Hello. Were you seeing this flaky condition prior to taking him for that bath or has it shown up since?
How confident are you that whoever did this bathing is a very competent bird groomer?
Do you know, or can you find out, what products they use on him?
Is this a recent problem for him or has he always tended to be dry and/or flaky?
Does he pluck at or chew any of his feathers?
Do you live in an area where you are running your furnace a lot lately?
Please tell me all about his normal daily diet.
I'm sure there will be things we can do for him and the more information I have, the more complete my help will be.
Thanks, Patricia
Okay, thanks. I appreciate your patience with my questions. The extra information if very helpful. First off, you will not be able to make a comparison between your two birds so far as the amount of dust/dander or really, much of anything. They are such totally different species. You will probably also notice a very distinctive body odor from the Amazon. Zons can tend to have a bit of a mucky odor, for lack of a better way to describe it, that is totally normal for them. So later on if you notice something like that, don't let it freak you out thinking there is something wrong. He is going to be more of a dust/dander bird than your Conure so a certain amount of it is to be expected. Based on that horrible diet, you are lucky he has not decided to pluck. It's great that you have him and can start improving on what he is eating. But, I urge you to pitch the over the counter stuff you are putting in his water. That is never a good idea in any case and pretty much all that junk from pet stores is a total waste of your money. Not only is it not a product their bodies can absorb, it can cause bacteria to quickly grow in the drinking water. It's always best to never give a bird anything other than plain, fresh water to drink. That also applies to those so called medications and antibiotics in pet stores. Do not be fooled. If they had one that was any good, you would not get it without a prescription and you would never foul their drinking water with it. It sounds like you are off to a great start with that improved diet, and bless his little heart that he sounds like he is willing to try new things. That is not always the case when it comes to making diet changes for a parrot, no matter how awful the previous diet may have been. I would suggest adding more of the bright orange and yellow fruits and veggies like mango, papaya, yellow squash, etc. Since you already have the Conure, I'm sure you know all about what is good for them and what is not. Also, add some leafy greens that can include endive, kale, mustard, turnip and collard greens and romaine lettuce. No ice berg and no spinach.
As for the dry skin, running a furnace, as I'm sure you know, really lowers the humidity in the house and it can seriously affect our parrots, even more than us humans. A simple way to help offset that is to put some pans of water on, or near, your heat outlet, in the rooms where he goes. Every time the heat comes on, it will be evaporating some moisture back into the air. Most parrots are comfortable in more humidity than we might realize. Since he tried to bathe in his water bowl, you might try offering him a large flat pan for a bath. My African Grey uses an over sized rectangular flat cake pan for his bath tub and it works great. He may not use it the first few times you fix it for him but don't give up. Fix his bath for him, then try running the vacuum. For reasons unknown, the sound of a vac inspires many parrots to bathe. Go figure. To help with his overall feather and skin condition, you can add 100% pure aloe juice to his bath water. Not any over the counter product. Only straight from the plant. Aloe is good for our birds and I keep several plants growing all the time, strictly for their use. Just cut an arm from the plant, slit it open and stir the gooey center into the bath water. You can also use it straight, rubbing it into dry, scaly legs and feet. Just don't let them have access to the rind portion as that can cause upset stomach. (This also applies to your Conure.) Here is some more information on the benefits of aloe for our birds. Click here: Aloe: Parrot Pharmacy In A Leaf
Click here: Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Kitchen Physician V - Herbal Remedies For Parrots and Pet Birds
Considering his history and that he is not plucking, I would not get overly concerned at this point, about the skin situation but I also would not take him back for a bath unless you can find out what, if any products they are putting on him. We always have to keep in mind that whatever goes on our bird's feathers ends up being ingested as soon as they preen. I would not allow anything on my flock other than water and the aloe. I think you just need to give the improved diet a chance to start working for him, while keeping the humidity up and try convincing him to take his own bath every now and then. I hope all this will help you out but if you have any more questions at all, about anything, just let me know. It sounds like the little guy really deserves a break and I want to help you make him as happy as possible. Best of luck with him. Patricia
Parrot Consultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.