Cockatiel Hates Showers!

[urpap]

Hey,

1 of my birds, a cockatiel named Griffin hates showers! I knos that cockatiels are very dusty fellows and I really want to keep him clean and fresh. Whenever I mist him with a bottle, he starts freaking out! I don't wanna repeat this a lot and cause him to stress. What can I do to get him into a habit of showers withoutc caring too much about?

Thanks
Shar

[Dave & Karen]

I start all of our birds on a shower perch suction cupped to the mirror in the bathroom so they can be in there when I shower and get used to the sound and the steam etc. They usually get curious to what I'm doing in there and will fly up and land on the shower curtain rod or my head. If they land on me it's rather easy because all I need to do is move into the shower stream and if they want to get wet they'll stay put, but if not, they'll fly off, but land on the shower curtain rod.
I can then step them up onto my hand and slowly move them into the water stream.

What really helps for me is that I have one of those shower heads that has different settings so I set it to the mist function and when it's misting the birds don't even realize they're getting wet until they're already wet most the time. I can also put a shower perch in the shower just far enough away from the stream that they'll stay on the perch, then switch the shower to mist and they'll usually stay put. A lot of times the bird won't want to get wet, but once they're wet, they find the shower to be fun and enjoyable.

Our cockatiel was probably the hardest to get into the shower, but I found he enjoyed it much better if I was out of the shower and put him into the mist stream while perched on my hand. Then when I took him out, I covered him with a clean dry wash cloth to keep him warm so he also enjoyed the cuddle time while he was getting dry which may have been what motivated him to go in a lot more willingly the next time.

[Pajarita]

Always spray down (as if it was raining). Tiels bathe in the rain so they don't like it when the water is sprayed straight at them. If you see that he just stands there, not moving, don't continue but you will see that sooner or later, he will start hanging upside down (the bat pose) with his wings wide open and that's when you know he is enjoying his bath. But, be careful and don't do it more often than once a week during the winter because, in the wild, tiels go into breeding condition during the wet season so a lot a showers would make them hormonal.