing my hands with my IRN on my shoulders. While doing so I could see that Rio (my IRN) was showing interest in the water coming out from the tap and eventually he jumped and started washing himself and by the looks of it he was enjoying it too!

My question is, how often should I let my IRN have a "bath"? Is it bad for their skin to wash themselves once a day? If it is how often should I let him wash?


Thank you for your time!

[ellieelectrons]

My advice is to provide your bird with the opportunity to bathe and let them decide how often they do it.

I have a huge water dish in their cage for my guys that they can bathe in and I take them into the shower with me many mornings a week. They have perches in there and they can choose whether to get wet or not. I never take them into the shower after midday during colder weather, although on the odd occasion, they do bathe themselves in their water bowl at that time.

Ellie.

[MissK]

My question, in answer to your question, would be

Providing it's not too cold or close to bedtime, does the rain bother wild Ringnecks at all?


-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

My question in response to your question of the original question is...how often does it rain in the IRN homeland.

[elpilota]

Thank you for your replies!

At the moment he is not in a large cage in order to put a bowl of water as he is still 2 months old but I will make sure he gets the opportunity to have a wash at least once a day


Regards

Ian

[MissK]

Skye

Of course you knew I would look that up, didn't you? It turns out Wikipedia has a LOT of information about rainfall in all of India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_India There was more information there than I cared to read on this fine morning, and it seems there is a good bit of variation. However, the most striking thinking points I pulled from it were 1) Monsoon Season, 2) Desert, and 3) How do Ringnecks react to Monsoon Season (ie, will they migrate in or out of the area)?.

I also thought I was so slick, checking a travel site for India's weather. Besides mention of heat and seasonal rain, there was little information for my purpose. http://www.worldtravelguide.net/india/w ... -geography

Researching the weather for all of India proved too big a task, especially given that I am not familiar with the geography or exact locations populated by IRNs. Knowing they are present in Mumbai, I chose to focus there. I was hoping Subodh would be able to give us a report from the source, but he is scarce here these days. In his absence I found a graph for rainfall amounts in Mumbai, India. http://www.mumbainet.com/rainfall.php Unfortunately, it shows volume, not frequency. CNN weather forecast feels that this week Mumbai will have rainfall on four of seven days. http://weather.cnn.com/weather/forecast ... 5226977666 Because the majority of rainfall in Mumbai is present during the rainy season, I must conclude that, barring chance of seasonal migration, Indian Ringnecks are equipped to handle both periods of drought and daily or near daily heavy rain.

For my personal satisfaction, given that I used conditions in Bangladesh for my daylight length model, I also checked into rainfall there. I did not find a nice chart of rainfall as I did for Mumbai, but I did find a little something indicating heat and humidity through the year. http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... &LEVEL=160 A broader overview indicates half the year is dryer, which I feel tends to support my conclusion of the preceding paragraph. http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/ ... ladesh.htm A WeatherOnline forecast expects Bangladesh to have rain on five days out of eight this week. http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... NOREGION=1

I provide Rocky a generous bowl of water at all times for his drinking and bathing pleasure. I have tried misting him to simulate very light rain, but he doesn't like it at all. Being the nature geek I am, I must now consider if I want to try creating an artificial rainy season for him, and providing him the choice to stand in the rain or not. While I believe I have the materials and ingenuity to create a misting station in the living room, I have concern about the possible impact of overspray and a hose running in the house. On the other hand, it is an exciting proposition to step one step closer to simulating a natural condition. I am truly ambivalent.

For anyone wishing to take that step, I think the most helpful tools would be these - a water recovery system, a hose mister, and a lawn sprinkler timer. Doesn't that sound like fun?

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... OgodLTYAew

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Larg ... 174?N=aq89

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WEcneQZVud0/T ... n_hose.jpg

http://www.walmart.com/ip/19715445?wmls ... la&veh=sem

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DIG-Corp-Pus ... /100350679

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

Bravo MissK

Yes...I knew you'd look it up

A misting station sounds like a LOT of fun to make. I will look into it to add to my screened in lanai that hasn't happened yet

I too offer water everyday. I've tried the bowl, but my birds seem to like the kitchen sink the best

[subodhhire]

Hi All,

First of all i would like to thank Miss K for emailing me about this interesting thread.

Since i am from India, I will first answer the question about rainy season in India. The rainy season in India is approximately for 4 months starting from June till October. But actual heavy rains are only during July and August or you can say from end of June till August. Offcourse different areas in the country have different months when it rains heavily but majority parts of India experience rainfall as i have mentioned above.

Now coming to Indian Ringnecks and rains. First let me tell everyone that IRNs are found in almost every part of India. Now bathing or playing in water is something which IRNs love. But bathing an IRN daily is not advisable at all, especially in cold seasons. During hot seasons bathing every alternate days is a suggestion from my side and during cold season it should be only once a week or maximum twice depending on the weather. Also please use only cold or rather room temperature water. Please dont use warm water for bathing them.

