It was wonderfull!!!

[jimpierce7]

I found how to make the ever elusive Benji decide I am his best friend! All I had to do is give him a bath!!! No it isn't because he loved it so much. I got a shower head with a mist on the dial today. I decided to try it out. Well Benji doesn't do very good cleaning up after he eats so he ends up wearing a food bib all day. Oh he squacked and flittered like alway till that water hit him. He froze. Started making a pathetic version of his squack, very very soft and quiet. That mist in the freaked him out so much he thought he wanted to be my friend! Zoey wasn't anymore pleased about the mist either. Nor was Sophie. I'm gonna try the mist from a differant, less dominant location next time.

[homebird]

that sounded risky......could have gone badly ......real glad for you with the success ...but what about their love of bathing ? When I mist my mother's cockatiels they either like it or not & I have to observe if this is what they want at the time - so maybe he wasn't ready, or just very surprised at the turn of events!?
I read from a behaviorist that if you appear to "rescue" a bird from an unpleasant experience, that can turn them into trusting you. But frightening them is a potential risk & tricky. They recommended taking the bird on an outing/tour of the home or giving treats only by the person they're least friendly with, to make friends .
Good luck with the clean-up!
Jac

[Irish]

Bob's a messy eater, too, so he gets showers often. Luckily, he loves them. Unfortunately, he makes the bathroom into a swimming pool with his antics :-).

That misting head sounds nice. Gracie and Pete actively dislike showers--maybe a nice gentle mist would be less offensive to them than a normal shower spray? Pete bathes in a bird bath we bought him, but Gracie doesn't like baths, misting or showers, so with her, getting clean is almost always a bit traumatic for both of us. Anything that might help would be welcome around here.

[jimpierce7]

so far to date there has been nothing any of my birds appear to like as far as showers go.

[homebird]

from my abundant research... - someone just used very wet lettuce in a bowl to entice their birds to bathe - kind of like running thru the dew, for a bird. Maybe your bird wants to be more in control of this duty(?).

From my experience - I use a damp cloth to 'groom' my cat, while I brush her, maybe you could turn the clean-up into a preening/cleaning moment, & gradually include the mister???

[The Outlaw]

Jim:

Most folks simply overthink the whole shower experience. Put up a spring tension rod that spans the entire length of the shower, if its not already grooved, wrap in vet wrap, set the shower head to a gentle setting, lower the temp of the water until its almost cool and add birds. Simple as that. I would suggest keeping the shower rod low for the first few times and eventually raising it to a comfortable height for yourself.

I shower mine in pairs, for the most part. No drama, everyone's happy. End of story.

[jimpierce7]

ok........thats scary.............thats almost as close to "normal" I've been called in a long time with that over thinking thing. Kinda "how did you know I did that?"

[The Outlaw]

I know everything: I'm a mom.

[homebird]

Wet birds are too funny looking ! - & too sweet! Perhaps all bird people overthink? That's prob. a good thing - definately beats not thinking.