IndianRingNeck.com

I'm learning how to communicate with Babe, my recent "hand me down", but have a question about bathing. I can sense at times when he fluffs his feathers that he wants a bath and have seen him do a "facewash" in his drinking dish. That's about all he can get in the dish--- is his face! Once when I noticed he seemed to want a bath, I put an actual bathing dish in that hooked to the side of his cage, but he still just sat on the side and dipped his face and chest in. Got a lot wetter tho. It's 4 1/2" square and 1 and 1/2 inches deep. Is this too deep, too small? Should I put it on the bottom of his cage so his tail will have more room? I just have a gut feeling that he doesn't want to get in it because it's not wide enough and his wings and tail will hit the cage bars. I have a ceramic bowl to put in the bottom of the cage, but he just poops in it! Right now, he just stays in the sunroom and doesn't fly around the rest of the house. (we have 2 cats and a dog) It's not like I can take him to a sink or something. Should I offer it on a schedule of some sort? Like every Wed morn? He doesn't seem to like misting....think one of his previous owners used this as a deterrent. Is there anybody who can give me suggestions as to how to help this little guy take a bath?
Momadonna

im pretty sure most irns dont bath like say a wild bird where they are actually standing in the water.indie likes to have a bath in a martini style glass full of water.he flicks water all over himself then shakes all the way down to the tail feathers.also when indies cage gets cleaned out he likes the mist from the hose on a hot day.i always put it at other end to him then he comes over to the spray with his wings out.

We've had Ringo for 3 months now & he doesn't like the spray bottle or bowls of water either. I started taking him into the shower with me & just letting him run around on the top section, when he knows we're heading for the shower he gets VERY excited. Now that he's comfortable in there, he actually hangs down waiting to be splashed. Every now & then he hops on my finger to get nearer to the spray. I'm saving up to buy a perch with a suction cap on the end, so that he can get down lower. He just loves it!!

he may be afraid to get all the way into the bowl all the way, especially if hes never done it before.

my irn sinbad and macaw bubba both just sit there at the edge and splash their bodies with their beeks.

in the summer when i water the lawn or wash the car or house windows, bubba likes to perch on the end of the hose nosle and splash it all over

and another weird fetish of his, he only bathes indoors if you vaccum in the living room where his cage is.

when he see's and hears the vaccum he goes streight to the water dish and starts doing the freakin macarena and does it non-stop till you stop vaccuming he really likes it for some reason or another

The members of my bird club always turn on the vacuum when teaching any bird about bathing. My parrotlet likes to splash in a bath dish just his size and dislikes spraying. My IRN, Yinka, loves to be sprayed almost daily. Make sure you put WARM water in the sprayer. Even hot water is consideraly cooler when it sprays out. Yinka comes closer when I ask if she wants a shower (spray) and she wiggles her wings an tail to say yes. She also wiggles when asking for a shower.
jj

Buddy likes bathing in a pie dish. He has one thats all his, and we take him to the kitchen, fill it up and let him go to town.

I mist him while he's bathing to help him get really soaked.

He'll tolerate a shower, but he doesnt enjoy it like the others.

Athena

I had one of my suns clipped at one time and since then she only ever puts her face and chest in the water. She is afraid of getting in completely, the others jump right in. At least they get the dirtiest parts of themselves clean

My little baby has only just started to completely bathe. He has just been putting his face in his bath and shaking it all over his body. On the weekend I put a shallow, square container on the bottom of his playground thinking he may drink from it or have a little wash, I heard him squeaking loudly only to find him playing in the middle of the water dish, flapping, bathing, really playing. He would then step out, play a little more with his toys then get back in the centre of the water dish. He has a separate bathing dish in his cage but does not use it much and when he does its only a face and belly wash - he doesn't actually get in like he did with the dish. It was a funny sight to see though.

I think one of the greatest joys of living with birds is watching them delight in a bath or a shower. They get so thoroughly into it, that we feel great about providing it! No wonder our bonds just get stronger and stronger!
jj