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Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / January 2004African Grey loves ice water..
BlankHi everyone I have two African Grey's (Sam and Kenya). Sam loves to take showers so she has one every day with no problem but Kenya on the other hand will squawk like a chicken :-) if I take her to the shower room. If I insist with the shower she will stand, look at me with teary eyes and pout... What I do for Kenya instead of the daily shower is spray her down with a soft mist spray bottle and she is OK.. After the spray down shower, if Kenya's water dish is just room temperature water she looks at it and drinks from it but doesn't get excited about it.. If I give her chilled water in the dish, maybe even with an ice cube or two.. she plays for a half hour trying to climb in and out of her water dish.. Soaks herself completely... So here is the question.. Why does she want the cold water to play in, does the cold water hurt her in anyway.. and why doesn't normal room temperature water make her happy? Looking forward to you response... Thanks to all... Ron (and his bird house...) Kenya and Sam (African Grey's), Lucky and Baby (Cockatiels), plus the five Love Birds.. --- We scan all outgoing files AVG (Grisoft) Virus Scan. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. I have no idea about the ice water, but I wanted to tell you that my CAG is named Kenya also. 8-) > BlankHi everyone > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.560 / Virus Database: 352 - Release Date: 1/8/04 I know of quite a few birds - greys and others - that love ice-cold water to play and bathe in, and do so regularly without any ill effects. Go figure :).  Signatureowly http://www.ittybittybirdiebites.com - for seedjunkies and MORE! *** JANUARY 2004 SPECIAL IS UP! (Click on Specials)*** >Got seed junkies? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seedjunkies Check out this month's Parrotese at http://www.cybernana.com ! > BlankHi everyone > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Kenya and Sam (African Grey's), Lucky and Baby (Cockatiels), plus the five > Love Birds.. > I know of quite a few birds - greys and others - that love ice-cold water to > play and bathe in, and do so regularly without any ill effects. Go figure > :). I guess it's just the way that humans prefer a cold swimming pole to a lukewarm one, especially in summer. Or maybe some greys just prefer it cold, who knows. > -- > owly [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Kenya and Sam (African Grey's), Lucky and Baby (Cockatiels), plus the five > > Love Birds.. > BlankHi everyone > > I have two African Grey's (Sam and Kenya). Sam loves to take showers so she > has one every day with no problem but Kenya on the other hand will squawk > like a chicken :-) if I take her to the shower room. If I insist with the > shower she will stand, look at me with teary eyes and pout... Excuse me? Birds have no lips so cannot pout, neither do they shed tears of unhappiness. > What I do for Kenya instead of the daily shower is spray her down with a > soft mist spray bottle and she is OK.. After the spray down shower, if [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > the cold water hurt her in anyway.. and why doesn't normal room temperature > water make her happy? I would never allow my birds to bath in ice cold water especially if the room is warm, I don't think the rapid change in temp' is good for them. > > Hi everyone > > > > I have two African Grey's (Sam and Kenya). Sam loves to take showers so > > she has one every day with no problem but Kenya on the other hand will squawk > > like a chicken :-) if I take her to the shower room. If I insist with the > > shower she will stand, look at me with teary eyes and pout... > > > Excuse me? Birds have no lips so cannot pout, neither do they shed tears of > unhappiness. True, I didn't mean you to take me so literally (I was kidding... sorry... :-)). But, like it or not, she can let me know, in no uncertain terms, that taking a shower of any type IS NOT ON HER LIST OF "WANNADOS"... You can say it's not pouting but then you haven't looked deep into her eyes... > > What I do for Kenya instead of the daily shower is spray her down with a > > soft mist spray bottle and she is OK.. After the spray down shower, if > > Kenya's water dish is just room temperature water she looks at it and > > drinks from it but doesn't get excited about it.. If I give her chilled water in > > the dish, maybe even with an ice cube or two.. she plays for a half hour > > trying to climb in and out of her water dish.. Soaks herself completely... [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I would never allow my birds to bath in ice cold water especially if the > room is warm, I don't think the rapid change in temp' is good for them. Thanks, so your saying that it's bad for them to be in the cold water (or better, for the rapid temperature change)... I will keep her water at room temperature from now on.. I still wonder though why she likes it so much..? I mean she really has fun with it and I am wondering if this is some kind of message she is inadvertently giving me.. Is it possible it's a skin thing.. Do they get itchy, dry or to warm and the cold water makes them feel better ? I am in Canada with a gas furnace heated house.. It's very cold outside and, even with a humidifier going full blast on the furnace, it does get very dry in the house. --- We scan all outgoing files AVG (Grisoft) Virus Scan. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Thanks, so your saying that it's bad for them to be in the cold water (or > better, for the rapid temperature change)... I will keep her water at room [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > furnace, it > does get very dry in the house. God I know how drying the gas warmed air thing in Canada is. I used to live in Canada. I had the humidifier going full pelt, and filled the house with pot plants to help combat it. A tepid shower daily will be good for her. I still don't think that giving her an ice cold bath in a hot house will do her any good. Just as taking her from your hot house outside, in a Canadian Winter would not be good for her. Otherwise, take no notice of my crabbiness. I get like that sometimes :0) And have a Tim Hortons, coffee, extra cream, one sugar and a nice dutchy for me please <drool> ha ha ha ha consider the Tim Horton's coffee and the dutchy taken care of.... :-). So you know we are just outside of London, I travel regularly to Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener/Waterloo and the Golden Horseshoe area... This is the second "snow day" in a row so the kids are not in school again :-(. Thanks for the help.. (Kenya just got a temped shower... told her it was a new house rule...) > > Thanks, so your saying that it's bad for them to be in the cold water (or > > better, for the rapid temperature change)... I will keep her water at [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > And have a Tim Hortons, coffee, extra cream, one sugar and a nice dutchy for > me please <drool> --- We scan all outgoing files AVG (Grisoft) Virus Scan. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > ha ha ha ha > consider the Tim Horton's coffee and the dutchy taken care of.... :-). [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Thanks for the help.. (Kenya just got a temped shower... told her it was a > new house rule...) I lived in Hamilton. On the beach strip. My ex 's wife lived in London. I would have stayed in Canada if I hadn't missed my son so much and if I wasn't married to a swine lol. Ex satans choice. (says it all eh?) I would have loved to move to Dunneville as I found it a nice little place with friendly people. > BlankHi everyone > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Kenya and Sam (African Grey's), Lucky and Baby (Cockatiels), plus the five > Love Birds.. My CAG seems to enjoy cold water also. I mist her with tepid water, but sometimes when she gets her fresh water( it is filtered and stored in the fridge) she goes crazy trying to bathe in it. I have put dishes of tepid water on top of her cage for her, but she heads right back for the cold water. She has a blast throwing the water and yelling "Wheee". She has been doing this ever since we got her and it does not seemed to have harmed her. Goofy bird! -- Debbie, Dusty (CAG) and Casperella (U2) Funny but that's exactly it.. Two birds of a kind I guess.. Playing in the cold water like there is no tomorrow.. Well for sure I can take solace in the fact that my Kenya is not crazy.. She must be a polar bear breed of Grey but for now I am going to move her away from the cold water.. Oldmolly made a good point about the sudden temperature change and so I think I am going to try to get more info from the bird books.. see if there is anything written on this anomaly.. If I find any documented answers on why they do it I will be sure to post.. Just an FYI.. Our Sam is just the opposite to Kenya.. She absolutely loves to shower and I don't think there would ever be too many times in a day.. If you don't keep your eye glued to her she will head to the shower room and climb into her shower cage to wait for you to get there.. Seriously.. We tested just to see what she would do and one night we watched from the corner of our eye.. She headed to the shower room, climbed into the cage and literally waited in the shower cage for over an hour... Funniest thing you ever saw... I'm sure she was wondering what was taking us so long Another question I might ask if anyone has any advice.. Our Sam is probably close to twenty, Kenya is seven or eight.. They have been living side by each now for just over a year (each with their on cage but both in the same room). They both have the rule of the house every night when we are all in the family room but, since the day I got Kenya, I have been sooooooo cautious not to let them get too close together.. Neither has ever shown any kind of issue with the other and when I bring them to my office to sit with me in the afternoon I transport them around the house both on my shoulder, one on each side (In the office I put each on their own perch about five/six feet apart and they spend the afternoon..). I would like to see them together, even playing on the same perch, but I don't want to see either get hurt. Again, they have never ever shown to dislike each other and both are super super friendly... How do I know if its safe to have them actually be together.. What is the chance that one would actually hurt the other and how is the best way to introduce them to each other (with the least amount of risk...) Just a funny story.. Its funny to watch but at night we cover all the birds in order from the Love Birds to the Cockatiels to the Greys.. (Cover time is night time). You obviously have to cover one before the other (doesn't matter which first Kenya then Sam or Sam and then Kenya). The one covered will very quickly go to its peep hole to look out to make sure that the other is also being covered at the same time.. If you ever cover one and not the other right away then the covered bird will fuss like no tomorrow... :-).. I guess they both want to know that what's good for one is good for the other...? Hmm leads to another question.. Does everyone cover their birds at night or does it actually make a difference for them.. For us it means silence but I always thought that the quiet time was good for everyone (birds and us included)? Again thanks so much for the help and I look forward to hearing from everyone.. Ron > > Hi everyone > > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > -- > Debbie, Dusty (CAG) and Casperella (U2) --- We scan all outgoing files AVG (Grisoft) Virus Scan. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Another question I might ask if anyone has any advice.. Our Sam is probably > close to twenty, Kenya is seven or eight.. They have been living side by [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > risk...) > Hopefull ythis will help. I have a lot of birds in my small cottage so space is at a premium and I try to have large cages with more than one bird in them. It makes for less clutter for me, and the birds get to preen each other and generally behave as though they are in a flock. My BFA and my african grey (cuppy and piper) lived in seperate cages side by side for ages. I know cuppy is not agressive, and I know piper is not aggressive so, I bought a brand new cage so that it was nobody's territory, and one morning, put them both in with favourite toys from both cages, 2 pollys pastels roosting perches, 2 feed and 2 ater pots. Then I sat and read a book for 2 hours so that I was right there in the room with them in case anything happened. Nothing