FINCHforum

Do you stop the bath while treating birds for illness? Or do you allow them to bathe and quickly remove the bath?

In the hospital cage I do not give a bath. I would not want to risk the bird getting chilled.

John if you are supplying medicine in the water or the medicine is their only source of hydration I would not give them a bath to drink from. Once the bird is a bit better and you see him preening and eating well maybe mist him (when he preens he will ingest the water off the feathers, wait till he is good and strong and he has had almost the full course of meds).

I agree with Candace, giving him a dish of water to bathe in will get him soaked and he could chill. Keep him warm...is this is the little gouldian male with the beak problem? I remember seeing this condition one other time a while ago, I will try to find the site for you.

Hope he does better and gets well soon.

no bath, birds will drink from the bath until their fill.... then bathe. No point unless you medicate the bath.. then its a waste of meds.

Finch Fry wrote:no bath, birds will drink from the bath until their fill.... then bathe. No point unless you medicate the bath.. then its a waste of meds.

This is true. It cost me a fortune to treat. I put it into the fountain. I don't have the heart to take it away. They love it so much.

dfcauley wrote:

Finch Fry wrote:no bath, birds will drink from the bath until their fill.... then bathe. No point unless you medicate the bath.. then its a waste of meds.

This is true. It cost me a fortune to treat. I put it into the fountain. I don't have the heart to take it away. They love it so much.

That's funny!!! I always feel guilty taking the bath away when medicating. So I was just wondering if maybe some put the bath in for about 10 minutes when treating birds and then remove it. Can that little bit of time really affect the amount of medication they take in?

Yep - 10 minutes can make a big difference. The medication must be in the only source of water for them while medicating. Don't worry, they'll get over not having a bath for a few days. It will be all the more fun when they are finished with the meds and can jump back in!

John, if you feel really quilty you can mix meds in the bathwater also...just make it a super shallow bath.
Sometimes my birds don't drink alot but they always love a bath. So many time I medicate the bathwater to make sure they get the medicine. This isn't when I am treating a sick finch ( don't want to risk chill) but when I do preventative worming,ASM, etc.