A Water Bottle For Your Bird?

[Lisa B]

A Water Bottle For Your Bird

Article written by : Emily

Are you considering buying a water bottle for your bird, but don't know what to look for? When buying a bottle for a parrot, you must consider the following:
- durability
- safety
- ease of use
- size

The size of the bottle is very important- consider the size of the bird, size of the beak, in comparison to the size of the bottle and spout. You don't want to spend twenty or more dollars on a bottle that you later find out to be suited for a canary, when your bird is an amazon! You also want to consider what the bottle is made of. The cheaper alternatives are made of plastic in varying ranges of thickness. While plastic bottles may be OK for smaller birds, birds with larger beaks are more apt to do serious damage to the bottle. Look into the heavy duty glass bottles (that normally resemble old milk bottles) for birds larger then a budgie.

You also want to make sure that the spout is made of a bird safe material. Some of the cheaper bottles are plastic spouts, and something you do not want to risk is your bird being able to bite right through the spout and flooding its cage. Look for bottles that are outfitted with stainless steel spouts.

Is the bottle easy to use? Some bottles appear to be ok, but then the ball sticks or is hard to manipulate within the spout, restrcting water flow. Other bottles may be easy for the bird to use, but hard for the human to change out on a daily basis. Even though the water bottle holds more then your average water dish, you want to make sure to change out the water on a daily basis, so considering ease of use from the humans point of view is beneficial.

There are many brands of bottles to choose from, everything from Oasis brand water bottles, to Lixit. Lixit are the most popular brand, and for good reason. Their water bottles come outfitted with stainless steel trappings, and the bottles are heavy glass that will stand up to a lot of 'beaking'. My birds each have a glass Lixit bottle and I am very pleased with them- they are easy to clean, stand up well to large beaks, and do not leak. Lixit also offers an interesting alternative to purchasing their bottle kits- they sell the bottle heads/spouts that fit in any standard size glass bottle (such as a snapple bottle), so that you can make your own waterbottles for a cheaper price.

Even if your bird has a water bottle as its source of water, also considering giving your bird the traditional bowl as well. Since many birds are natural 'soup makers', giving them an outlet to dunk their food will prevent attempted 'dunkings' in the spout of the bottle. There are also some species that 'backwash' for sanitary reasons, like amazons, so having an open source of water like a bowl is important. I personally use both water bowls and dishes. I've found that my birds enjoy drinking out of the bottles, and will dunk their food in the bowls but then go to the bottle to actually drink from. Please remember to carry out the same sanitary precautions with a water bottle as you would a bowl.

[BirdCurious]

I really like the Lixit bottles and have found them to be easy to introduce to our birds. Especially with the summer warmth I want them to have a clean source of water if they make "soup" in their bowls.

[doubleyolk]

Water bottles are for rodents.JMHO

There are too many things that can go wrong with water bottles and my parrots couldn't make a mess when I started the vac if I used them.

[BIRDSITTER]

I Use The Water Bottles With All My Birds I Like Them Because When I Was Working I Knew They Would Always Have Water In The Hot Summer Days But You Should Always Check Them For Water Because Some Of My Birds Know When They Push The Little Ball Up They Get The Water And Some Will Keep Pushing It To Get Wet And Kinda Take A Bath I Think It"s A Good Idea To Put A Water Bowl In Again In The Cage Which I Will Do Again Thank You For That Idea {birdsitter} Rick

[BirdCurious]

What goes wrong with them?

[doubleyolk]

Originally Posted by BirdCurious

What goes wrong with them?

I feel that the tube is hard to clean thoroughly,ball can jam and drain. The larger parrots think it's a play toy and bend the mounting brackets so it drops off the cage. I feel much safer using bowls and fresh water 2-3 times a day. I also understand that for many people they work fine.

[Jay]

i have to say i use bowls, too afriad that a) Zuppys too silly to realise what its for. (yes that is something he would do) and B) that they would get stuck and i wouldnt realise it

[DynamitePsycho]

I use a bottle and a bowl for Ziggy. With my husband and I both active duty, we can be easily gone all day. So, the bowl is there to bathe and maybe drink out of, and the bottle is there so he always has clean water to drink. Before bringing him to my parents he knew how to use it...I think he's forgotten now.

[choppersmom]

I use a lixit water bottle in my outdoor aviary....the birds enjoy using it and took to it quickly. I use bowls, though,inside.

[my-africangrey-echo]

How do you go about teaching them it's a water source if they never had one. I might consider adding one. I know it would stay cleaner then his water/soup/bath bowl does!