reminder: All articles and posts on my website are written by me and from my own perspective (Sophie The Pigeon) and often I'm typing it aimed at other birds 😉

Small Disclaimer

Please keep in mind that this article is written from my own perspective and preference (Sophie The Pigeon) and from my pet human’s their preference. We did tried to make this article and tips in it as ‘universal’ as possible, and did also included methods which others would prefer instead. Your preference or opinion might be different than ours, and that is just fine of course 😊. If you are 100% new to pigeon care or you are just getting into it, we recommend to not just take this page as the only source of information in regards to bathing your pigeons, but to also read up on several other forums and websites to get some perspective on what others think about what method(s) are best to use (or not).

Bird Hygiene (bathing pigeons)

Obviously bird hygiene is also a very important aspect of the care basics for us pigeons (next to cage hygiene etc). It is not as hard as you might think, but you do need to know some things in advance before bringing in one or more pigeons into your home.

It might look like a lot to learn on this page, but don’t worry, I just explained a lot of things into detail. If you read through this page once, you most likely will know what to do (and what to avoid).

Why bathing your pigeon(s)

We pigeons regularly need a bath, and giving us our bath is very important for our (feather) health. But aside from keeping our feathers healthy and clean, it can/will also prevent mites from investing our feathers (if the bathing is done properly), it will help waterproof our feathers and it will also reduce the amount of (feather) dust we ‘distribute’ in your own (human) home (which is actually also bad for your health if it gets too much).

Bathing also helps us ease molting, it will help ease the molting itself, but it can/will also ease the (skin) irritation and itching caused by the molting.

It is recommended to give us pigeons (and many other birds) a bath at least once a week. While other pigeons (or other birds) would even enjoy bathing more than once a week, but we do understand that this might not always be possible for everyone. One a week is in our opinion at least the minimum though.

I myself bathe at least once a week, and when time allows us (due to our busy lives and all the things I do together with my pet humans) even twice or three times a week (if I’m in the mood for bathing of course).

Required ‘items’ to bathe pigeons

Bathing a pigeon is usually quite simple, to bath us you will need a few (simple) things:

• Something for us to bathe in (our ‘bath’), we personally recommend using a large oven dish (like the ones you humans often make lasagne in).
• A suitable (and safe) place to bathe us (preferably a location where it doesn’t matter if stuff gets wet, like a bathroom).
• I (personally) recommend to use pigeon bathing salts (more about this later), but DO NOT use “bird shampoo’s“!
• A Spray/Mist bottle (will explain a bit further)
• A soft towel (only if you plan on helping your pigeon dry up a bit)

The ‘bath’ (oven dish)

As you can see in this screen capture from one of my “pigeon vlog video’s“, my bath is literally just a regular oven dish.

If you want to ensure that you have a very robust bath, then we would recommend using Pyrex® oven dishes, simply because Pyrex® glass is generally tougher than regular cheaper (no brand) oven dishes. In fact Pyrex oven dishes are in general four to six time stronger and more durable than regular dishes.

Bathing location

For the bathing location we would recommend just using your own (human) bathroom if possible. Simply because we pigeons (well basically all birds) will flap really hard and messy in the water, and thus often splash it around everywhere. Doing this on carpet in your living room or on a wooden floor is generally not recommended. Plus that you will then often have a VERY wet bird in the room which will flap its wings dry, and thus making an even bigger mess on your furniture and/or equipment.

Some important safety tips when using your (human) bathroom for bathing pigeons
When using your (human) bathroom for us pigeons to bathe in, you should take some safety into consideration like:

