I have a young rescue IRN about 1 year old now. I have had her for about 4 months now.
We have made steady but slow bonding progress.
Well last week I was drying my hair after a shower using a blow dryer.
I had a towel around my neck.
She was sitting on the vanity counter watching. I keep her with me as much as possible to help with bonding. She had seen this drying for about a week now.
When I started blow drying my hair she suddenly ran up my robed arm to my shoulder like she was curious about the blowing hair. She sat ther on my shoulder staring at my hair.
So I turned the hair dryer to NO HEAT setting and out of curiosity SLOWLY pointed it at her from a LONG DISTANCE of about 3 feet.
To my surprise, she LOVED the wind hitting her. I mean totally LOVED it. She spread her wings like an eagle and kind of moves them back and forth in the wind like she is gliding in the wind. She also ducks down so the wind hits her in the back with her wings spread out. She then moves up close to me and starts cuddling in my hair running her face thru my hair and against my cheek as the wind hits her. She absolutely LOVES this. I mean is totally NUTS about it.
She will do this for a full 15 minutes if I am willing to keep it up - I give up before she has ever tired of it..
It is very funny to watch(being in front of a mirror helps you aim the hair dryer). Also, I had put a dogs waterbowl on the vanity with water in it hoping she would bathe in it. She had never used it before. All of a sudden, about half way thru the wind session she runs down my arm and dove into the bowl of water to take a bath splashing like crazy in the bowl. The she runs back up to my shoulder to get blown dry. She deos this every day now. This is the only time she ever takes baths. Perhaps she knows instinctively she can dry out quickly and she wont take a bath if the air is still?
She also sits on the edge of the shower door watching me take ashower and I hold up my wet fingers and she drinks the drops of water off the tips (not soaply water!). I suspect this is a feeding like behavior that also helps with bonding.
The best part of this is that when we do this in the morning I notice that she is noticeably FRIENDLIER and calmer for the rest of the day.
So if you have bird that you are trying to bond with, and that bird does not seem afraid of the dryer and its noise, you might give this a try. She was watching me dry my hair for about a week or two before she went up to my shoulder. SO perhaps let them just get used to the sound of it for while before you try the air contact. Its key that they are nto afarid o fhte dyer before you try this. Put a towel around your neck, place the bird there, and GRADUALLY move the cool dryer air so it points at the bird.
Remember, NOT HOT AIR and NOT TOO CLOSE (hold it at arms length and gradually turn it to point at the bird).
So if you have new bird that needs bonding, dont forget trying shower time!!!!
My IRN LOVES LOVES LOVES the hairdryer - good bonding trick?
Moderator: Mods
Always on the lowest setting and far enough away from their lil hot bods.
My 2 love the hair dryer too. They both lean into it like a dog hanging out a car window.
The bathroom is Jibs and Yodas fave room! Jibs wont go near the water though. But Yoda trys to climb the shower nosel. I have troubles getting Yoda out of the bathroom!
"Jibby aka Gilbert" Indian Ringneck 13 years "Charlie" Rex Rabbit 1 year
A couple of times when I've used either a hair dryer on low or a small oscillating heater on low from across the room to dry Sophie off after a bath, she's also taken the opportunity to partake in a second helping of bath-time. Not sure what sets her off, but she runs right over and dives into the water cup headfirst and splashes around like crazy.