Jesse Takes A Bath

 
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8/13/2005

I was trying to wash some dishes, and Jesse kept climbing into the sink and flipping over (belly up) and trying to bite the water coming out of the faucet - so I figured she wanted a bath. 

Here she is happily trotting up the stairs on her own - heading for the shower. 

 

Jesse is an enthusiastic bather.
She usually starts by snapping at the water...

 

.... then she sticks her whole face into the stream
She likes to ease in and out of the water.  Notice that the stream is hitting just the edge of her perch.  She only gets wet if she wants to... and boy, does she ever want to!
The water temp is just about "lukewarm".
She turns round and round on the perch, moving in and out of the water.
Ahhhhhhh...... 
And now the back of the neck...
 

BlubBlubBlub!
Ahh.  A little under the right wing...
 
Now a little on the back of the left wing...
 
 
Jesse steps out of her shower onto a soft, fluffy towel.  After a brief pat-down, she sits on the sink and gets a light blow dry. 

I use a small, low power blow dryer for her - one that has a "cool" setting (the heated dryers are too hot).

Here she's peering over the side of the sink, watching me take out the dryer..
It took a few times of using the dryer before Jesse really became comfortable with it.  I rarely hold it above her head, usually have it lower (about chest level on her) and I flick the dryer back and forth so that the air "puffs" at her (it's not a steady stream).  In this picture, she's bent down a bit to get her head into the breeze (her choice).

Just as with human hair, it seems best to leave a bit of dampness, and not blow dry too much.  It's important to keep in mind that macaws come from a humid environment, and too much dryness is irritating to their skin.