• Make sure that we pigeons can’t accidentally get hurt by ‘lingering’ loose objects like razors, razor blades or other (sharp) shaving or cutting ‘equipment’.
• Make sure that we can’t accidentally get to ‘harmful stuff’ (or “crash into” it if we suddenly take off) like human soaps, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc.
• Make sure that you cover any potentially dangerous ‘optical illusions’ like mirrors with something like a towel. Some pigeons (or other birds) might mistake mirrors and such as ‘another room/area’ they can fly into, and then crash into them at ‘full speed’.
• Make sure that there isn’t a ‘pile of loose human bathroom stuff’ we can crash into (like perfumes, cans of hairspray, hair gel containers etc etc)
• If you have something like a shower curtain, then make sure it is temporarily moved out of the way, so we can’t “crash into it”, or that we can’t get entangled into it.
• Make sure that you have something like an ‘anti slip mat’ underneath/around our bath if your floor is so slippery that we might slip when it’s wet. If this happens it could potentially seriously hurt our little feet or legs. An example of one of those anti slip mats can yet again be seen in the screen capture above.
• If you have exposed water pipes on your shower, then please make sure that your pigeon(s) can’t accidentally get in contact with the hot water pipe if you are also using hot water to create the correct water temperature mixture!
• If you or one of your (human) housemates have just recently showered (right) before you are giving your pigeon(s) a bath, then do make sure that you rinse the floor VERY well to get rid of any possible soap, shampoo or conditioner, so that we can’t accidentally ingest it or get it onto our feathers for example.

So basically it is important the you keep your bathroom a bit organized if you want to provide us pigeons the safest place possible to bath in. Or that you (temporarily) remove such items from the bathroom when we’re taking a bath.

Once your pigeons are used (trained) enough to bathing in your chosen area, then it might not be necessary anymore to “remove everything”, but do please stay careful and vigilant to prevent any possible accidents which could injure your pigeons.

Pigeon Bath Salts

There are special bath salts for pigeons available which can contribute to your pigeon’s health/well being in various way (of course depending on the brand and type of bath salts you buy).

Some of the advantages which pigeon bath salts can offer are: relaxation of the muscles, provide support for the down feathers, removing excess skin particles and ‘loose pin feather parts/remains’, help maintaining strength and the water-resistant function of the feathers. And some salts even (appear to) help (not prevent) against feather mites.

However if pigeon bath salts actually contribute to removing/preventing mites is debated on several websites. Personally I think it depends per brand and ‘composition’ of the bath salt, and I do think that the brand I’m using (Beyers) does actually help against mites (NOT against parasites in general though).

It is very important that you confirm that the (special pigeon) bath salts you are adding are safe for the pigeon(s) to ingest! This because we pigeons often tend to drink quite a bit of water during bathing. Therefor it is also important that you do not add too much bathing salts to the water (less is better if you are not certain about how much to add).

Spray/Mist bottle

Lots of pigeons (me included) love the ‘shower effect’ when humans ‘spray’ us with a (soft) mist spray. Although some birds do like the the shower which you humans use, for most of us pigeons (and many other birds) is often to ‘harsh’. Therefor it is recommended to purchase a “plant spray bottle“, also known as “Plant Mister“, “Fine Mist Spray Bottle” and more names like that.

These are an example for the type of (mist) spray bottles which I would personally recommend, I have the white one which you see on the left, and personally I LOVE it!

Do however keep in mind that not all pigeons like these spray bottles. If your pigeon is new to spray/mist bottles, it most likely will need to get used to it by gently and slowly introducing it to the spray/mist bottle and ‘what it does’.

IMPORTANT: Do make sure that your spray bottle is completely made of plastic and that it for example does not contain a copper or other ‘strange metal’ spray nozzle. Copper generally isn’t an issue for pigeons (most water pipes in homes are also made of copper). But cheaper quality spray bottles might have used ‘sketchy cheap materials’ for the metal nozzles. Therefor I personally recommend to just get an ‘all plastic’ spray bottle to be on the safe side.

Do NOT use “special bird shampoo’s”

There are several companies which market “special bird shampoo’s” with all kinds of (stupid) claims like (but not limited to): “Gives your bird a nice and fresh smell“, “Provides additional oil protection“, “Gives feathers a nice silk look/shine” and many other stupid claims they can come up with.

Unless it’s a special (medical) “shampoo” which is recommended or even prescribed by your (avian) vet, we strongly recommend against using any of these “special bird shampoo’s“, because often they do more harm than good. One of the problems which these “special shampoo’s” often cause if that they will strip too much (natural) oils from the feathers and thus actually harm the feathers and waterproofing of the bird(s).

NEVER use (human) shampoo’s or bath salts/products

You should NEVER use human shampoo’s, human soaps, human bath salts, perfume products (to make your “pigeon(s) smell nice” (We already smell nice!)) or any other product not intended to be used with/for pigeons. This could and will seriously harm our health!

Preparing the Bathing Water

The bathing water should generally be lukewarm / room temperature, the exact temperature doesn’t really matter though. What does matter is that it isn’t too cold or too hot. During hot days (in the summer for example) you could use a bit lower than ‘room temperature’ water temperature to help your pigeon(s) cool down a bit, but do not overdo this (as in making the temperature difference too extreme). If the water temperature is too hot or too cold it can shock the bird’s system, or even cause burns (in case when it’s too hot). So it is important that you keep the water running and that you ‘stabilize’ the temperature before you fill up our bath. Also make sure to check the water temperature before putting our bath on the floor! As we all know, it can sometimes happen that temperature from the faucet suddenly drops or rises extremely due to pressure changes in the pipes for example. So make sure you don’t (accidentally) put us pigeons in a bath which is either way too cold or way too hot.

Depth of the water in the bath

The depth of the water in the bath depends on what your pigeon(s) like and their size, generally we would recommend starting with a depth between 1.5cm (0.60″) and 2.5cm (0.98″). You can then always reduce or increase the amount of water (a bit) depending on how your pigeon(s) respond to the bath. Do however keep in mind that pigeons CAN NOT SWIM! So always make sure that we pigeons can still (easily) stand in our bathtub.

Adding (pigeon) bath salts (if you use them)

– The brand and bath salt I’m using.

It is (obviously) very important to follow the instructions of your specific pigeon bath salts, but often the instructions on those bottles are calculated for large pigeon lofts / dovecotes. This can make it a bit difficult to use an instruction like “40gr salt on 10 liters of water“, especially if your bath only contains roughly 300 – 500ml of water. This would basically mean that you would need to add about 2gr of bath salt to the pigeon bath (IF you are using the same one as I am!).

Personally we aren’t that strict in measuring it, my pet humans just use a couple of ‘pinches’ / ‘sniffs’ (snufjes in Dutch) and put that in my bath.

Then before offering the bath to me, they will make sure that they stir it (with their hands) so that all the salt has dissolved in the water.

NOTE: The bathing salt displayed here is not a sponsored placement, it is just the product I prefer to use.

Preparing the spray bottle (if you have/use one)

When filling-up my mist spray bottle my pet humans use the same water temperature as they have used for filling my bath, or they will make it just slightly warmer during ‘the colder seasons’. This because the ‘mist effect’ of the water will quickly cool it down to a (much) lower temperature than the bath itself.

My pet humans do not add bathing salt to the mist spray bottle. Simply because it would only make it ‘way more complex and time consuming’ (while I’m always super impatient while they are preparing my bath!) for a tiny fraction of salts, it would also be much harder to properly clean/rinse my spray bottle after use, and then there is also a possibility that the salt will ‘destroy’ or clog-up the spray itself internally.

Offering the bath to your pigeon(s)

When your pigeon is used to bathing, he or she will most likely ‘easily’ get into the bath when you put it on the floor and start bathing. A bathing pigeon/bird might look violent or ‘like it’s crashing’ if you witness it for the first time 🤣, but don’t worry this ‘violent crashing/flapping behavior’ is completely normal. This is just the way how we get the water in all the places we want and need to wash 😊.

But my pigeon just stands next to the bath, looking at it but isn’t doing anything! Is my pigeon broken 🤷🏾‍♀️?

No, your pigeon is not broken🤣 (Unless you’ve purchased it from a ‘certain Chinese website’ and it requires batteries to operate’, then it could be broken if you put it in or near water 😝).

