How to bathe a parrot?

In their natural habitat, many parrots love moisture and therefore willingly bathe in rainwater. Bathing birds can be at home. About why this is needed, and how to do it, will be discussed in this article.

In order to understand whether aquatic procedures are necessary for birds, it is necessary to remember where the parrots live in their natural environment. Most of the species inhabit Australia and the territories closest to it. In any case, parrots live in climatic zones such as tropics and subtropics. This climate has a rather high temperature. Birds settle in tropical forests, where there is higher humidity, as well as near water bodies.

In the apartments, the temperature and humidity of the air are far from the natural tropical conditions. Most often, the air in the houses is too dry, and the temperature can reach rather high rates both in the hot season and in the winter period if the heating devices are operating at full capacity. It is also worth noting that the parrots do not have sweat glands. Therefore, in conditions of high air temperature and low humidity, it is even necessary to bathe them. Water will help regulate the temperature of the feathered body and reduce the risk of thermal shock. Also, water procedures favorably affect the appearance of birds, as they help to clean the plumage from dust.

When bathing a parrot, it is important to follow a number of rules in order to do no harm to the bird.

• First of all, it is necessary to monitor the temperature of the water and the room. There should be no drafts in the room, and the optimum air temperature is considered to be in the range from 22 to 25 degrees.
• As for water, its temperature should be about 25 degrees. It is necessary to take into account the fact that parrots can drink water in which they splash, so you need to take care that the water is clean and potable. Fluids should not be too much (the optimum is the water level to the abdomen of a parrot).

Many are concerned about how often you can arrange water procedures for a parrot. Only the bird itself can respond to it. If a bird likes water and willingly splashes in it, it is not necessary to limit it to pleasure. However, it is not recommended to keep a container with water in the cage all the time, as the bird may wet the food. There are several limitations on the number and frequency of water treatments.

For bathing birds, you can use both specialized trays and other containers that are found in every house, for example, saucers. Kupalka for parrots is a container with a ceiling, closed walls on three sides. Most often, these trays are made of plastic. They are conveniently placed in the cage of a parrot, but it is desirable to put it away from the feed. When choosing, pay attention to the size of the cup. If the capacity is significantly larger than the parrot itself, the risk that the bird may drown will increase.

Since many parrots love to swim and do it quite often, it is most convenient to use specialized kupalki. As an alternative, you can use deep plates, but it is better not to install them in the cage. Usually such dishes take up a lot of space, and also it has no protective walls.

Some birds happily bathe in the sink under the tap. In this case, you need to make sure that the water pressure is not too great. It is also important that water is not poured into the eyes and ears. You can close the drain hole and type some water in the sink, then turn off the faucet. Least often used for swimming spray. However, some birds like this way of moistening feathers.

Most parrots do not need to be trained in water. Most often, they themselves begin to swim with pleasure at the first opportunity. However, some individuals are afraid of water and categorically refuse to swim. In this case, it is not necessary to force the bird to accept water procedures too actively. Excessive perseverance can cause stress in a parrot, which, in turn, can lead to diseases. You can try to spray a little water from the spray. Perhaps the bird will enjoy such artificial rain. After that, it will be possible to offer the parrot other ways of swimming.

In addition to the spray, you can use fresh grass sprinkled with water.. It is advisable to tear the grass on home plots or in forests, away from the roadway. Also, it must be rinsed well with clean water so that there is no dust or any dirt on it.

Damped grass is best placed in a deep plate. Under natural conditions, parrots like to wash themselves with dew or drops after rain, therefore this method of swimming will be as close as possible to swimming in the natural environment. If the parrot reacted positively to the wet grass, the procedure is recommended to be repeated several times, after which the same plate should be filled with water without grass.

If it was not possible to teach the bird to take baths in water, then other means can be used to clean the feathers. It can be:

• special sand bought at a pet store;
• baby powder, which can be purchased at any pharmacy;
• rye or wheat flour.

Talc must be sprinkled feather bird cover. It is not necessary to wash it off - the parrot will clean its feathers by itself. Sand and flour is placed directly in the bird cage. Bulk product must first be placed in a deep container. Parrots usually self-cleaning their feathers with sand or flour.

After bathing, the risk of catching a cold increases. For this reason, it is important to provide a comfortable environment for the bird, not only during the washing, but also during the drying period. Drying the bird with a hair dryer is strictly prohibited. As noted earlier, the parrots lack sebaceous glands. Dry and hot air dryer can ruin the skin of your pet. From the impact of the hair dryer on the skin, small cracks appear. Various microbes can easily penetrate into them, which is why a parrot can get very sick. Use a towel is also not desirable.

It is best if the parrot dries naturally. We need to ensure that during the drying in the apartment there was no drafts. It is recommended to close all windows and not slam the doors. The air temperature in the room should be the same as during bathing - about 25 degrees or slightly higher. To speed up the drying process, you can put a bird in a cage, and install a lamp nearby and turn it on. Near the burning lamp the bird dries faster.

On how to properly bathe the parrot, see the following video: