WARNING ON BABY SHAMPOO - it still has the same stinging chemicals in it as regular shampoo, it just has numbing agents in it as well. SO DO NOT GET IT IN THEIR EYES - it still does the same damage this goes for human babies too!!! It's a shame really....

I learned this when I started researching "sulfate free shampoo" take a look there is sodium laural sulfate in almost all shampoos and handsoaps... it is a HARSH detergent that was originally designed to be used once a week, and it is now in MANY MANY things that we use daily. Those of you with itchy heads, or dry skin problems, need to look this stuff up and eliminate it from use...... If anyone wants elaboration on this PM me, or maybe I'll start a post on it in the off topic area. This stuff has to rub off on the fids if they play on your hair/skin!

ANYWAY - I digress. I HAVE used baby shampoo and dawn when water just would not cut it for one reason or another. I used it diluted with half water, and was careful to avoid eyes and nares. I think if I ever had to use it again, I would dilute some of my sulfate free shampoo and use that instead.

We sell that where I work, too. Every time someome comes to the register, I tell them not to purchase it. You are correct - they all have the same ingredients. I always get the same response: "but it says it's for Greys, or Parrots, etc." So, I get on my soap box and say "if you were balding and went to the local drug store and saw a product that promised to grow your hair, would you buy it?" I then explain that merely because something states it is "shampoo for birds" or "product to grow hair" doesn't mean it really works and is good to use.

The way I look at it is this: there's no shampoo in nature, so there's no shampoo on my birds.

The problem with that is that there are many household substances that birds would not encounter in nature, and people that neglect birds by never bathing them, or by smoking, which would also not happen in nature.


I have only soaped birds that really really couldn't be helped by water alone.

Oh, Dana - don't get me wrong. I have on occasion used it on cockatoos. One of ours at the store decided to take a toy, dunk it in water and have a field day with his feathers! He was blue, orange, purple, green - every color under the rainbow! I tried washing it off with water - no dice. The only thing that worked was the shampoo.

I guess I should clarify my position: unless absolutely needed, birds should merely be bathed with good old fashioned water - just like in the wild!

I use plain water. I do spray my birds with a mixture of Buddy Rinse from Cloudstar and water a few times a week during the winter. I discovered this when my Ru GW and Casey Hahns had a plucking problem a few years ago.

Ru was almost "bald" and now his feathers look great! (We had a complete workup including feather cytology and culture before starting my "natural" treatment.)