It could be that your pigeon just isn’t in the mood (yet) to bathe, or (if it is a very young one) that it doesn’t “know” yet what to do with the water. Often it will then help to gently splash your fingers through the water from left to right to ‘convince’ your pigeon(s) to do the same so it will start bathing.

This is even exactly how I learned how to bathe (I really did not knew how to bathe when I was rescued by my pet humans, and I just started “mimicking” their ‘movements’ in the water and then my ‘bird instincts took over’. Nowadays I get into my bath as soon as they put it on the floor, I actually LOVE to bathe now.

Just make sure to have patience and do NOT force your pigeon to go into the bath! This will only cause your pigeon (or any other bird) to get a negative association with the bath and/or water in general.

Do note though that there are also pigeons which just plainly “hate water” and/or bathing, getting these pigeons to bathe can (and often will) be a bit more challenging of course.

After my pigeon has splashed a few times it just stands in it’s bath staring at me all soaked! Now what?

Well, euhm… yes this happens sometimes 🤣. There are several things you (as human caregiver) can do in such “situations”:
1. Absolutely nothing. Sometimes we pigeons just like to take our time and let the bathing sink in (pun intended), it can be that your pigeon will either just resume on it’s own after a (short) while, or that it decides that it has had enough and leave the bath. Either way is just fine, so you can just ‘wait it out’ to see “what happens next“.

2. You could splash a bit (gently) with your hand in the water to see if you can ‘trigger’ you pigeon to resume bathing.

3. You could use a spray/mist bottle to give your pigeon a bit of an ‘shower effect’, which might cause him or her to resume washing.

4. You could see if your pigeon likes it if you help it by gently washing it with your hand(s). You can for example do this by wetting your hand in the water and then gently dripping water on it’s back (which might trigger the pigeon to resume washing), or even by (yet again: gently) ‘rubbing‘ him or her along the wings, back, front and front part of the belly. This method is however NOT recommended for beginners, and actually discouraged for most pigeons (more about this bellow).

IMPORTANT NOTE
There are not many pigeons which would enjoy, like or even accept this kind of ‘help’ (option 4), but IF you have a pigeon which does enjoy being washed like this, then it can be a very fun experience to do (for both you and the pigeon). I myself (Sophie The Pigeon) actually DO enjoy this type of washing a lot, and it’s even a ‘standard part’ of my bathing routine now. But to be fair: of all the pet pigeons me and my pet humans know (and that’s A LOT of pet pigeons!) there are only three which actually enjoy this method (option 4), and I’m one of those three.

For me liking this method most likely has to do with the fact that I actually needed help like this in the first couple of weeks when I was first rescued by my pet humans (due to the very bad shape I was in). This definitely is not a ‘common thing’ for us pigeons to do or accept, and if you have a pigeon which does not like or accept it, then DO NOT FORCE IT (or try to learn it to your pigeon) either please! Because this would only stress the pigeon and it could turn the bathing experience into a horrific situation for the pigeon. Like mentioned before: If your pigeon can and will bathe itself normally, then you should always use the natural approach.

Well my pigeon is defective I guess, because he/she doesn’t just stand-and-stare in the water, it lays down in it😳!

Nope your pigeon is not defective 🤦🏾‍♀️🤣, some of us just like to soak a while in the water and then indeed choose to lay down in the water. Nothing wrong with your pigeon, just let him or her enjoy the bath 😊.

Do not force your pigeon(s) to bathe

If your pigeon decides he or she is ‘done bathing’ (even if it was ‘just a minute’), then do not force it to resume washing either please. Same goes for if your pigeon refuses to take a bath all together. If your pigeon refuses to bathe all together, you can always try again the next day and the day after until it does start bathing.

If your pigeon then still doesn’t bathe, you might want to try to convince it to bathe, for example by splashing your hands in the water gently, this might make the pigeon think that you are also bathing and this could make it want to ‘join in’ on bathing with you.

