Keeping Your Parrot Clean | Bird Hygiene 

I have a blind lovebird, Rosie, and she was afraid of water. I got her to take baths with the help from my other lovebird, Ivy! I would let them play together for a while and then I would set up the bath for Ivy. She would run to the bath while being super loud (she loves baths) and Rosie would follow her, and she eventually learned that water=fun!

aw poor little steve! he was so grumpy he refused the treat

Be very careful when trimming birdy nails, especially dark nails! The video did not mention it but if you cut too far up you will cut a blood vessel, the "quick," this is true of any animal but birds can bleed out especially easily. With lighter nails you can see the quick through the nail but with dark nails you need to be careful to only TIP the nails and do it again in a week or two, and have some styptic powder or similar on hand to stop bleeding right away if it happens. I love this channel :) just wanted to point this out. Keep up the good work guys!

My GCC LOVES to bathe in the sink with my hands cupped as a bath. I use key words like 'bath' and if he is especially fluffy I take that as a yes. Sometimes I present him with the sink and he climbs up my arm, or he fluffs up on the side and then dives straight in. I'm very lucky that we have a good bond where he is very clear with communicating with me. I'm also able to trim his nails but sometimes I like to go get them done for him. He doesn't get visibly upset but he seems mildly offended that he is being handled by someone that isn't me. I'm very lucky to have such a good boy and that I've been able to find so much helpful information, especially from AnimalWonders, to take the best care possible for him.

Thanks for another great video! Like you mentioned many of our Australian parrots have a feather dust Luckily our avian ambassadors generally enjoy a spray bottle bath!

Every so often we find Percy, our YCA, going crazy in his water bowl. This morning he soaked half the room with water while taking a bath in it.

I love this video! My blue headed pionus, Ares, will only shower with me 🙈 so I have a shower perch for him. When it comes to nail trimming, he hates clippers and files so I have my vet take care of it. He also is the laziest bird ever and doesn't like to destroy his toys enough to wear down his beak, so every 6 months or so I have the vet sand the end down. He acts like he hates it but he knows he gets a special treat (a pecan) after so he doesn't put up too much of a fight. Keep up the amazing work Jessie!

My parrot is not even fully trained but it lets me trim his nails while he is on a wooden stick . When I show him the nail clipper he just gives me his foot. Im so happy for that.

My little Rio (black capped conure) loves to take baths. Right in his water dish. Even when he has a bowl offered just for baths. Oh Rio...

I had a budgie when I was a kid, he was super sweet, and his favorite thing was to play in the sink if there was a little stream of water coming from the tap. If we let him he'd spend hours, also I think because of the acoustics in our bathroom, he liked how his chirping sounded in there. His best friend was a cockatiel and she loved to be in blankets or towels. If you couldn't find her she was usually on someone's bed or even sandwiched between pillows. They were the best birds and such an odd, inseperable couple... except for their favorite places to hang out.

I never had this problem with my bird! She just knew to take baths herself, and she does it at least twice a week. She is a crimson bellied conure, and she is such a sweetheart

I love how Jessi speaks for the animals during conversation! " No, I am really upset with you now! " : ) He looked a bit put out. If only they knew you were helping.

It's interesting that both African greys and cockatoos are prone to feather plucking and they also have in common their "dander" - the protective down powder lubricating the plumage.

Can you do one with ginger on how to care for green cheeked specifically PLEASE❤️

You’re the grown up version of Pippi Long Stocking! 😍💖

Awww 🙁 poor Steve .. I know how he feels. My bro' use to hold me under the blankets 😓 x

So interesting learning about all of these animals ❤️ and this video definitely taught me some thing about the birds all around me. (Neighbors around me have them.)

I like to use a gentle warm spray bottle for my budgies. They used to hate it but now it’s a highlight!

I put my Amazon in the kitchen sink and I have a spray type of faucet. I had to work hard to get her to do this and she didn’t want to go in the shower and hates a spray bottle. I have taught her how to hold her feathers up to get those hard to reach places. Thanks for the information, I love your videos!

