Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Down and Dirty of Bird Bathing
By Melissa L. Kauffman, Editorial Director of BIRD TALK and BirdChannel.com
Share in the adventures of Melissa Kauffman's experiences in bird ownership in Life in the Bird House.
Bathing your pet bird — now there is a topic guaranteed to make you snore. It is one of those basic pet bird articles that every finch, canary or parrot owner must read but doesn’t want to. So I will keep this fun, short and easy for those of you who need to know about bird bathing but want the information quick and painless. This will be entertaining for those of you who like to watch videos of pet birds. So here we go...
Bathing your bird should be fun and easy. If it isn’t, neither you nor your pet bird will want to do it and, thus, it won’t happen. Why should birds bathe? Two really easy reasons: Removing the dirt and dander from your bird’s feathers keeps the feathers in good shape and bathing can be a fun activity, which will keep your bird happily entertained.
If this is too little information, Margaret Wissman, DVM, wrote a great article called Bathing Your Pet Bird that goes into more details.
Now, the challenge is to get your pet bird to bathe. Different pet birds like to bathe differently, just like some people prefer a shower to taking a bath. Find your bird’s favorite way to bathe, and then make sure you schedule in for bath time. The four basic ways to bathe your bird are:
- The shower
- A spray bottle
- A shallow dish
- Green, leafy vegetables
For more information on ways to bathe your bird, read Birds Love to Get Wet by Connie Cho.
There you have it. If you’d rather get a visual of the four ways to bathe your bird, watch my video. And unlike other videos that state everything is being done by a professional and shouldn’t be done at home, please try this at home!
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The Down and Dirty of Bird Bathing
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