Spraying/misting your pigeon

When your pigeon is bathing, you may want to try if he or she would enjoy being sprayed (gently) with a spray/mist bottle (usually used for plants as shown in one of the photo’s above). You can do this by starting from a relatively far distance so that he or she can get used to the spray bottle, and then slowly work towards getting a bit closer to the pigeon. If you are using a spray/mist bottle chances are that your pigeon will tilt a bit to it’s side and then lift it’s wing (partially), this is totally normal behavior and we do this to ‘get a good soaking’. You can also see this behavior with pigeons in the wild during rain or when they are bathing at fountains for example.

Don’t soak your pigeon(s)

The general rule is that you should not completely soak your pigeon(s) (or any other bird for that matter) when you are bathing them. UNLESS it’s actually the bird doing it to him or herself. If he or she is then already completely soaked (due to it’s own bathing behavior), then it doesn’t really matter if you spray/mist a bit of extra water onto the bird if he or she likes it. In general however, birds should not be completely soaked when they are bathed, because this can lead to loss of body heat and due to the wet feathers (and additional weight) it also prevents us from flying (properly).

There are some ‘quirky birds‘ among us every now and then which do actually soak themselves completely while bathing (me often being one of them 🤣), and this isn’t really a problem if it’s an indoor pet bird, but you do want to make sure that you assist your bird a little bit extra to get it dried up faster after bathing to prevent it from losing to much body heat.

Prevent drafts while your pigeon is bathing and while it’s wet afterwards!

Of course it is already quite important that your pigeon isn’t constantly exposed to drafts in general, but this is even much more important while it’s bathing or while it’s wet. Your pigeon could get actually get (seriously) sick if it is exposed to drafts during these periods, so you really need to make sure that you don’t expose your pigeon to drafts during or directly after bathing. If you for example have ventilation vents or an AC system in your home, you could consider closing them or turning it off while your pigeon is bathing and drying up afterwards.

Drying our wings a bit

After bathing we pigeons will often flap our wings and jump around a bit, often followed by a hard shake of our body and feathers (me and my humans call this my ‘Ruffle Shuffle‘ 🥰). It might look like we’re trying to fly away, but in most cases this isn’t true, and for some it might even look like ‘distressed behavior’ (if you’re not used to it) because it can also sound quite violently (especially in echoing bathrooms 🤣). But this behavior is nothing to be worried about and it is completely normal. It is even recommended to wait until your pigeon has done this before you for example start helping him/her by drying him or her off with a towel (if you use this approach). The reason we do this, is simply to get the water out of our feathers and such.

Drying your pigeon(s)

There are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to helping us pigeons dry after bathing. Where the don’ts are very important and should be taken very seriously. Just like humans, we pigeons can also become sick if we are wet and cold, therefor it is important that we are properly dried up before we are going to bed or get exposed to (mild) drafts again.

Drying: The Towel, ‘Pigeon Burrito’ and DIY method

TIP: This method is actually used in my YouTube Video (shorts) about my Spa Day Routine Part 2 here.

I personally really like this method, go because it takes a lot less time for me to dry up again. Most people would however recommend and prefer the ‘Natural Method‘ (which will be described a bit further), and that method is also just fine to use 😊. This method involves you humans helping us pigeons by drying up a bit with a towel, where the human gently ‘pats’ and VERY gently rubs us dry a bit. Do make sure that you do not rub against the direction of our feathers, but only (gently!) from our body towards the end of our feathers.

The Pigeon Burrito
After we have been ‘patted dry’ a bit, you could then make a ‘Pigeon Burrito’ (how we call it) using the towel to carefully wrap your pigeon in it to support it drying up a bit more. You can then snuggle a bit with your pigeon (wrapped in the towel) until he or she had enough of the towel (do NOT force your pigeon to stay inside the towel, and do not wrap it to tightly!).

The DIY part
This part is actually “DIY” for us pigeons, and not for you humans 😉. We pigeons can do quite a good job at drying ourselves by ‘sunbathing’ (or find a warm spot to do the same as if we would be sunbathing). We will then often lay down on our belly with our tail (partially) spread and one of our wings spread (partially) open.

