Tail Feathers in Bath Bowl

[healthyaddict]

So... not sure what the right place is to put this but....

Recently my tiel has picked up a new behavior, where he likes to soak his tail feathers in his bath bowl. I was curious if any of you have experienced this with your birds, and if so, is it unusual? Sometimes he even sleeps on the edge of it now, turning his bath water into a toilet bowl.

This is relatively new, and he was just at the vet for a follow up appointment this week and he seems healthy and normal otherwise. Only other new behavior is finally being able to fly/land.

So, do I have a reason to be concerned? I imagine not, but I just thought I'd check since he's been doing it pretty consistently lately.

[Pajarita]

Where is the water bowl located versus the perches? Because, usually, it's not so much the perch itself but the location that determines their preference for one or another.

PS None of my tiels ever did that and I had a flock of more than 30 of them at one time (I only have 8 now and, except for a single hen, the rest are all handicapped)

[healthyaddict]

Well, it was next to his sleeping perch, then I moved it a little further away, next to a different perch. But he's still doing it. Now I'm trying moving a toy away from it and slowly cycling it around the cage.

[Pajarita]

Put the water bowl at the bottom of the cage and make sure the sleeping perch is placed high in the cage and comfortable (don't use a cement, emery or sand one, they hurt their feet).

[marie83]

Personally I don't leave bath bowls in as I find they get filled with dirt pretty quick wherever you place them. My two let me know when they want to bathe but I do offer them their bowls once a day anyway.

[Pajarita]

Parrots need access to water all the time (bottles don't count) because they are not hard-wired to drink a lot and the diet we give them doesn't contain enough moisture to fulfill their hydration needs. Placing the bowl in a spot where there are no perches above it keeps it clean most of the day so all it's required is changing it twice a day.

[marie83]

I don't use bottles, my two have separate bathing and water dispensers. I was referring to not leaving the bathing water in, not depriving them of water full stop.....

[cml]

Why wouldnt bottles count?
Both my birds drink from their bottles all the time, and a lot too. Its soooo much better than their waterbowls, in which they dunked food and then stopped drinking from (I changed water twice a day).
Infact, they drink a lot more now, and they really enjoy it too .

Maybe your parrots doesnt know how to use them properly, or maybe dont want to because you keep offering water in bowls? Parrots arent dumb as you know .

I get what you mean, Ive seen you writing in other threads about parrots drinking, but I can say for sure that my parrots drink alot more now, and I am superglad that I know its water thats not polluted by pellets while I am at work.

[Pajarita]

In reality, it's much healthier for them to dunk the pellets than to eat them dry. It might make a mess in your eyes but it's healthier.

I don't offer water in bottles because it's not natural and they don't like it. For one thing, I don't like to restrict their behaviors or even ordain what is acceptable and what is not -I respect their choices the same way that I respect people's choices so if they choose to make a mess, I just clean it up (I am sure that, in their mind, that's what I am here for -LOL). And, for another (and this is the most important reason) I like to make their environment as close as I possibly can to nature and I think we will agree in the 'unnaturalness' of a parrot drinking from a bottle... I think that if science has found that people, the ultimate domesticated animal who has not really lived in close contact with nature for hundreds of years benefit from daily exposure to a natural environment (less stress, stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, etc), the benefits that it can bring to an undomesticated species which is only a few generations away from living in the wild and which we deprive of soooooo much by keeping them in captivity must be HUGE.

Now, I do understand your point and the reason why you do it but my aim is not to make my life easier but theirs happier so if I have to weigh my convenience on one plate of the scale and their preferences on the other, they win every time.

[cml]

Now, I do understand your point and the reason why you do it but my aim is not to make my life easier but theirs happier so if I have to weigh my convenience on one plate of the scale and their preferences on the other, they win every time.

You dont. I dont want them drinking spoiled water, which is full of bacteria. If I was home during the day (they are alone about 5-6 hours), and could change water once an hour, then yes, bowls might be better.
Its not a decision based on my convenience, but for their well being. Exactly your own reasoning.
Their happiness always comes first.