SHOWER BOY

This is Timothy's favorite thing in the whole wide world....his precious misting bottle.  It lets out the most delightful fine mist, which is heaven for birds...at least it is for my Bubba.  He asks for a shower about four times a day and I give in to him around three times a day.  I use to mist him about three times a week, but then he started to ask for it more and more.  Come to find out, the more I mist him, the less he picks!

 
Here he is in his favorite position for his shower.  Sometimes he gets so excited, he raises his hackles and almost looks as if he has a hood of feathers.  He is still camera shy, so I have yet to get a picture of him with his "hood" on.  I know when to stop misting because I took advantage of a behavior he uses and marked that to be his signal that he has had enough.  Every time he turns around and walks to the back of his platform, I stop spraying.  If he wants more I wait until he comes back to the front of the platform and leans forward.  This has helped him to have more confidence as he knows how to control the situation, which in turn makes him feel less anxious.

Here is Bubba all soaked to the skin and as happy as a clam.  I am delighted to mist him many times during the day as long as he asks for it and it benefits his feathers, skin and overall health.  You might say that he is the cleanest bird in the west....LOL!