The photo’s above show how I’m drying myself after bathing, in the first photo you’ll notice that I also have one of my wings spread open. This is on top of my day time cage (which we call my home). The light you see in these photo’s is just a normal led “ring light” which was originally intended as ‘modern designer ceiling light’ for humans, but one of my pet humans adapted it so that it now serves as my ‘daylight lamp’ in my home. It has (now after a second modification) two modes: “Normal Mode” and “Sunbathing Mode”. Where sunbathing mode is nothing more than a slight ‘over-volting’ (how it’s technically called) of the lamp, causing it to get JUST A BIT warmer so that it assists me a bit more while drying after bathing. This is just a slight temperature raise and nowhere near dangerous (as in burning me or destroying the lamp).

A lamp as shown in my photo’s above is however not necessary for the ‘DIY part of drying’ after bathing, it is just something which one of my (very technical) pet humans made for me. But we pigeons will just do the same without an additional lamp like that, we will then lay down exactly as shown in the the photo’s (which is the reason why I posted them here).

Drying: The DIY Method (Natural Method)

With this method you would not “help” your pigeon drying (with a towel or anything else) after bathing. And most of us birds (not just pigeons) are very well capable of drying ourselves. You just do need to make sure that we don’t get cold though (due to a low room temperature, from drafts or an AC for example).

It is perfectly fine if you prefer to use this method for your pigeon(s), and most will probably use this (recommended) method.

Drying: Hairdryer Method

Lots of people prefer to (help) dry their pigeons with a hairdryer put on it’s lowest setting while pointing it at the pigeon from a distance. They also post/say that their pigeon(s) really seem to enjoy the warmth. This could also be a viable option for you and your pigeons, but we can’t give you any further advice on this method, simply because we personally would advise against using this method.

This because there is a slight chance that your hairdryer for example contains Teflon, and Teflon when (over)heated produces deadly fumes to us pigeons. And then there is also the risk that the temperature is too hot (if it’s done incorrectly like too close to the pigeon, or if the hairdryer gets too hot for us pigeons), and this might cause us pigeons to get burns from it.

If you are absolutely certain that your hairdryer is safe to use for your pigeon(s), which means that it doesn’t contain Teflon, and that it doesn’t get too hot for your pigeon(s), then it might be worth it to google a bit more about using hairdryers to help dry your pigeon(s) after bathing. I will personally refrain from giving (more) advice about this topic, simply because I have no experience in it at all. Me and my pet humans do however know the risks of Teflon and that it can be very hard to determine if it is used in a certain type of hairdryer or not, which is why we personally just have chosen to refrain from using this method all together.

Drying: Using a (small) electric space heater

This is just a big no and for me (personally) there is no discussion possible here at all. I will elaborate (quite a bit) about why not, but if you’re not planning on using a space heater anyway with your pigeon(s) than you could skip this section entirely if you would like to.

There are people whom are (or have been) using (small) electric space heaters which they then turn on at the lowest setting so that the pigeon(s) can lay down next to them to dry up. And obviously this is done with the best intend….. But I know of several cases where it seriously impacted the health and well being of the pigeon(s). Not only because the temperature changes are very big (between being wet and ‘cold’ from the bath and then suddenly laying next to a (very) hot heater), but also because these space heaters can produce fumes which can be very harmful for us pigeons, especially if we are laying down right next to them.

Not even to mention the ones that use Teflon in them or cheap plastics which will also start to ‘off-gas’ due to getting too hot for the plastic itself.

We even know a pigeon which was so severely impacted by this that he could not even decently stand anymore after bathing and for example (almost) kept loosing his balance while trying to stand. All just because he was given a simple (innocent) space heater to help him dry after bathing. The human caregiver of the pigeon didn’t knew why these symptoms occurred (almost) every time after bathing, until my pet humans recommended that human to immediately stop using the space heater and switch to the ‘Pigeon Burrito Method’ instead.

The symptoms where immediately gone the next time after bathing, and the human and the pigeon even had a much better (and more snuggly) time together after bathing now 😊.

