How often should a budgie take a bath? This is one to the questions each bird owner one day will try to find an answer for. But in fact, there is no universally valid
reply to this question. Every budgie is different in its needs and
preferences, and in fact budgies who are kept as pet birds don't need to clean their plumage with water to keep it in a good condition. But on the other hand: If your bird tries in vain to cover his feathers for example with the
water from its water dish, you should realize that something has
gone really wrong so far and you didn't give your bird the opportunity to take a proper bath. Perhaps your budgie likes the traditional
way of bathing in a plastic bird bath that can be hung into
the cage opening. Or maybe your bird doesn't like to take a bath at all.
It's your turn to find out what your little keet really wants.
And you should know that there are several kinds of taking a bath for a bird like a budgie.
Some of our featheres friends love to roll themselves through wet lettuce leaves or herbs such as basil or parsley (see
photo on the right). The birds make somersaults and you will find them weirdly wrenched
from time to time during the "bath". Wet tufts are great fun for many budgies as well.
In their natural habitat, in the morning the birds move through tufts that
are still wet from dew. This is how most wild budgies take a bath.
On the right, you can see a budgie who loved to share his bath with his human friend. Rocker perched on the plastic bird bath and wanted his owner to splash. He then fluffed up his feathers and started to take his very special "shower". In the photo, his friend Eddie is sceptically watching this scene.
For some birds, a bath cannot be too opulent. My bird Ceti for example loved to
bathe in a soup plate filled with warm water. But my hand mirror shouldn't have missed
while the bird was standing in the water. In general,
Ceti wasn't
interested in this mirror at all. The photo on the right shows
Ceti right before he started to have fun in his "pool" - of course with his mirror underneath his feet. You think that's strange? Well, many
people would never take a bath without their rubber ducky either... ;-)
Now let's tell the whole truth: There is a huge disadvantage for you if your bird likes to take a bath
in a soup plate or something similar in your living room: Your budgies won't even waste a single thought about what else will be wet after they have finished their wild "pool party". The best is
to make your budgie getting used to bathing in a room that can
easily be dried. In a bathroom for example, a "flooding" caused by a budgie
has a smaller impact on your furniture than a bath in the living room.
As you can see, an enthusiastic bath can just seem like the famous ballet "Swan Lake".
A bath beneath a running water tap seems to be heaven to some birds. Tame
budgies sit on their keeper's hand and splash under the soft (!) water jet.
In this case, a bird will also not give a hoot about anything getting wet
around him. You will surely be hit by a lot of splashes while your
bird is floundering about in the water. Please make sure that the water
jet is not too strong, and that the temperature is moderate.
And keep in mind that birds don't like you move too much, some birds get nervous then.
Last but not least I would like to introduce the "raindrop-method" to you. My budgies
are really crazy about taking a shower like that. In general, I put all my birds into
their cages and then I bring them into my bath tub. Then I take a bottle
that is normally used for spraying water on plants (a mist sprayer). It is necessary to
make sure that there are big drops coming out of it. If one
produces fine mist, the birds breathe in the tiny drops and sneeze very
often, which they really don't like at all as you can imagine. By producing bigger drops, you just make it rain for your birds. In a bathroom, it does not
matter how wild the budgies flap with their wings during showering. My
little flock loves those showers and the birds do not stop splashing before
they all are dripping wet.
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Please note:
Do not use the mist sprayer for anything else but showering your birds! There should never be residues of fertilizer or detergent in the water! |
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