# Help - my tiel hates baths!



## Lola's_mommy (Nov 30, 2008)

Lola has been molting and the advice I was given is to give her more frequent baths. She doesn't like the shower, she won't get in a bowl of water, so I end up misting her from a bottle. I don't end up getting her too wet with this method, but she tries to get away from the spray. Afterward, she spends the entire day being mad at me and won't let me near her - she squawks and tries to bite me. I even gave her millet right afterward and she tried to bite me as I got the millet near her. I guess what I'm wondering is if I'm doing more harm than good. I'm trying to ease her discomfort and give the recommended baths, but then it seems to effect her for a day and she won't come out of her cage and socialize and I'm worried this is affecting her bonding with us. What should I do?


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I've not had this problem, so I'm not sure.. but I found this:

_How are you trying to spray her? A lot of birds become picky about how they are sprayed, and how heavy of a spray they will tolerate.

A good trick with birds is to hold the bottle lower than they are, and spray up into the air so the water falls lightly down on them like natural rainfall._


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Solace. said:


> I've not had this problem, so I'm not sure.. but I found this:
> 
> _How are you trying to spray her? A lot of birds become picky about how they are sprayed, and how heavy of a spray they will tolerate.
> 
> A good trick with birds is to hold the bottle lower than they are, and spray up into the air so the water falls lightly down on them like natural rainfall._



took the words right out of my mouth that is how i spray all mine, and i put my spray bottle on the highest mist it has (gives out a big huge mist instead of a small one)


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Although I would thing you would want to hold the bottle HIGHER than they are!


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

sweetrsue said:


> Although I would thing you would want to hold the bottle HIGHER than they are!


the way i do is I hold it lower then they are and Aim up towards the ceiling and spray away then it comes down on them like rain 

it isn't a direct spray right on to them (like a stream) 

but its not a whole lot lower then they are


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Some of mine love it so much they get right in the spray. Others stay off to the sides but I don't have any that run from it. When they are first introduced to the spray bottle they may not but I find that as they get used to it they really like it. I think the key is you have to keep trying. Some of my guys took months to start eating beans but if I had stopped giving it to them they sure would never have started.


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## eauma1 (Jan 4, 2009)

i have a small, flat-ish bowl-like plate that has water in it constantly...
then i just encourage sadie (my cockatiel) to get in it by putting my finger in and out of it as if my finger was a drinking bird...does that make sense?
sadie used to be a little bit afraid of water as well, but by doing this every day, she now loves jumping in and having a bath..
good luck


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## Lola's_mommy (Nov 30, 2008)

Thank you for the advice! I have put several different shallow bowls on top of her cage-play area-at different times- and so far she has ignored them. I now have a shallow clay bowl for her as her permanent bath bowl (I'm figuring the clay will be ok) and I will try "playing" in the water frequently and see if she gets the idea. Does water temp. seem to make any difference?


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Water temperature should lukewarm. When I get water ready for Spikes shower I test it on my wrist or face (since he likes the shower), just like you would for a baby


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