Disclaimer: The caregiver of this pigeon obviously did not do this on purpose, and did it with the best intend possible and with lots of love, and just wanted to help the pigeon(s) a bit after bathing. Obviously not everyone is as technical as my pet humans (whom program software and design hardware for a living), and thus such risks are not common knowledge for everyone. Especially if you also read lots of stories on the internet like: “You can just use an hairdryer for your pigeon…” without elaborating much further on it, then the link to a simple ‘innocent’ space heater can be quickly made for the ‘less technical person’. Which is why I personally though it was important enough to share this ‘extra story’ within this article to warn others for these risks of using space heaters.

Some related questions to bathing your pigeon(s)

Here I’ve put some other tips and questions you might have regarding bathing your pigeon(s).

My pigeon shakes/shivers after bathing, help!

As long as it doesn’t continue for too long after bathing and it isn’t too excessive, there is nothing to worry about. We pigeons often tend to shake/shiver a bit after bathing, this is a normal (and healthy) part of the drying process. It helps us a bit to dry our feathers (because it shakes the water out) and it also helps us maintain our body temperature (or to get it ‘back up’ again).

If your pigeon however shakes extensively after bathing, it might be (extremely) cold, and you should take extra precaution in making sure your pigeon gets it’s temperature back up as soon as possible (for example by gently wrapping it in a towel and snuggle it back to a normal temperature). You should also make sure that the bathing water wasn’t too cold for your pigeon(s), and if this was the case, you should try to avoid this at all cost the next time you bathe your pigeons.

Help! My pigeon is drinking from it’s bath while bathing!

Completely normal, and nothing to worry about actually 😊, many (if not all) pigeons do this while bathing. This is also one of the reasons why you should not use shampoo’s, soaps or other products like that while bathing your pigeon(s) (because they will ingest it). For this same reason it is also very important that if you use bathing salts (specifically for pigeons!), that it is also safe to ingest.

My pigeon keeps getting out of it’s bath when I keep putting him/her (back) in it

Well honestly? You are doing it wrong! You should NOT ‘keep putting your pigeon back in the bath’. In fact, you should not even put your pigeon in the bath at all. You should ‘invite’ or convince your pigeon into the bath on it’s own. So please scroll/swipe all the way back up, and start reading everything from the start again.

My pigeon keeps running/flying away from the spray/mist bottle, no matter how much I (keep) spraying a it.

Yet again: You are doing it wrong! Do not “keep spraying” your pigeon. If he or she does ‘run or fly away’ from the spray/mist bottle, then you should either ‘ease down’ and introduce it more slowly & gentle, or even consider that your pigeon just doesn’t like the spray/mist. It could also be that your particular spray/mist bottle “freaks out” your pigeon, try getting a different (less noisy for example) spray bottle and completely start over with introducing it.

My pigeon’s droppings (poop) is (much) more watery after bathing than usual! HELP!

This is something which can definitely happen if your pigeon has taken a bath. Simply because he or she then has taken in quite a bit of water during bathing. It could then happen that the droppings of your pigeon(s) are (quite a bit) more watery after bathing. As long as the droppings return back to normal the following hours (or no later than the next day if you bathed your pigeon near the end of the day) there is no need to worry.

If your pigeon(s) has watery or (very) slimy droppings for a longer period of time, then it most likely doesn’t have anything to do with the bathing itself. It would then be highly recommended to get the droppings checked out (tested) by a certified avian veterinarian to figure out if there is something wrong with your pigeon and if it needs medication for example.

Pigeon droppings can and will also get more watery due to stress or excitement, and if your pigeon for example gets ‘overexcited’ due to bathing, this could also be causing more watery (or wet) droppings.

I myself often have a bit more wet droppings after bathing (usually not too much of a difference compared to my normal droppings), but this is because I don’t tend to take very long baths and I don’t drink that much from the bath itself. If I however do take a longer bath and do drink quite a bit more (which does happen from time to time), then I sometimes also do have quite watery droppings after bathing for a while. Simply due to the fact that I then also have ingested (a lot) more water.