Help needed not drinking water...

Hello, I have notice that my B&G is not drinking her water. I give her fresh water in the morning when i am feeding him. Then again when i get home 8 hrs later during feeding time and again when i cage her for the night. I have a mark on the water bowl and almost never below the line.Is there anything that would help?

This is 100% normal. Parrots would not drink enough water for you to notice the level going down, they are too small of creatures. The only way you'd see a birds water level drop after 8 hours is evaporation or they took a bath/played in the dish. Most only dip their beak in their dish a couple times a day for a drink and they don't ingest a whole lot at a time. As prey animals, they also tend to drink when no one is watching. Getting eaten at the waterhole is an instinctual fear and they tend not to like an audience. Our bird will stop drinking if noticed and head for the highest perch. Parrots naturally meet most of their moisture needs through diet (moisture rich fruits), not open water sources. Birds who eat only pellets may have increased thirst, as they don't get moisture from their diet, but I still doubt it would be a perceivable amount lower nor is having a low moisture diet healthy or natural for a bird anyways.

Thank you that makes my heart feel better that its normal... My poor girl has been re-homed several times until now. She is 45 years old the vet told me.She has stolen mine and wife's heart.

I agree with Kiwibird but if you are still concerned, give him some juicy fruit. When I travel with Nike I usually give her apples or the like rather than spilling water all over.

Bossy2018 said:

Thank you that makes my heart feel better that its normal... My poor girl has been re-homed several times until now. She is 45 years old the vet told me.She has stolen mine and wife's heart.

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Sadly, most parrots end up passed from home to home. I'm glad she's found somewhere that loves and appreciates her. Older birds can still learn and still have a lot of love and joy to give. And being a macaw, 45 is 'middle aged', not even remotely near the end of her lifespan so you should have plenty more years to spend enjoying her.

I have also heard of serving coconut water, apple/orange juice, and herbal tea to entice them to drink fluids.

I agree, it would be extremely difficult to see the water-level drop in her bowl in 8 hours...And if you are feeding her a lot of fresh veggies and fruit every day, then she's getting hydration from them...

However, if you don't feed her a lot of fresh veggies or fruit every day, or any (which you should every day anyway), and you haven't ever actually seen her visibly take a drink of water either, then it may be worth a trip to your Certified Avian Vet, especially if this all is coupled with any lethargy, excess sleeping, excess feather fluffing, or her appetite also declining or stopping. It's always better to err on the side of caution with birds, however, if this is simply based on you not seeing the water line on the bowl drop within 8 hours time, then that's most-likely not a problem...

Well, normally it's hard to notice that water level is going down because they don't drink that much. The best indicator is seeing food in the bowl. Mine actually drinks a lot of water while eating, so I typically have to replace the water in her two dishes twice daily (I don't like seeing food particles in there).

If you don't see any food in there, then yeah.. I can see how you would be concerned. Is her water dish close to her food dish? Mine likes to dip her food in the water dish and make it look like a soup.

Now, my bird is crazy about papaya/pineapple chunks that come in some bird food, so I began buying her these treats that I'll post a link to below. She eats only 2 or 3 or 4 of these things each night after her big meal, but it's quite a must at this point. If you taste them, they're really sweet, so I assume this is a desert for her. Anyway, I hold the water dish for her and watch her eat, but point is that she will take like 5 or 6 sips of water for each of those chunks to soften them up. You may want to try that.

Also, do you use tap water? Because my tap water sucks. It often smells with chlorine and all that. I buy cases of Poland Spring water for myself, so that's what my bird gets.

Let me add that what has also happened recently is that right when she is at her sleeping spot and is ready to go to sleep, she waits for me to bring her a water dish and takes another 5-10 sips of water. So yeah, mine drinks a lot.

Make sure her water dish is close to her food dish and look for food particles in there. If she really doesn't drink any water, I'd take her in for a blood test just to make sure things are OK.

https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/real-rewards-tropical-mix/large-birds/

I was reading this just after I fished Sunny out of my glass of juice (passionfruit something / mostly orange juice anyway).
Just like every morning when she insist on almost going snorkling in my morning tea there is a lot of slobbering noise (she is female but not a lady!) but not really much fluid seems to go missing.
(if she doesn't knock anything over that is)

Fun to read about the evening drink- that happens here as well (though I do not hold the bowl for her)-- when she is ready to settle down there is a last pass through the foodbowl (she insist on pellets for dinner/ after she plundered mine of course ) and a hearthy slobber-session.
That is the only time during the day I spot her drinking in her cage.