When I was younger, and had tons of parrots, we made a pvc perch to put in the shower for the parrots to bathe on. For the little guys who couldn't stand on the perch, we made one that could hold an old tupperware chicken tenderizer on it and they bathed in that in the shower. Getting pinfeathers out is super important, and it is a huge sign of trust between you and your parrot.

At 5:50 I was like "HOLLY SH*T"

Hey Jessie! Could you do a video about Sprinkles the parrotlet? I’d love to meet him and know more about him. Thanks for the video!

I have An small parrot See is lily loves taking a bath She always happy and jumping

I love how you promote proper care and responsible pet ownership unlike some of these other Bird videos on RU-vid such garbage your videos are awesome keep them up thank you

My green cheeked conure, Archimedes, truly fit his name! If I didn't provide him with a wide shallow bowl of water, he would dip his entire body into his very small water dish. If you know the story of how the philosopher Archimedes figured out displacement, it was -hilarious- to watch. He also ADORED going in the shower with me. I would make him wait on the top of the door until I had washed my hair and body, then bring him down with me. He was really tiny even for a conure because he was severely abused and neglected before we got him, (he ended up with metabolic bone disease and passed away far before his time as a result). Because he was so teeny tiny, he was intimidated by the shower spray, but he LOVED the fine mist that bounced off of me into the air. He would sing and sing and squawk and whistle and trill....even in all the years I had him it never stopped cracking me up.

Loved this longer video! More like this please!

Wow, Steve was 100 times calmer than my cockatiel is. He'll scream through the entire procedure, even the vet commented on how "opinionated" he is! The problem is, the vet is an hour away by car and I don't own a car or a driver's license, and going by bus (especially in winter; I live in Finland, so you can imagine how cold it gets) is unsure if they'll let us take it with a bird (he's.... LOUD, people would not like that). And taking a Taxi for an hour would cost a fortune. Heeeeelp? My bird also hates water. Needless to say, he's a difficult one!

My conure Tessie absolutely loves to bathe in her drinking dish after we fill it with clean water.. and then we have to refill it!

Our rainbow lorry lived among a menagerie of rescue cats and dogs. She preened the cats when they laid on her cage and the dogs listened to her better than us (she would give them treats from her nectar pellets when they came). Our dobi/lab would pick her up in her mouth and bring her to us if Lori ever landed on the ground. Lori liked to shower with us. She’d fly into the bathroom when she heard the shower (I used lots of smelly things in the shower so closed the bathroom door). She’d spent a few minutes splashing around with my husband then I would retrieve her before he began washing up. We lost her after cooking with a damaged Teflon pan we think. Vet didn’t preform a necropsy though so we aren’t positive. : (. Still miss her, but she was only 11 yrs when she died so we aren’t willing to risk another bird’s life. It would feel selfish. My son has rescued a few parrots though, he rescues medical cases and rehabs behavioral issues (aggression ie over preening/self mutilation most commonly). So proud he’s so good with them, but I enjoy being friends rather than risking guardianship.

great info! some of the things we commonly do for people at our animal hospital. birds definitely take a practiced touch :)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! This wonderful video helped me a lot with my African parakeet and budgies. Your channel is amazing! You are a blessing to us all :))

My African grey loved a shallow bowl of water for bathing.

