How To..bathe a pesky cockatoo!

How to… bathe a pesky cockatoo!

Its much more complicated than you would actually think!
So, not too many people would seem to care about such a topic, nor would many people believe that bathing an animal [especially a bird] would actually be challenging. I mean, come on. A bird? But, it really is quite a pain. I have a cockatoo named Timmi and he is such a little pest! It’s nearly impossible to bathe him but, I know how to do it and I know how to get the little man to calm down. So, I’m sure that I could help you out when it comes to bathing YOUR pesky little cockatoo!
So first of all, you need to get the bathing area prepared for your bird. To do this, simply clear your sink or tub of everything. The bird needs space to move. Also, make sure to have a plastic cup, a towel and some sort of shampoo [I found that the ‘birdie shampoo’ is quite awful and doesn’t do the job. Timmi’s feathers never come out beautiful and white. So, I tend to use AUSSIE. It seems to work quite well.]
Actually bathing the bird is sort of a challenge though. The water temperate must be fairly warm but not scorching, a birds skin is really sensitive. So, once you have your bird calm and collected [try talking to him, singing, or maybe kissing on his beak. That always works] start getting all of his feather wet. But avoid his eyes and nose; this could cause your little guy a lot of distress. It will also make him sneeze. A LOT. Once you do that, you can start lathering all of his feather up. Start with his plume and them way down. [Top to bottom, just like everything else!]
Afterwards, make sure to rinse every bit of soap out of his feathers. If you don’t, your bird will not look or feel right. SO, save yourself the time and worry, and save him the discomfort. Just get all of the subs out the first time.
The next step is to [obviously] dry your bird off.. Wrap him up in the towel and just cuddle with him for about 10 minutes. After such a ‘traumatic experience’ like that bath he will just want to snuggle and feel safe. Give him the opportunity to do so. This will make you feel warm and fuzzy, and will also strengthen the bond between your bird and you. Following this, you must blow dry the birds feathers [ESPECIALLY] in cold weather. This will take about an hour to do but it is worth it.
Start with his plume feathers then work your way down ending with his tail feathers. By the time your bird is dry, he will be happy, warm,, and gorgeous! You will love to see his bright shining feathers!

Overall, this process will take about 2 hours to complete correctly but, if you have a well behaved bird, it will always be a very enjoyable experience.


EXTRA TIPS:!!!

If your bird has a lot of dander, I would suggest really cleaning the feather under his wings. These fluffy feathers tend to collect a lot of dander, and when you have clean feathers there, you have a danger free, comfortable and happy bird.
While your bird is in his bath, you should also let him play a bit. When given the opportunity he will probably run for the water spicket to try and bite all of the flowing water. This keeps them entertained and happy, making the bath and enjoyable experience for both you and him.

Night and MOV Compare/Contrast

After reading both ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel and ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare I can say that I have barely found any similarities at all. Yes, I know that both the novel and the play are based around the Jews but, that’s really all I saw similarity wise.
Night, to me, was a very influential story of a boys struggle for life and religion in a concentration camp. He went through so much pain and tragedy; Losing his mother, sister, and finally father all in the process of nearly losing himself to all the evil surrounding him. Frankly, I find it to be an amazing thing how so many managed to pull through the Holocaust and then be able to bring back those horrid memories [like Elie did] in order to tell the world his story, along with the story of thousands of other innocent people.
The Merchant of Venice, on the other hand, was just a play that was meant to be humorous about the ‘evil, greedy jew’, Shylock. He was just a banker, who was completely obsessed with his ducats. Which was sort of funny to me considering the fact that today, many of the stereotypes about Jews were being used way back in the time of Shakespeare. For example, the ‘greedy Jew’ thing; obviously it was a common belief in Shakespeare’s time to think Jews were greedy. In MOV Shylock as made out as being this hardcore penny pincher who really had no other worries in the world. For example, when Jessica ran away, he wasn’t upset by the fact that this one and only daughter ran away from him. He was worried about losing the large sum of ducats she took with her and also the many jewels upon her body. That really does show that Shakespeare was trying to make him seem like some terrible person. But in relation to the modern day, many people still do see Jews as penny-pinching, greedy people. But, it’s more in a joking way. Everyday around me I hear some sort of Jew joke AT LEAST 10 times a day. “Oh, you Jew” “Hey look, a penny, Go get it you Jew”. Things like that. But, they’re never meant to harm, and usually the person that its directed at starts to crack up and play along with it.
What I found to be really interesting about both the writings was that each took a different side. Elie wrote about himself [and the other Jews] from a very innocent perspective [which they have a right to have. They were all completely innocent.] In contrast, the Merchant of Venice was written in a very.. ‘finger-pointing’ sort of way. You know? I just found the play to be quite annoying. There was also so much going on in it. There were what, two love stories? All on top of Shylock being a greedy cruel person? It just really started to annoy me. But, most of the time when I read Shakespeare I really cannot stand it. There is always way too much going on.
So, overall, I would have to say that I enjoyed Night much more than The Merchant of Venice. Night was a better suited piece of literature for me. There is so much detail and I can actually understand the language that Elie used when writing the book. Detail is one thing I truly enjoy when reading a novel and there was just a lot of it in Night. There was also this unrelenting sensation that I got when reading night. The words seeped down, deep into my body. When I read something and that happens, I’ve found a truly amazing piece of work.

Three things you may not know about me..

1. I plan to be a zoologist working with big cats or marine mammals.

2. I DON'T have a middle name... So seriously, stop asking about it. >.<

3. I'm on the GAPP exchange!
:)