Daily care ✨

Bathing☂

Benefits of bathing❁

Which bird wouldn't enjoy a long bath?
Rambo, Chica and Lucky take them daily.
Why are baths so important for parrots?
♦Especially important when your bird is molting,
because when the skin stays hydrated it helps against itchy feathers
♦ To stimulate them to take care of their feathers (preening)
♦If your bird doesn't have the ability to take a bath,
the skin becomes dry and itchy → causing plucking
♦ To get the dirt of their feathers
♦ To fulfil their natural needs
♦ Keeps the feathers shiny

Tools for bathing✦

There are a lot of tools to make
bathing easier and even more fun.
Most of these tools you can easily buy at a pet store or online webshop with bird products.
you can also make some tools at home like a shower perche I will upload this DIY soon!

A couple of examples:
♦ Mist spray
♦ Cleansing spray
♦ Shower & window perche
♦ Special bathsalt for petbirds
♦ Special shampoo for petbirds
♦ Giant splash bath

To give an idea of the costs:

Product	Price
Super Fog Nano Mist Spray	€ 39,95
Avix Bird Rain Cleansing Spray	€ 12,95
Kings Cages - Feather Shampoo	€ 17,95
Orlux Oro- Bathsalt	€ 3,61
Rainforest Mist for Small Birds	€ 9,95
Sandy Shower Fun Perch	€ 32,50

How to let your bird take a bath ☔️

My birds are real watermonsters. It was not difficult for me to let them take a bath. But some birds don't really enjoy taking a bath. Here some tips:
♦ Try the spray bottle (for plants)

♦Be excited about the water yourself so your birds also get interested.
♦ Splash with your finger in the water so they get a couple of drops on them.
♦ Try to take them underneath the shower with you.
♦ Use a bowl filled with water.

Daily dosis preening and cleaning

A healthy parrot preens itself alot of hours during the day. But what is preening? It is a parrot's way of grooming its feathers to keep them in the best condition. When they preen, parrots will remove dust, dirt and old pins that already came through and line each feather in it's position relative to feathers and body. Preening keeps your parrot healthy, so make sure they do it often. You could also help your parrot with it, at difficult spots like on it's head. Mostly when your parrot is in a moult it has some pins on it's head. When it's just a thin layer around a pinfeather you could rub /scratch it a little bit so the itchy feeling goes away. But be careful! If it is a dark pin there could still be blood in the pin, then just leave it. Because when it begins with bleedingit is very hard to stop it! Above some pictures of my beloved lovebirds preening. :)

Dry paws

It can happen your parrot has a little dry feets. This could be because of different reasons, like for example a menicure perche they have in their cage like my birds have. I discovered Chica's paws looked a little dry so I started using some biological cocosnutoil. I put this daily on her feet and already saw difference in a couple of days. They were alot more hydrated, less dry and also the colour looked a lot more healthy. I could surely recommend this, even if your parrot isn't really struggling with dry feets. You could buy this even in most supermarkets, and it is also hydrating for human skin.

Fresh air from outside

Spending some time outside several times a week is very important for the health of your bird. You can take your bird always with you outside even if it's winter. Ofcouse it's still from huge major to do this step by step so when it's spring you can start with just go outside with your bird, in transport cage or with flightsuit/harness, and repeat this until fall and then winter. The sunlight gives your bird vitamins like for example D3 this kind of vitamins provides your bird to ingest calcium. If it is impossible for you to take your bird outside with you daily, you can buy a special UV lamp this has the same results.

Cage

It's very important your parrots cage is not to small. and also not in a round shape. This can cause problems like for example plucking. They also need a couple of things in their cage:
♦ Bath ♦ Mineral stone ♦ Sepia shell ♦ Perches ♦ Toys ♦ Swing or stairs ♦ Pedicure perche
This are a couple of things that may defenitely not be missed.
As you can see my birds also had a complete transformation in their cage. I learned a lot in a short time. What I have:
♦ Bath ♦ Mineral stone ♦ Sepia shell ♦ Perches ♦ Toys ♦ Swing ♦ stairs ♦ Pedicure perche ♦ Ropes ♦

Training

Quality time is very important for your bird. Birds are not easy pets to have at all. Many people underestimate this. They need a lot of care and attention on a daily basis. You can spend time with your beloved bird by just cuddling with it, but you can also train and play games with it. This means doing exercises together! You can buy tools to help you doing at alot of petstores or websites online. Like for example these toys:

Most toys are puzzles to encourage the intelligents of your bird. Because birds are very smart animals. You can compare the mind and brains of a parrot with a four year old, they can remember very well. They can also recognize colours and match them with eachother. These toys are made of different materials, for example from wood, acrylic and plastic. Whenever you do exercise with these toys it's important to use treats.
Tips & Tricks when training :

♦ Dont practice to long - it's better to do it short terms but repeat it everyday.
♦ Practice in the most empty room so your bird does not get distracted.
♦ Use one kind of treat to reward and only use this one for the exercises.
♦ Train at the same time everyday so it is strict schedule