Water Bottles

[Booda's Butt]

Hi again,

I was wondering if anyone uses water bottles with their lovies in addition to, or instead of a water dish? I have a Water Buddy for my Sennie, and both him and I love it - he has great fun trying to attack the crap out of it, and getting wet in the process! I recently decided to get our Quaker a Lixit one to try out, she doesn't chew quite as much or as aggressively as Booda, so I was thinking the ball style bottle would be ok with her, and so far, it is.

I'm wondering if anyone has had sucess with using water bottles with their Lovies? which work best?

[Janie]

Karin, I have a Lixit in the cage for Big Boi and Shy. They were weaned to a water bottle so it was a no brainer for me. Oliver never used one and at his age, I wouldn't even think of trying to get him to make the switch. I have no idea how easy it is to switch them from water cups to water bottles but I'm sure it is important to watch carefully, if you decide to use one, to be sure the bird understands what it is and uses it. :)

[Angelwing]

Personally, if I were to keep a water bottle in the cage, I'd also have a regular dish filled with water, like I do now. Moreso a saftey precaution, I suppose. It'd make me feel better, at least.

[Keltoth]

I have Lixit bottles in all of my cages, but I also keep open water in the cages, too. The open water is more for bathing than anything else - if the birds want to drink it as well, all fine and good, and if they make it too foul to drink before I get a chance to change it, they still have clean, uncontaminated water in their Lixit's. Even my birds that did not originally know what a water bottle was use it regularly at this point, and the parent birds have even shown the babies how to use it (although I think the chicks like playing with the little ball-bearing more than simply taking a drink).

-Eric

[Janie]

I should have added that I also keep a large bowl of water in their cage.....for bathing but also just to be sure that they always have water. And, every time I walk by the cage, I "tap" on the water bottle to be sure it's flowing. About 50 times a day, :lol

[Paulette]

Hi Karin.....I switched my flock over to water bottles this summer because I got tired of changing the water twice or more every day....and love it.....I truely believe all animals can smell water and will use the bottle....I've had no problem getting them to know where the water is, but to be on the safe side I did install water bottles and keep water in a food cup for a couple of weeks before I took away the water cup which is now an extra food cup for zupreem pellets.....I also serve water in a bowl as a bath occasionally....I've quit doing it every day.....but now I have birds on eggs and I recently read how important it is for them to have adequate moisture so the chicks can hatch.....so I either serve those birds with eggs bath bowls or spritz them with water when they come out of the nest box and am having good success.

In addition, a couple of months ago I was doing some research on English Budgies and visited a site where a lady was telling her daily care and what she feeds her birds.....she put one drop of bleach for every ounce of water in her water bottles......I have been doing this for about 2 months.....it eliminates bacteria and for her it was a deterant for bad health issues. Some here have discussed putting Apple Cider Vinegar in the drinking water as well as Grapefruit Seed Extract but I don't remember the ratios. I'm sure you will get some more good replies....this topic always brings good discussion.

I have noticed that my birds with chicks have been drinking much more water than those without.

[Janie]

...she put one drop of bleach for every ounce of water in her water bottles..

Paulette, you're saying that you put one drop of bleach in the water that they drink????? I had no idea you could do that! I use the GSE but have not added it to their water, just as a rinse. The directions for humans say about 8 drops per 8 ounces of water but I'm not sure if that would be the same for our birds. I think Lori does put a few drops of the GSE in her birds drinking cups.

Anyway, bleach in drinking water? Who would have ever thunk it! :D

[shylevon]

If you do try to convert your birdies to a water bottle, put the full bottle over a normal waterdish with about 1/2 inch of water in it. When the birdie tries to drink from the dish, the water nozzle will trickle a tiny bit of water down it's face, and it will lick the water nozzle out of curiosity.

Birdie will be converted within about three days (or usually less), so leave the 1/2 inch of water on the bottom of the normal dish for at least that long. Thereafter, I leave an empty dish under the water bottle to catch any drips. Sometimes birdies will stuff things up the nozzle and the water will stop flowing. Or... sometimes all the water may flow out unchecked. If you have an empty dish under the bottle nozzle, birdie will still have water in the event of a bottle dump.

Waterbottles are great at keeping poopins out of the drinking water. Don't let the store staff sell you a great big bottle suggesting that you only need to clean it every week or so. Waterbottles need to be cleaned daily with a brush to eliminate the buildup of bio-film and other bacteria. I use a toothbrush that I purchased new, for just this purpose. (Don't use a toothbrush that has been in your mouth, as saliva is deadly to birdies) Clean the bottle with hot water and vinegar or GSE. Don't use detergent on plastic bottles, as the plastic will absorb the ingredients of the soap and the water will soon taste foul.