My two cockatiels are both very different when it comes to grooming. Mithril (age 15 this summer) loves me to scratch her beak so any scaling that develops flakes off and she's very persistent about chewing her nails while she preens to prevent over growth. But she absolutely HATES water and will ask for a spray bottle shower maybe once a year. If she gets caught by the spray bottle by sitting too close to her friend Arwen or if I try to spray her -- the phrase "madder than a wet hen" applies and I'll get shunned for days for it. Oddly enough though if I have an unattended glass of milk, she'll jump onto it and start splashing herself (and me) with milk. I don't know if it is good or bad that she loves to splash milk around. It certainly makes a huge mess. Arwen by contrast often asks me to wet down parts of the kitchen counters so she can soak her belly feathers, especially when she's nesting. She'll ask me for a spray bottle shower about once a month and she REALLY gets into it when she's ready for one. Arwen doesn't regularly groom her feet like Mithril does, so her nail on her longest toe on each foot will get a bit overgrown at times. However, I have a huge range of perch types and materials and she's rather good about breaking off the overgrown tips on her own. She's constantly in motion when she's not on her eggs and to date I've never needed a vet assist on her nails. Arwen won't let me touch her beak unless she has too much food stuck on that she can't easily wipe off. But it also doesn't get scaly like Mithril's does. Arwen is four. Does age matter here when it comes to scales forming on the upper beak? Both my girls are really good about wiping their beaks against their many mineral blocks and Mithril often chooses to sit on her clam-style mineral block and will pace on it when she doesn't want to go to bed after all. Their cage is a big cockatoo cage w/ 0.75" bar spacing that is configured so Arwen can fly in it when she's feeling upset or simply claustrophobic.

My green cheek conures love bathing daily, I place a medium stainless dish out and they help themselves. If I haven't gotten it washed and set up for them yet, they'll follow me to the sink and harass me and try to climb in until I give them what they want. I take them both for nail trims to a local exotic bird store, who also does boarding and has a long track record of knowledge and bird care. There, they restrain them gently, and use a dremel. Quick and easy, without the potential to crush or split the nail tips using clippers.

I have an Indian Ringneck parrot that loves to dip and bath on a shiny stainless steel tray over the sink while the water is running very gently. And 2 African Greys that like being sprayed mist from a water spray bottle on a sunny window = )

Jessi really you are so kind i request you to show your animals and I have a doubt ........ how did you start this group I mean like you really awesome so keep helping animals . Improve humanity

Can you do a tutorial parrots to stop biting? They seem very gentle to you!

Steve: **eyeballs the clipper** Say psych, right now.

My Dad had a parrot when he was younger. He told me about adding an extra rod in the shower for a perch. Dad would take lil' birb into the shower with him; Simon loved sitting up high, (away from any soaps, don't worry) catching the steam. clouds

Great hair. Great color and cut.

I lay a big sheet of sandpaper in the bottom of the cage, they love it to trim nails and beek. I have also put in two big baking trays half full of water for bathing, witch I change every day. They have all had there wings clipped, so they run round free in the garden and house, and on concrete veranda, And they all love corn cereals, peanuts, safflower seeds. I have an Alaexandrene, Brian, a Blue Indien Ringneck, Blueboy, an Blue headed Amazon, Jack, and Sophie, a female Eclectus parrot, all just one year old, the best company I have ever had in my life. RIK

I have 2 budgies. Orchid and Churo. Ochid loves taking baths in a dish on her own, but Churo will only take a bath if there is wet greens next to the bowl. He will jump out of the water and on to the greens then back into the water

You always have the best information!!! And you’re such a good teacher! 👍😉👍

Your videos are so great, i learn more and more every week!

I have a green cheek pineapple conure and I really appreciate this video because I learned a lot how to take care of him,

Even though I don’t have a pet but I still love your videos😁😁😁

I rescued a 5-10 year old yellowcrowned Amazon parrot 5 months ago. He really quickly bonded with me and my Brother, he will groom us and is always looking for our attention. But he is really afraid of strangers. He seems to love attention but gets really agressive with certain people.

Great video helped a lot for my birds

that cockatiel was not having it 😂😂😂

your so gentle

Thanks for the info and service you give to the community! I learned a lot from you! keep up the good work!

Thanks for the information, it really helped

Thanks ❤🤗

I love your videos i have a baby lovebird she is soooooooooo cute🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

can you do a video about your regular cage cleaning and rearranging? If so that would be awesome!

I was browsing for informative videos about my yellow headed amazon and accidentally fell in love

OML thank you so much!

