Submerge in water....yes or no?

[tkirsch9368]

I have heard that some ppl submerge their birds in water so not to fly away while giving baths. Now not really deep water but enough that they cant fly away. My grey def does not like a shower or even to be misted but he needs to be wet cause he is soooooo dry! Should I just bite the bullet and so this to him or just let him go with the dry skin?

I have tried the shower thing and he growled and screamed very loud!!!!!! He def didnt like it so would the bath thing be worse. I dont want to accidently drown him cause he will def splash around!

[Valo's Moirana]

sounds horrible to me - what do you mean? like hold him down? i wouldn't do it...

nino doesn't bathe, and he doesn't like his spray bath either - doesn't bother me much though... he HAS to get wet regularly, and he does... he looks at me like i have horns and a devil tail for a couple of hours after i mist him, but he always gets over it ;)

[jenseits]

I wouldn't do it either. Sounds like an even worse idea than trying to push a cat into a bath. I don't see any advantage to this over simply misting him -- he may hate misting, but at least he won't think you're trying to drown him. You can offer him a bowl to bathe in voluntarily, but I definitely would not push a bird under water... you would destroy so much trust in just a manner of minutes and possibly do a lot of injury to him as he struggles.

[birdiemommy]

We brought Mickey home the beginning of April when he was 8 weeks old. Once he was weaned we started letting him get misted along with the others. This past week was the first time that he actually liked it. He would do his best to get out of range of the mist. But this time he sat on his stand and held his wings out and was loving it. It took all summer for him to learn to like it.Try to give him more time to learn to enjoy it. I mist all my birds, even the ones who don't like it. They get the bath they need and it is the least intrusive way for bath haters.

[Congobongo]

I mostly mist my birds. Eventually they come to enjoy it and will actually spread their wings to get the wing pits too! I would just continue misting even if he doesn't care for it. It is still a more gentle way to wet him down.

Dunking him in water would probably be traumatic and he may resent it and you could lose trust.

Now my Green Winged loves everything. Misting, shower and taking a bath in her bowl. I think I could turn a firehose on her and she'd still be happy!

[tracie]

I dont' think it is a good idea, and I will tell you if you tried this with my Zoe you would be missing some fingers! I think it sounds terrifying and a bath alone will not solve dry skin. When Zoe had dry skin when I first got her I gave her higher fat foods, incorporated red palm oil and it cleared up. The misting at first she didnt' like, but she has learned to enjoy it and lifts her little wings up so I get on the inside of the wing. Good luck with your little angel.

[Falsk]

Your comment reminded me of something I read on Beth's page about her plucked eclectus. If you scroll down you can see the video she posts about "submerging" Beleek. I wonder if we're thinking of the same thing.

[Lori~D]

I have to ask. What is it that is making you believe he is "dry"??? This is a question to be investigated first. Do NOT attempt to submerge your bird or he will resent it forever and his fear of water will be horrible. Its NOT natural. Mist him with aloe vera Juice instead - But first what is it that makes you think he is so dry?

[tkirsch9368]

OK, thank you for all the suggestions but first things first and foremost I NEVER wanted to "dunk" him under water at all.....i just meant put him in a tub or bowl with water in it so it would be harder to fly out. Kinda how it is easy to fly out of shower verses being in a bowl of water.....hope ppl now know what I mean, again by no means did I mean "dunking" him. What I meant by "accidently" drowning him, I was told not to let the nose holes get wet anyway because they could drown even if they arent submerged under water.

Anyway - the way I know he is dry is because he is plucker and I can see the dry skin plus when he shakes alot of dust comes off him. I will continue to spray but just thought I would ask advise. I porbably wouldnt put him in a tub filled with water anyway b/c I am not familiar with what may happen if the bird were to slip under the water etc.....I just meant to get him wetter quicker would be to put him in some water. So please anyone who thought it sounded mean, you are right but not meant to be at all......thanks again!

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by tkirsch9368

a So please anyone who thought it sounded mean, you are right but not meant to be at all......thanks again!

Don't worry. I never thought you meant you wanted to submerge him all the way under water like some sort of mafia torture I understood that you meant there'd be a shallow pool of water (in a bowl or a tub) and that you'd try to hold him so that most of his body got into the water ... still don't think that's a good idea for all the same reasons mentioned above. He'll hate it, he'll freak out, he'll fight like crazy, and he'll be scared of you. If you do manage to get him wet, he'll get you bloody in the process and you may never be able to walk into the bathroom with him again without a major freakout on his part.

I'm sure there are plenty of birds who love this activity, but it really doesn't sound like your bird is going to be one of those birds right off the bat. Best take it way slow and stick to misting for now.