# Am I really the only one?!



## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

I've had murray since late July last year, and she STILL won't have a bath!

I give her a dish and she just dips her chest in. Then once she realises she is wet she flies away and looks thoroughly depressed until she is dry. I try to spritz her and she flies away and screams. Her nose goes red and she pants and whines audibly as she tries to escape. I only have to turn the shower on to have her scrabbling at the door to leave. I've tried taps, showers, misters, bowls, sprinkling her with my hand in the cage, out of the cage - nothing works.

I can force her to get the surface of her feathers wet, but if she won't fluff up and spread her wings it's not doing much good and she despises it. 

Am I really the only person on here who has this problem? Do I allow her to go on without bathing or am I just going to have to grab her and push her under the shower? I'm trying to expose her a little each day but really, it's been months


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## phronima (Jan 12, 2015)

Bliss has token baths -she only wets her feet and chest if she feels generous.. I think it depends on her mood and the weather.. Maybe also the water temperature.. My birds drink from their tub first to make sure they like the water temp


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## Pippitha (Mar 27, 2011)

my birds hate pools of water. but they like being sprayed with water


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

Thanks for the responses guys!



phronima said:


> Bliss has token baths -she only wets her feet and chest if she feels generous.. I think it depends on her mood and the weather.. Maybe also the water temperature.. My birds drink from their tub first to make sure they like the water temp


Phronima, is Bliss ok not having proper baths? I hate forcing Murray into it with the spray bottle, but on the other hand I don't want her skin or feathers to suffer...


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

Honestly, I would get him out in the rain (maybe not now in the dead of winter but when it gets warmer).


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

Have you tried misting Murray when she is in her cage? Joey loves a mist bath while in his cage. I think the security of being in 'his' space at the time makes it enjoyable for him. The first time he just sat there, looking confused and grumpy, but accepted the water misting over him. The second he sort of put up with it, but by the third he was fluffing up, lifting his wings and doing a shower dance.

The added benefit of misting while he is in his cage is it soaks the bars and makes them a breeze to wipe clean once a week.


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I definitely recommend misting. Mine love it.


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## steveshanks (Aug 10, 2014)

It took me 7 months almost to the day, hated the mister and would fly round the cage for 15 minutes before giving up and standing rigid, then one day he fluffed right up, to be honest I panicked and wondered what was wrong, then he opened his wings and ducked his head and its been good ever since. So don't give up.
BTW i have a budgie and 2 Borkes that still hate them LOL
Edited to add with mine its in the cage, won't let me while he's out but he isn't finger trained


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## birdyluv0 (Jun 19, 2014)

You're not the only one - I can't get Bogey to even go in the dish!


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## phronima (Jan 12, 2015)

Charlotte said:


> Thanks for the responses guys!
> 
> 
> 
> Phronima, is Bliss ok not having proper baths? I hate forcing Murray into it with the spray bottle, but on the other hand I don't want her skin or feathers to suffer...


She got misted one time- she wasn't too impressed. Given she's still crying a bit I haven't been wanting to upset her. She sees Chewy has baths a bit so I'm hoping when she is less timid she will be more receptive to either the misting of the bath


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## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I take Rocko in the shower with me all the time. He absolutely refuses to get under the stream. Then when I force him to go under it, he remembers "oh, yeah... I love baths" and does a cute little bath dance.

So I guess I sort of have the same problem? A little bit?


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## han93 (Aug 1, 2014)

Kirby loves being misted, loves dipping herself in the bath in her cage but Fluff and Peanut don't really like it. Fluff puts up with it, whereas Peanut tries to fly away when I'm misting him and sulks for awhile afterwards. I'm hoping he'll eventually like the water if I persevere! 



Amz said:


> I take Rocko in the shower with me all the time. He absolutely refuses to get under the stream. Then when I force him to go under it, he remembers "oh, yeah... I love baths" and does a cute little bath dance.
> 
> So I guess I sort of have the same problem? A little bit?


How hot do you have the water when you do this? I've thought about trying it but I'm worried the water will be too hot!


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

So it seems misting in the cage is the way to go...feeling much less alone steveshanks and Birdylove0! I won't give up. Good idea about the rain Tequilagirl. Actually it was pouring it down the day I picked Murray up. But as you say, right now is not a good time!


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

Amz that's curious...Murray refuses to get in a shower too. Maybe I ought to bite the bullet and just sneak her under at the right moment! Han93, Murray and Peanut sound the same :/


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I had this problem for about a year. Then I discovered that they like to be outside, preferably in the sun, and only then will they bathe/accept a mist shower. Now they do the rain dance every time I take them outside for a shower.


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

Update! 

i just tried misting Murray in the cage. She still hated it and didn't get into it so she's still bone dry under the wings - but the cage did prevent the usual flapping/chasing and it made the whole ordeal easier, 10 times quicker and I think less stressful for Murray


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

Hooray for some progress! It may take a few more tries before she gets into it, or at least comfortable with it. Now that she sees it can be less stressful than before, she will slowly get better with it.


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

Thanks TamaMoo  I always thought the cage would be more stressful since she's very rarely shut in, but after reading these suggestions it I tried it. As it turned out the confined space helped Murray not to panic herself by trying to fly around!


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

I suppose being in the cage is the equivalent of a little kid feeling secure in his/her own bedroom, since it is their personal space, somewhere that is all theirs. Just a guess. I'm not a birdie psychologist.


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

TamaMoo said:


> I suppose being in the cage is the equivalent of a little kid feeling secure in his/her own bedroom, since it is their personal space, somewhere that is all theirs. Just a guess. I'm not a birdie psychologist.


Very likely! Plus I feel like when she flies in panic she then starts to panic because she is flying and it all spirals out of proportion. At least all she can do in her cage is sit on the floor and look grumpy!


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## phronima (Jan 12, 2015)

I forgot to mention my birdies always have their baths outside of the cage
and when it's sunny in case they catch a cold (their cage is outside)


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## Charlotte (Jun 4, 2014)

Thanks Phronima. I'm very jealous - there are probably only about two weeks of that kind of sunshine in a year here


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## phronima (Jan 12, 2015)

Given their natural habitat is semi-arid inland I am thinking they don't bath in the wild very often.. So maybe you can get away with bathing them between longer intervals


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