As i have mentioned above IRNs love to bath in the rain so taking them in the shower with you is a good idea, but provided you are yourself bathing in cold water. I take my Alexandrine with me in the shower 2 to 3 times a week, he simply loves it. Also if he doesnt feel like bathing he doesnt come under the shower or else he does. I take a bath in a cold water shower daily and so i take my bird with me that too not daily. Keeping a bowl of water for them to take a bath is also a good idea.

I have seen wild IRNs taking a bath under sprinklers used in gardens and fields. Also i have seen them taking a bath in the rains and enjoying it. They also bathe in ponds and river banks at times.

According to me giving an opportunity to bathe 2 to 3 times a week is well suited for IRNs. But not in cold seasons. I hope this has helped.

Subodh

P.S. Am feeling really good to be writing again. For those who know Chanakya, he is in moulting now. Also one sad news I have lost Lily one of my budgie and Minty my other bugie is doing well a of now.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Subodh

I'm sorry to hear about your budgie

I have read that birds should bathe in water that is cooler than what humans would choose to shower in but I've never read about damage this could cause them. Do you know? I don't have cold showers and I don't let the water be ridiculously hot when they are with me and I always give them the choice as to whether they want to get wet.

Ellie.

[MissK]

Thanks to Subodh for the thoughtful report from India!

Subodh, I am sorry for the loss of little Lily. I'm certain you did everything possible for her. It is a blessing you did not lose them both. Glad to hear Chanakya is well! You should try to stop by once a week to relax here!

Ellie, all I can reasonably think of is that water too warm might scald or overheat the bird, and possibly strip oils from the feathers? I read over and over No Hot, but other than burning, nobody says why.

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your friend May she fly high over the rainbow bridge.

Thank you for that valuable info. I wasn't aware that you shouldn't use warm water either. I wonder if everyone that showers with their birds on here takes cold showers...brrrrr not for me at all. Ill stick to letting them choose when they want to bathe in a bowl or my kitchen sink. Mine also love to be misted. If they see the spray bottle, the wings come out lol.

[ellieelectrons]

Ellie, all I can reasonably think of is that water too warm might scald or overheat the bird, and possibly strip oils from the feathers? I read over and over No Hot, but other than burning, nobody says why.

I was working on the premise that if it wasn't appropriate for them, they wouldn't choose to get wet. I don't know if that's reasonable. Also, my guys mostly get wet from spray rather than sticking their bodies under the shower nozzle directly (although Charlie will occasionally do that). I wonder if that makes a difference?

Ellie.

[elpilota]

Hi subodhhire, thanks for your reply! It was really helpful!

[subodhhire]

Hi All,

Thanks for the kind words for lily.

I am not an expert on the subject, but i was told by my avian vet about the cold water bath. He even told me to add 2 to 3 ice cubes in the water to bring down the temperature. But i guess he said that considering the heat in our area in those days. I never added ice cubes as Chanakya was happy taking a shower with me. I dont see him enjoying the bowl at all. He likes the shower more and that too when i am in the shower with him.

I am not very sure about why hot water should not be used for bathing birds, but my assumption is that birds have many ways to warm up themselves. But apart from bathing i dont know of any other way that they can cool themselves. The reason i came to this assumption is because my birds dont like warm water at all. The just start running here and there when the come to know that the water is warm. And when it is cold they willingly come and stand under the shower and enjoy it. This is true with my budgies too.

As i said i am not very sure about the reasons, but i just shared my experience with hot n cold water. If anyone has any proper explanation. I would also like to know it.

Subodh

[MissK]

Just thinking out loud, musing, guessing here........

Actually hot water that could burn or overheat, notwithstanding, perhaps it is birds simply prefer the natural options? Or we should seek to provide them conditions which Nature has already equipped them to handle? In line with Subodh's observations and Ellie's intuitions, perhaps it is simply unnatural for most birds to encounter water warmer than a certain temperature?

Really, I think we just honour a duty to err on the side of caution. I'd really like to say that animals will tend to avoid things that are not right, or even dangerous for them, but the truth is that animals themselves belie this. I have one dog who, given the opportunity, will lie in the sun for hours on the hottest of days until her ears turn beet red inside. I've another who will sometimes swallow whole anything she can physically fit down her throat. Just this morning I stopped Rocky from eating his cuttlebone like a piece of toast. Let's not even start to examine all the unhealthy things I do, myself.......

Will we ever know the truth?
-MissK



*Subodh - I actually once observed a Canary panting. It was in an uncomfortably hot room, but otherwise not a distressing situation. I interpreted it as evidence the bird was overheated, and so we left.

[Skyes_crew]

I found this great article on how birds keep cool.

http://birding.about.com/od/birdingbasi ... epcool.htm

It is my take after reading the article, that if a birds body temp is already 105 degrees, adding warm water could increase body temerature faster than their body could control it. Any other thoughts???

[subodhhire]

Hi Skyes,

I think you are right.

Subodh