Small bottles are best to show the changes in water levels. You will be able to tell at a glance if the water has stopped flowing or the bottle has emptied. Large bottles don't show the variances in water level as well.

[jknezek]

I use GSE in all my bird's water, from my lovebirds to my ekkie. I use 3 drops per dish for the lovebirds and 4 for my ekkie (his bowl is bigger...). I don't measure out the water, but I think I did the first couple of times. Unlike humans, my birds don't drink all their water before I dump it, so I figured using the same ratio was fine. As for the bleach, you can definitely use it in drinking water. Ask us hurricane survivors that were under boil water orders for a week or more! How can you boil water if you can't use your stove? You can't, so you add some bleach to the water and then just make sure that it sits out for a while (a half hour) and then it's safe to drink. You learn so many things when the power goes out....

[Paulette]

I use a toothbrush that I purchased new, for just this purpose. (Don't use a toothbrush that has been in your mouth, as saliva is deadly to birdies)

Ummmm.....Shy you forgot to mention this last time we discussed water bottles....the toothbrush I use has been used on many things, including my mouth.....but it's also been run through the dishwasher many times...so I hope it's ok.....nobirdie has died yet.

Janie....I wish I could find that site again....I should have printed it, but I thought I could get back to it.....I've tried with no luck.....just stumbled onto it one day while surfing.

[Booda's Butt]

My Sennie no longer has a water dish in his cage, and hasn't for about almost two years since he's had his Water Buddy. The quaker still does have a shallow dish under her water bottle, just to make sure since she's only had hers a couple weeks.

Since I've only used the Lixit ball bearing style water bottle for a little bit, I haven't had problems with it yet, but have heard that some smart butt birdies have done things like shoving pellets into the tips so that the water just drains alllll out in 4 minute, etc. Anyone have problems with things of that nature??

Knowing how my Sennie was, that's why I chose to go with the Stainless Steel tipped Water Buddy for him instead, and really, I'm glad. The way he attacks that thing, I swear I would probably have gone through 2 or 3 of the Lixit ones!

I'd also love to hear more about putting Bleach and other things into the water, this is completely safe? and what is GSE??

My two lovies are complete monsters, I would literally have to change their water dish out at least 4-5 times a day if I wanted the peace of mind that they aren't going to get bacteria or yeast infections from the poopy water!

[Janie]

but have heard that some smart butt birdies have done things like shoving pellets into the tips so that the water just drains alllll out in 4 minute, etc. Anyone have problems with things of that nature??

I'm sorry that wasn't clear, Karin. Yes, they can push seeds and pellets into the opening and that is why I mentioned that I "tap" the bottle when I walk by the cage, just to be sure it's flowing and not clogged by a seed. I've never had a problem with that but as we all know, lovies do new things every day. :D

GSE is Grapefruit Seed Extract and usually found in a good health food store. Lori did give us an on line link for it but it's in an older post and I don't know where to find it.

Jeremy, thanks for the ratio info. I'll do that....add 3 or 4 drops in their 16 oz bottle which I only fill half way.

[shylevon]

Chlorine is added to all tap water as a bacteria killer. Pure bleach is deadly to birdies, so be sure you dilute it heavily. If you are still concerned about the bleach you've added having negative health impacts, leave the bleached water in the fridge for several hours. The chlorine in the bleach will dissipate and the de-germed water will be totally safe for fids.

[Booda's Butt]

It's not so much the Chlorine in Bleach I'm worried about, I'm thinking about how I've read and studied in Chem classes that the common process used to make bleach typically leaves trace amounts of Mercury in the final Sodium Hydroxide solution (which then mixes with the Chlorine gas to make sodium hypochlorite, bleach's main ingredient).

I just looked up Mercury-Free bleach, and while it does exist - how do you know for sure whether the Bleach you are using is made via other methods and therefore Mercury free?? I found three companies that make Mercury-Free:

James Austin Co.'s "A-1 Bleach",
Spectrowax's "Elite Bleach"
and Fisher Scientific makes one as well (mostly for Lab use).

so that leaves all the common household brands unknown? Or perhaps the Mercury is so trace that it's completely negligible? I know Mercury, Cadmium, and Zinc, are all heavy metals that are toxic to birds, and have similiar symptoms and diagnosis as Lead - but I'm not exactly sure how MUCH it takes for each to bring about any damage?