I would think that the best way to look after a bird's personal hygiene is to enrich her environment in way that eases self-care. Arrange for scheduled rain showers in the enclosure, hide food in such a way to encourage foraging, and other activities.

this video is helpful for my Indian green parrot

My birds nails never need trimming because they dig in the sand all the time! I also line the cage with bird 'sndpaper' paper sheets wich act like mild sandpaper, they have plenty of natural non toxic branches and dog chew toys (wich they love) to bite on, I found the dog toy helps a lot with keeping their beaks shorter as they will really tear and bite into them, but can't tear off any small parts to eat,

Thank you this was so helpful

Kevin my cockatiel absolutely loves being misted while in the sink standing in a puddle. I also trimmed his nails just once and he hasn't needed to since. He's about 8 months old and I have him since December.

For my parakeets we just have sanding peaches that we replace regularly! It might not work for all birds but mine just love sanding their own nails!

Thanks Jessi...My bird still will not let me trim his nails but he is ok and I have had him for almost 21 yrs (he is a rescue Cockatiel) but he is happy and is very spoiled. Cockatiels have been know to live to be in their 30's...amazing for a smaller bird too.

My budgies prefer a misting while my Green cheek conure loves to jump in the water dish. I have a cuttlebone and lava stone that my birds love to chew on, the budgies will even jump on the stone to help with their claws.

Great video i got some good tips

thanks Jessi! as a hopeful parrot owner-to-be (eventually, someday, after i manage to sucker the rest of my family into falling in love with them like i did, haha) i've done a lot of research already... and even with that, this video had a lot of useful points i hadn't seen before, as well a refreshing a number of others! always great to watch your videos (especially the bird ones!)

We have adopted a ringneck(Larry)He won’t use his bath, doesn’t like the sprayer. He’s 2 years old and we know nothing about his past. We also have a Kakariki who loves to wash. I’m hoping Larry will get the message by watching Alan.

I personally love to keep my parrot's nails long and sharp, i do never want to cut them, but what is the worst thing that could happen if i dont trim their nails for months

These videos are great!

Hi, Thank you for a very informational video. I'm from Pakistan. Could you please help me to understand that what is wrong with my parrot. I bought that parrot 3days back. He was talking allot. But he is totaly silent! Why is that? Do parrots stop talking when thy move to a different location?please advice. Thank you in advance.

I love parakeets😍

My bird only baths in a wet towel is so cute and funny but she hates being sprayed with water so got any tips to help her?

My green cheek is a water bathing fool. I’ve got a reflective gold metal tray and he bathes 2-4 times a day, less in winter. He spends 3-4 minutes each bath. My sun conure only bathes 1-2 times a week and only dips in for a minute.

How would you train a parrot to allow you to trim their nails voluntarily? My Jenday conure will lay on his back in my hand but if I touch his feet he gets very mad and screams at me.

Thanks for the video😊

So what about african greys, how often should i wash them and how, how do i dry them because before the birds we had caught colds and unfortunately died, is soap necessary or toxic and what can i substitute it with, and if for example the bird isnt keeping their beak dull and its getting sharp and dangerous should i just gently sand it down with sanding paper or is it toxic for them

Awesome video! I'm having trouble with getting my girl to eat. I think she was on a mostly seed diet and refuses to eat any fruits and veggies, only fruit I can get her to touch is apples. 😑 She is a 15 year old conure. Working on pellets now. It's been an adventure but I love her so much.

My budgies aren't the fondest of baths from what I've seen so far, and they aren't a fan of the spray bottle around, so I just spray over the cage so it's kind of like rain, and they seem to enjoy it.

I’ve just got a parrot (royal parrot) and this was really helpful! I just got him/her today so i don’t know much

love your videos

My conure loves to bathe in anything :P. His bowl, the sink, a spray down. However my cockatiel doesn't like to bathe at all, I spray him down once a week, and that's enough bothering for him. One day he'll enjoy it, we're working on it.

My budgies like to come in the shower with me and play in the spray of the water. Sometimes they also bathe in their water dish if they get extra dirty (yes I clean the water dish afterwards)

My lovebird Peanut likes bathing in a shallow dish under the running faucet or showering with his humans in the shower.

