Opening mouth while bathing?

(I hope this is the right forum for asking a question about pigeon behavior...)

I notice that when Southy, my companion pigeon, takes a bath, he will sometimes slightly open his beak for a brief time (no more than a minute), then close it. He tends to do this between splashes, when he is sitting still in the water, and his eyes look very "happy" or even playful, if that makes any sense.
During today's bath, Southy opened his mouth and his tongue seemed to be sliding forward and backward a little inside his mouth, almost like a dog panting. I usually use lukewarm water, like what I would use in a bath, and because it's been warmer these days, the water was about room temperature. From what I understand, it doesn't seem that Southy can be overheated or that the water's too warm, and he seems to really enjoy his baths. He also opens his mouth wide and cocks his head back from time to time, which I've discovered is the way that pigeons yawn (very ostentatious!)
So I'm wondering if anyone else has a companion pigeon that opens his/her beak while bathing; if so, do you know why pigeons do this?
Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan,
I don't think Southy's beak being open briefly while bathing is a concern.
If he was showing signs of distress or doing it for long periods of time, that would be another issue.

I use room temperature water for my guys and they do fine. Even in the summer when the temp reach 110+ I use room temperature water.

If you are able to get any pictures of Southy bathing we'd love for you to post them. :Yes:

Fancyfeathers wrote:

Hi Dan,
I don't think Southy's beak being open briefly while bathing is a concern.
If he was showing signs of distress or doing it for long periods of time, that would be another issue.

I use room temperature water for my guys and they do fine. Even in the summer when the temp reach 110+ I use room temperature water.

If you are able to get any pictures of Southy bathing we'd love for you to post them. :Yes:

Thanks for the feedback, Fancyfeathers, and for the advice about water temperature. I'll stick with room temperature. And I'll try to post some pictures soon. He's adorable in his bath!

feathers111 wrote:

Fancyfeathers wrote:

Hi Dan,
I don't think Southy's beak being open briefly while bathing is a concern.
If he was showing signs of distress or doing it for long periods of time, that would be another issue.

I use room temperature water for my guys and they do fine. Even in the summer when the temp reach 110+ I use room temperature water.

If you are able to get any pictures of Southy bathing we'd love for you to post them. :Yes:

Thanks for the feedback, Fancyfeathers, and for the advice about water temperature. I'll stick with room temperature.

And I'll try to post some pictures soon. He's adorable in his bath!

That would be super. Can't get much cuter than pigeons bathing.
I've got some recent 'pijjie bathing' photos I've been meaning to post.
We will be looking forward to seeing Southy in the bath tub.

I love watching them bathe. It would be cute if you could get a picture of him in the bath opening his beak like that.