Bezukhov’s misting

I have been remiss in giving mistings.  Fortunately both Dalai & Lennie are happy to have baths.  Perry will have a bath when there is a blue moon & equally Bezukhov will have a bath if he really, really needs one.  Neither Perry or Lennie have partook in earlier mistings which may have further reduced my motivation to give them.  However, a few days ago, I gathered together some celery leaves & the spray bottle & a misting was given.

As soon as Bezukhov saw the yellow spray bottle he knew what was coming & started to fluff himself up.  He definitely prefers mistings to baths & went straight to the celery leaves to roll about under the water that I was spraying.  He also went to the Thomas bath & had a dunk there as the spray from the water bottle was also going across that.  All in all, he had a good wash!  Dalai very briefly joined in.  Perry & Lennie looked on in bemusement from afar.

Here are photos of Bezukhov after his misting:

Wet Bezukhov

Bezukhov having a shake

Bezukhov

Bezukhov resting

Here he is having a thorough preen:

I must resolve to do more mistings, even if only Bezukhov is interested!

 

Dalai’s first misting

Yesterday, Dalai had his first misting.

Since his arrival, Dalai has witnessed several mistings.  Both Bezukhov & Phineas have demonstrated the art of prancing about in some wet leaves whilst I spray water over them.  Dalai would usually take himself off to the Villa & leave them to it.  I was not too concerned because he does take regular baths in the Thomas Bath.

Several factors may have influenced Dalai to try out a misting: they are both going through what seems like a never-ending moult, Bezukhov was very keen to throw himself into the celery leaves, & the sun was shining brightly though it is now clearly winter.  Whatever the reason, after he watched Bezukhov have a go, he decided to join in.  I think he enjoyed it.

Dalai investigating the celery leaves:

Dalai

Dalai

Dalai

Dalai

 

Dalai & Bezukhov preening afterwards:

Dalai

Bezukhov

Dalai

Bezukhov

(Click on photos to enlarge)

A welcome misting

The Thomas bath is often in use but not as a bath.  I usually put something leafy in with water to entice either Cagney, Bezukhov or Phineas to have a bath.  They may go over to it & nibble at whatever goodies are there, but never have a bath.  Recently though, Bezukhov had a paddle.

That day the bath had dill.  It was a rare moment that Phineas was not guarding his dill (all the dill, wherever it is placed) & Bezukhov took the opportunity to put both feet in the water.  He had a little shake, as if to imitate having a bath but in reality only his feet got wet.  Anyway, I took the hint – it was time for a celery misting.

This misting, a few days ago, was enjoyed by all.  I let Cagney & Bezukhov have their go before I let Phineas out.  Both toyboys were eager; Bezukhov started dancing in the wet celery leaves before I even started spraying water over them.  Cagney, who can sometimes go ages without a bath/misting, was also keen.  I felt that he wanted to wash his recent vet & hospital visits out of his feathers.

Once the toyboys had finished, I let Phineas out for his turn.  He was a bit confused as he was torn between having a wash under the spraying water or eating the celery.  He managed to do both (video below).

 

 

 

A Twizzle & a Shake

After a celery misting, Bezukhov did some impressive tail twizzling.

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Cagney had a good shake.

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So did Bezukhov.

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But Phineas did not twizzle his tail or have a shake.

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There’s always one…

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Sunny days, mistings & moults

Cagney, Bezukhov & Phineas have been moulting recently.   The boys are usually more inspired to get wet during a misting if the day is sunny &, ideally, warm.  Over the last few weeks we have had a sunny day here & there, so I have got out the celery leaves & given them a misting.

Because Bezukhov has had sticky, syrupy medicine stuck to his chin & cheek feathers, I think he was more motivated than the others to throw himself into getting wet.  He certainly had a good dance in the celery leaves & got very wet.  Unfortunately, the sticky feathers still remain but at least all his other feathers have been refreshed.

A wet Bezukhov:

 

A wet Phineas:

 

A not-so wet Cagney:

 (Click on photos to enlarge)

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Hot weather misting

The boys like a misting on a hot day.  Usually I give Cagney & Bezukhov a misting first, whilst Phineas is still locked up, so they can proceed without interruption.  When they are finished, I let Phineas out & he has his turn.

I managed to film them recently, having a misting with some celery leaves.

Cagney & Bezukhov:

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Phineas:

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Floor full of water

In amongst the miserable wet & windy weather we have had, there have been sunny moments.  When the sun is shining for a few hours, the room gets nice & warm.  It is a good opportunity to get the spray bottle out & give the boys a misting.

The last couple of times they have had a misting with celery leaves.  As Thomas has not been well, he declined one of the invitations to frolic in the leaves & stayed in the cage, but the other three all took advantage of the offer.

Yesterday, there was another opportunity for them all to have a misting. Cagney was first down to the landing platform & investigate the celery.  This inspired Thomas & he dived into the leaves & got thoroughly wet.  There was no room for the others so they had to temporarily take a back seat.

Thomas sitting this one out

Thanks for leading the way, Cagney

Bedraggled Thomas

Once Thomas had finished, Cagney took over & did the best he could with Phineas barring his way at every turn.

A wet Cagney

Cagney preening

A fluffy & dry Cagney

Bezukhov was desperate for a frolic in the leaves & had intermittent goes, before being put off by the others.

Bezukhov preening

Handsome Bezukhov

I dry off very quickly!

Phineas was the last to have a frolic.  He had got a little wet accompanying Cagney but that was not a proper wash so when Cagney was busy preening, he spent some quality time with the celery & the spray bottle.

Phineas sorting out head feathers

Handsome Phineas

A wet Phineas

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After all of that spraying, I was almost knee deep in water myself!

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A misting for a moult

All are moulting.  Bezukhov started off the latest round of moulting.  He has recovered from his & is looking handsome again but the others still have pin feathers, particularly on their heads.

A misting is sometimes welcome.  The last misting they had was with celery leaves.  Firstly, I let Cagney & Bezukhov have a go before letting Phineas & Thomas out.  Both Cagney & Bezukhov were keen to get wet.  Cagney did his usual belly rub on the leaves & Bezukhov did his little dance.  It was all over pretty quickly, but at least they showed willing & it certainly did set off a major preening session.

So as not to leave them out, I also gave Phineas & Thomas the chance of a misting when they were let out.  Though Thomas was not adverse to getting wet, he was more interested in eating the celery than refreshing his feathers.

Phineas got quite excited & pranced about in the leaves.  Unlike the others, he gets distracted very easily so he was back & forth to the celery leaves for quite some time.  Guess who was the mug hanging around with the spray bottle, waiting for him to have enough?

Despite his rather “flighty” method of being misted, Phineas still seems to get wetter than the rest.

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Phineas & the spray bottle

Although I have been reporting on lots of bathing activities, during the hottest part of our mini UK heatwave, The Thomas Bath has not been touched.  I suspected that bathing would be too much of an effort.  To encourage them & hopefully help to cool them down a little, I thought we would combine a bath with a misting.

I decided to spray water across the corner of the ferplast, over the bath.  Phineas is familiar with mistings so knew what was coming when I emerged with the yellow spray bottle.  I started spraying over the bath & he quickly cottoned onto what was happening & went straight for the bath.  What was funny though, was that he kept coming out the bath to peck at my fingers on the spray bottle as if to say, “Don’t stop, but hang on until I get back in the bath“, as then he would run back across the top of the cage to the bath.  He did this many times.  His behaviour really made me chuckle!

Eventually, I put down the spray bottle & filmed this comical & demanding little grey man:

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As an aside, during mistings, my puddings used to approach the spray bottle – Atilla more so than Raspy.  In fact, Atilla used to want to peer down the nozzle!  I had to keep my eye on her as I do not think she would have forgiven me had I sprayed a jet of water into her eyes.  The toyboys have always steered clear, although when out of my hands, the spray bottle did hold some fascination.

Just so you know I have not been neglecting the toyboys in quarantine my bedroom, they have been getting mistings too.  Because of the heat, once again, I think they felt it was all too much bother.  However, on one occasion they did both get a little wet & here is a half decent photo I got of Cagney:

Cagney during a misting

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A cold shower

After all of the frenzied wing-flapping that I posted about earlier, I decided a cold shower was in order.  I was very much tempted to throw a bucket of cold water over them all, but settled for a gentle spray with tepid water.

At the time, Cagney & Bezukhov were visiting Thomas in the ferplast.  As far as I know, Thomas has never had a bath or misting so I was not sure how he would react.  Phineas was prowling around on top of the cage.

I prepared the ferplast by removing one of the bottom trays & also removing a couple of toys with mirrors (they rust so easily).  I sprayed over one side of the cage so any objectors could just move to the far side & stay dry.  The objector on this occasion was Cagney.  However, both Bezukhov & Thomas were happy to get wet.  I noticed Thomas rubbing himself across the bars to soak up the water droplets.  Hmm… this boy appears to like water & getting wet.  A good sign.

Meanwhile, Phineas was running around on top of the cage, getting wet in the process.

Thomas licking wet bars

Thomas about to chew Phinny’s toenail

Wet bottomed Phineas

Phineas pecking at Thomas

Phineas preening

Resting after shower

(Click on photos to enlarge)

After their cold shower, I cleaned up the cage, returned the toys & watched Phineas, Bezukhov & Thomas dry off & get fluffy again.