Showers for Parrots

Showers are a great way for parrots to expand some of the energy it has, and also something it needs to have a couple of times a week. Showers are good for their feathers, skin, and overall well being. There are many ways to shower or bathe your parrot. If your bird is happy bathing in its bowl or getting sprayed with a water bottle, then continue what you're doing. Just make sure that water in bowls are always replaced with clean water as often as needed, and that water in the water bottle is warm when used to spray. Also when spraying water from a bottle, make sure to spray the water upwards and let it fall down to the bird, like rainfall; and not directly at the bird. Keep the room temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Zachary loves showering with his Mom. The most important thing when showering in that manner, is to have the proper shower perch. A parrot must feel secure on its perch before he or she will be able to fully enjoy itself.

There are several shower perches sold in pet stores. We have tried the ones with the suction cup and no matter how many suction cups they come with, over time they seem to loose their ability to grip the surface. We have experienced the perch falling off in the middle of a shower, scaring little Zachary and ruining a fun time.

We finally decided to make our own perch, one that we feel is solid, and customized the height and length to fit us. We took less than an hour to create our own shower perch for him that does not use any suction cups; and is by far more sturdy than anything we have found. This is what we use and Zachary absolutely loves it. The bottom perch stands slightly above the human's waistline.

This is what the back of the shower perch looks like. We used 1/2" sized PVC pipes that you can get from any hardware store. Remember to secure the joins by gluing them tightly, otherwise they will come apart after a couple of showers. Use a glue that is made specially to seal PVC pipes.

Zachary enjoys his showers tremendously, as we splash him with warm shower water, use a spray bottle (spraying upwards to fall like rainfall water), and also run him under the shower very quickly.

We also allow him back on his perch in between the above actions, so that he can extend his body, wings and head out to the running water.

Throughout his shower, Zachary often laughs, yells "showertime" and gets very animated! You can hear him say "showertime" in his voice page.

Make sure that there are no drafts or cold winds blowing near or at your parrot during or after the shower.

Zachary loves sitting under his full spectrum light after a good shower to dry up, preen and rest.

Another option is bathing in a clean water bowl - which is what our Senegal & Lovebird love to use. Here are some pictures of our Senegal, Sidney bathing in his water bowl:

If your bird enjoys bathing in his/her water bowl, make sure you refill the water with clean fresh drinking water after they are done. Clean water in a cage must be replaced as often as needed throughout the day.