I have put more than 20 years with my flock. 2 B&G a moluccan and a pair of hyacinths and the monster giant hyacinths let me use a Dremel tool. My vet walked me through the process over multiple visits. I would just use clippers I just can't find a pair that work on those giant....let's just call them talons. Wasn't a problem when my birds were caged because I could put a stone perch when they got longish. But now after putting all my birds in a flight aviary they just flat out let them grow lol

My parrot loves to destroy big chunks of bread like she will stand on the bread and start tearing it down using her nails and her beak.She wont let me trim her nails at all but it seems like the bread method helps a lot while she is having fun

Both of my green cheek conjres love to be the in their water dish. My eastern Rosella and budgies like to sit at the bottom of the shower and splash. My cockatkel prefers to sit on the curtain rod and catch bits of water/steam but if I out the water cool enough for his liking he'll get compeltly soaked in it

I know this is sort of a late response but I purchased a Green Cheek a few months ago from a pet store. Her nails/beak were overgrown and I contacted a vet about an hour away from us who works with birds. After making an appointment we made the trip with her to get them trimmed (if they recommended it). The next closest avian vet is about 2 hours away. Anyways we showed up and they asked if we wanted her wings clipped we said no and they brought her in the back (normally I would have never allowed this without me being with her and I mentioned that the assistant told me it wasn't recommended so I waited back) about 2 mins later a different assistant ran out and asked a second time if we wanted her wings clipped again I said no so she quickly said let me go stop them and ran in the back again at this point I was freaking out a little. After about 5 mins they brought her back out her nails were fine but her beak seemed a little short and I have no idea where it came from but after we got her home and I took her out there was a little smudge of blood inside her carrier and although I'm not positive I think one of her tail feathers was missing. Now that the rant is over my concern is that her nails are going to be in need of trimming soon and I need some advice I tend to overreact when it comes to my pets. Should I give this place another shot? A lot of the reviews are decent and idk if it was just a bad day or if I am in fact overreacting should I travel the extra distance and try the other vet? The car ride is also a big factor I get so paranoid driving her anywhere especially when it's that far. Another thing I never once saw this vet during the visit it was all vet techs.

And I might be getting a bird soon so thank u for making these videos they are gonna help much

Can you do an animal tour please? That would be fun

Heh, my bird will frequently wait for my to give him a first water change in the morning and then take himself a nice old bath XD "Well great now you look cold and I have to change the water again!"

I have a question: How often should a baby ringneck (4-6weeks old) take a bath or spray some water to get cleaned?

Love this channel please post more

my budgies like destroying cuttlebones, which also keeps their beaks in good shape :) They don't take baths in a dish however they love rolling in wet greens, e.g., common chickweed (Stellaria media)

I loved how he didnt eat that treat :D That is a bird with charachter :DD

I have a red lored amazon parrot, Blue fronted amazon parrot, lilac crowned, a green cheeked conure and a scarlet macaw

Have you ever had a parrot that despises getting wet so much that they never fluff their feathers? I am an experienced owner but I have tried misting, the shower, a bath in a dish, wet leaves...she's four years old now and isn't afraid, she simply hates it!

Hi Jessi, I have a bird, Roxi, who recently turned 1. But, she’s terrified of many objects. I was wondering if you could make a video explaining how to introduce birds to objects. Thanks!

With the towel you are still forcing them and he will hold grudges,if you are on your way to build your bird trust pls don't do this, try different approach instead.my experience is to offer treats on the perch and while the bird is busy eating we can sneakily trim it's nails, but you need to be super precise. It won't be a whole claw in one go but you can redo it the next day, also prepare a sand paper positioning just below it's treats, so he have to step on the sand paper to reach the treats, the friction will gradually smoothen the uneven cut that we did before. This is how I trimmed my canary nails. On the side note prepare some real branches for his foraging time. Tie treats on the perches, so it will be motivated to move around the perch.

What are your thoughts on wing clipping? It seems cruel to me, but I have seen some arguments that it is safer for birds living in captivity, as there is risk of injury from flying indoors.