(Of course she always drinks her fill in the shower as well -- I'm afraid she really is part duck! )

45 is a wonderfull age to find a good home!
(tell her/him that)
Don't worry about the drinking - if they suddenly start drinking lots and lots is when you should be panicking

Bossy does like her apples.. Thank you for the ones that commented my mind is at rest.

Christa - What kind of tea, decaffeinated? I know that caffeine is bad for birds.

They are sneaky drinkers. It is often hard to catch them in the act. I have read that the liquid (urine) portion of their poop often appears yellow when dry if the bird is fairly dehydrated.
As a paranoid "parront" I often give my bird wet foods and lots of fruit/veg to ensure hydration.


I also "bathe" mine because she drinks her bathwater...now, that is nasty and probably a bit sketchy but again, when push comes to shove, a pie-plate (not metal) in the bottom of the cage can serve as a bath/drinking source...Pull it out as soon as it gets nasty and don't leave the bird unsupervised with it.



Babyfood (without sodium, citric acid, dairy or avocado) can be helpful. Also things like plain oatmeal with fruit (banana etc) mixed in...Even pasta (plain, unsalted, unfortified)..They also sell "quick soak" foods that are wet. You just have to be very careful about letting them sit, as they become breeding grounds faster than dry food. One word of caution- I have also been told that if a bird is hormonal, warm wet foods can increase undesired behaviors in that department, as they are similar to regurgitated food....lol



Some people would suggest sweetening water but I have reservations about that due to bacteria and sugar content (don't use honey because I have also read that it can contain harmful bacteria...not sure, but better safe than sorry).

ChrisYNA said:

Christa - What kind of tea, decaffeinated? I know that caffeine is bad for birds.

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Actually it varries, I drink herbal as wel as 'dirty chai' (which has more cafeine than regular coffee) but with boatloads of goatmilk in the latter.
I measured it to find out if she just played with it or actually drank the stuf - and since it is *so* minimal I stopped worrying about it.

(I know parrots are lactose intolerant, so had a few sleepless night about that one too! I really cant get used to almond-milk and soy makes me gag, sorry, not after almost half a century of 'the real deal')

In "the olden days" parrots got cold coffee instead of drinking water to prevent or cure intestinal upsets ... and lived to ripe old ages.
(Probably despite it instead of because of it )

So I do not think a sip or two of diluted tea will harm her - and it certainly is one of her favorite things to do in the morning and helps us bond.
So the good far outweighs the bad.

(Herbal is better for me too, but you know...sometimes you really need cafeine to keep going...:01: )

It's like: does she get to sip/ drink juiche?
Lots of natural sugars in it, but... natural, fresly squeezed ... enhancing experience...fun... still too many sugars?

Like they always say around here:
"too much of anything is always a bad thing"

ChristaNL said:

(I know parrots are lactose intolerant, so had a few sleepless night about that one too! I really cant get used to almond-milk and soy makes me gag, sorry, not after almost half a century of 'the real deal')

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Yeah, they're technically lactose intolerant, but at smaller amounts it seems fine. Some vets will even recommend a bit of cheese for the calcium. Mine is NUTS about Swiss Cheese, so I give her 1/4 of a slice once a week (sometimes twice but I try to limit it to once). She loves it so much that I have to make my sandwiches without her in the kitchen because the moment she sees the plastic deli bag with cheese inside, she begins to pace back and forth and then jumps on me to get some. Just crazy about Swiss. From what I understand, the bad signs (from too much) to look for are either diarrhea or constipation, but if that doesn't happen then some cheese is fine. Again, I limit it due to the fat content alone, but I think a bit now and then can actually be beneficial (strong bones, egg-laying) .

The ONLY time i ever see Salty actually drink water is after our nightly training session. He get deposited back on his outside boing, and I get his water dish and offer it up to him. He usually takes 3-5 sips of water and then politely pushes it away from him. I never see him drink any other time, though I am sure he must.

Why don't you guys (who are wondering) just watch while your bird eats and see if he or she drinks water. My bird usually goes where I go and, since I don't ever lock her cage, she's free to roam. She'll eat in the kitchen too or wherever else. Even if she's eating in her cage (her main meal), I'll often bring my own food to that room and eat with the bird. A parrot really is a companion pet.

Good observation about a bird being dehydrated and one of the many ways to tell...The "urate" portion of their droppings, or the white portion of their droppings, is the equivalent to our urine. When they take-in large amounts of excess fluids they also simply pass clear fluid along with their droppings, but regularly the white, urate portion of their droppings is the equivalent to their urine...And if their urates ever appear to be yellowish in-color, this is a definite indication that they are dehydrated...And if their urates ever appear orange or pink in-color, this is an indication that there is an excess amount of Calcium being excreted by their body, which can be indicative of several different, serious health issues. Just an FYI...