happened. They have been together now for around 6 months and are very happy. Cuppy was hand reared and is tame, piper is a wild caught 16-ish years old wing crippled bird. Piper sees Cuppy interact with me and now will take food from my hand with no hesitation and if I ask for a kiss, will make big lip smacking kissy noises and whistle tunes to me. Sometimes Cuppy will preen Piper. On the whole I would say that both birds have benefitted. So if you know your birds, and they have interacted outside their cages, I would say give it a try. You will need a new cage though and do it in the morning and plan to stay around just in case. Make sure you have more than one food and water pot, and make sure there are 2 roosting perches at opposite sides of the cage at exactly the same height just in case they prefer their own space to sleep. Some good advice... Thank you so much (BTW, I had the Tim Horton's coffee and duchy yesterday..:-)) My first mistake is that while they both come out of their respective cages at the same time and neither has ever been aggressive with the other (they almost ignore each other accept that, if you interact with one, then the other is most definitely watching). I haven't let them be close enough to each other that they could actually interact. Just as an example, if they are both walking on the floor they might get within say a foot or so of each other but I have always picked one or the other up if I thought they would get closer... I think now, after reading you note, that I have been overly protective ? Anyway, tonight I will let them get closer together, if they want, just to make sure that there are no problems.. I will probably do this every night for a while then I will try the new territory (new cage).. Sounds like a really good way to bring them together as a fresh start.. If there is going to be a problem when they actually bump into each other tonight what would you expect they will do ? I mean, if they got aggressive, would they try to bite each other ? Is there a risk that they could hurt each other or is it more that they will warn each other first ? Looking forward to your reply... I will keep you posted as to how things turn out.. > > Another question I might ask if anyone has any advice.. Our Sam is > probably [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > the cage at exactly the same height just in case they prefer their own space > to sleep. --- We scan all outgoing files AVG (Grisoft) Virus Scan. Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Some good advice... Thank you so much (BTW, I had the Tim Horton's coffee > and duchy yesterday..:-)) Yum. I bet it was delish <drool> > My first mistake is that while they both come out of their respective cages > at the same time and neither has ever been aggressive with the other (they [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > get closer... I think now, after reading you note, that I have been overly > protective ? Just a tad lol. > Anyway, tonight I will let them get closer together, if they want, just to > make sure that there are no problems.. I will probably do this every night > for a while then I will try the new territory (new cage).. Sounds like a > really good way to bring them together as a fresh start.. If there is going > to be a problem when they actually bump into each other tonight what would > you expect they will do ? I would expect them to do absolutely nothing bad :0) >I mean, if they got aggressive, would they try to > bite each other ? Firstly, I doubt they will get aggressive. After all they know each other, they share the same room etc. But what will happen if they do become aggressive is that one will threaten the other by growling, lifting a foot or lunging with the beak. Sit tight and say nothing as this is fine. A little argy bargy is fine. A bit like 2 4 year old toddlers sizing each other up at playschool. If you have kids you will know the scene. One kid has a toy, the other looks at the first kid, sidles over, and starts playing with the toy. Kid one will either join in and all is well, or he takes the toy back off kid one. Neither knows the other and neither is that confident to make a real scene. Eventually both kids will play happily together like they were best buddies. I think this is what will happen with your birds. >Is there a risk that they could hurt each other or is it > more that they will warn each other first ? Practically no chance they will really hurt each other.They are not strangers for a start. If they are out of the cage, one can move away from the other and then bird of the same species generally do not suddenly pile in and maim or kill each other. > Looking forward to your reply... I will keep you posted as to how things > turn out.. Stay calm whatever you do. Sit and observe. Any noises, foot raising lunging etc are normal. If you react then it will scare them both and make them think that the other bird is scarey. Sit with a nice big bath towel handy. Any sign of real aggression, (and I really do doubt this very very much) you simply drop the towel over both of them and seperate them. I would bet a dutchy on them not fighting :0) Let me know how it all goes but I think you are doing the right thing for yourself and for the birds. It simply isn't natural for birds not to be together. I don't and have never covered Cyndr. His cage is too large to cover. He knows when the tv goes off and lights are out it's bedtime. He doesn't make a peep again until I open the blinds in his room and say good morning. Once in a great while he will say hello buddy in a very quiet voice when I make coffee in the morning if it's late but no other sounds from him until the blinds are open. Cyndr too loves a cool bath in his water dish. Flaps around and talks like he's bathing with his best gal! Recently a visiting nurse asked if Cyndr was sick. He was sneezing and coughing. Then he said "God Bless You". I had bronchitis just a few weeks ago. He's such a fun little guy! -- Lynn Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. > Funny but that's exactly it.. Two birds of a kind I guess.. Playing in the > cold water like there is no tomorrow.. Well for sure I can take solace in [quoted text clipped - 99 lines] > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.563 / Virus Database: 355 - Release Date: 1/17/04 |
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