"Towel" training a parrot

Dingle_berry

We have a Senegal, she recently had a trip to the vets (all is fine now). The vet told us to start towel training her, using a small square of fleece so claws don't get caught in loops of fabric.
Where can I get a small square of fleece around Dublin? About 20cm by 20cm would be enough and I'd prefer not to buy something bigger and cut it up!

pawrick

Hickeys maybe? They have a few stores around Dublin. Not sure if they will have fleece but they may.

http://www.hickeyfabrics.ie/ab_store.php?store=henrystreet

eirator

What do you mean by towel training? Our Blue Faced Amazon is towel trained, if he sees someone with a towel when hes out he says "OOOOOh no" and gets back in his cage as quick as he can

He associates towels with baths and he's not that keen on baths.

He also associates the sound of a hair drier with a bath and takes one himself in his water bowl if some uses a hair drier or even a vacuum cleaner :rolleyes:

Dingle_berry

Thanks Pawick they had it. I'm pretty sure it's the exact same stuff the vet used. €10/m

eirator wrote: »

What do you mean by towel training? Our Blue Faced Amazon is towel trained, if he sees someone with a towel when hes out he says "OOOOOh no" and gets back in his cage as quick as he can

He associates towels with baths and he's not that keen on baths.

He also associates the sound of a hair drier with a bath and takes one himself in his water bowl if some uses a hair drier or even a vacuum cleaner :rolleyes:

He sounds like a great character! Though I think I'm still nervous of the bigger birds, Kiwis bites are bad enough! She will bath (dunk her head) in a fresh water bowl if she doesn't get a shower. She loves going for a shower with my partner - don't know if that's cause they're social birds or just a bird thing.
Vets use the "towel" to help them hold the bird to examine it, protects them from bites and scratches. I think? Having the bird towel trained means they're used to just relaxing when in the towel. Fleece is better as it has no loops for claws to get caught in. I think you train them by making it a game, playing peek-a-boo etc

eirator

He's a character alright, hand reared so while the beak is a bit scary when he's got hold of a finger its OK long as you don't try and pull it away.

I still would never totally trust him, he loves sitting on my shoulder pulling the hairs out of my neck and loves to bite the seams on clothes and thats when you feel it.

pawrick

Glad to have been able to assist.

Had no idea what towel training meant either but now you explained it it sounds like a good idea.