To dip, or not to dip?

[bonitabird59]

Do your birds dip their food in their water? My bird, Jello, a gcc, dips everything in his water. Pellets, nutriberries, even fresh slices of fruit. We had a 'dip bowl' next to his food bowl for a while but he ended up just using both bowls to dip his food in. I change his water dish about 20-25 times a day. He's the weirdest of weirdos.

The question is- do YOUR birds dip? do they not? only some things? tell me. I'm dying to know.

 

[wrench13]

Salty is not a dipper per se, but he likes to wash his beak off when its full of chop or blue/black berry remnants.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

LOL... Before I switched to a water bottle, my Charlie would dip EVERYTHING in his water bowl. Pellets, seeds, even toy pieces. Ye Gods, he's a weird bird, LOL!

 

[wrench13]

The answer:

Dip

 

[pebbles1553]

ohh! pebbles dipped like a bunch of her pellets is her water! but know she doesn't(rarely)anymore cuz I tricked her into not doing it! She did it today tho lol

 

[Mango the Sun Conure]

Do your birds dip their food in their water? My bird, Jello, a gcc, dips everything in his water. Pellets, nutriberries, even fresh slices of fruit. We had a 'dip bowl' next to his food bowl for a while but he ended up just using both bowls to dip his food in. I change his water dish about 20-25 times a day. He's the weirdest of weirdos.

The question is- do YOUR birds dip? do they not? only some things? tell me. I'm dying to know.

My sun conure loved to dip his chop on his water. I put bigger pieces in his chop to allow him to dip it and still grab it after he dips it. I put a dry bowl next to his chop and water. He will grab his veggies dip it in the water and the place it in the dry bowl. He then will eat it from the dry bowl. Sometimes when he is upset at me (when I’m about to leave for work) he will pick up the empty bowl and toss it on to the bottom of his cage. lol
I don’t mind him dipping his food as long as he eat his food. I’m make sure to weigh him every morning and night. Occasionally he will only dip his food and drop it on the floor which is usually his way of telling me he wants new things in his chop.

 

[Mango the Sun Conure]

Salty is not a dipper per se, but he likes to wash his beak off when it’s full of chop or blue/black berry remnants.

Mango used to wash his beak in his water bowl and I would have to change his water multiple times a day. I did not mind it I thought it was cute. Now that we formed a bond he uses me as a his personal napkin. 😂

 

[texsize]

My Cockatiels… no dip.
Bingo my YNA Big Dipper (no pun intended).
The Twins… no dip, but the water dish is at a higher level than the food dishes.
Bella my CAG I think she is a closet dipper, only when you aren’t watching.

 

[bonitabird59]

The answer:

Dip

Amazing! Also, I checked out your YouTube page and am very impressed with Salty's bone sorting skills!

 

[bonitabird59]

LOL... Before I switched to a water bottle, my Charlie would dip EVERYTHING in his water bowl. Pellets, seeds, even toy pieces. Ye Gods, he's a weird bird, LOL!

hahaha Jello dips his kabob shreds in water, swells them with water, and peels them like string cheese into wet woody globs. Icky!!

Im debating switching to a water bottle so he can always have clean drinking water available. I was trying to have a 'dip bowl' for him next to his food dish, but it just resulted in him dirtying both bowls. If you're able to link some water bottles you recommend, I would majorly appreciate it!

 

[bonitabird59]

ohh! pebbles dipped like a bunch of her pellets is her water! but know she doesn't(rarely)anymore cuz I tricked her into not doing it! She did it today tho lol

How did you trick her!? tell me your ways!!!

 

[bonitabird59]

My Cockatiels… no dip.
Bingo my YNA Big Dipper (no pun intended).
The Twins… no dip, but the water dish is at a higher level than the food dishes.
Bella my CAG I think she is a closet dipper, only when you aren’t watching.

I'm dying at 'closet dipper'. Amazing terminology! 10/10

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

hahaha Jello dips his kabob shreds in water, swells them with water, and peels them like string cheese into wet woody globs. Icky!!

Im debating switching to a water bottle so he can always have clean drinking water available. I was trying to have a 'dip bowl' for him next to his food dish, but it just resulted in him dirtying both bowls. If you're able to link some water bottles you recommend, I would majorly appreciate it!

I use the Petsmart All Living Things water bottle. Out of the 4 I had, only had problems with one. Lemmie see if I can find a link...

Nope.... there doesn't seem to be one that i have. Could have been changed or they're out of stock. Bummer The top screws off and so does the bottom. Lasts a while with my 4 brats. Just cleaning it you need a good bottle brush for it. It has a plastic snap -ring that wraps around the bottle, but i don't use it and instead use a hamster bottle wire to hang it from the side of the cage.

 

[wrench13]

If one can get their parrot to drink from a hamster type water bottle, with the tube and ball check valve, wonderful, no more "soup" in their water. However as friend Vampire says, you must use a brush to clean the inside of the bottle, and finding a thin enough special brush to get the inside of the tube itself can be a chalenge. Cleaning inside is critical, to prevent fungus and bacteria and removing the biofilm that is the precursor to those.

A trick I used on my previous parrot, Max, who was not a dipper, but a bather! He would foul his water dish almost every day. I tricked him out of the habit by bringing his water bowl right up next to the roof of his cage, just enough space for him to get his little head in there, not his whole body. A couple of years like that and he developed the habit of using the provided bathing bowl, and I was able to lower it somewhat.

 

[wrench13]

Amazing! Also, I checked out your YouTube page and am very impressed with Salty's bone sorting skills!

THank you! Salty has over 40 tricks he has learned, the bone one is just one of them. Personally I like the pulling of Kings from a deck of cards, and the stacking of kiddie blocks. He learns new tricks so quickly, I often have to invent new ones for him.

 

[TeekoGreenCheek]

Yes! Teeko dips dried berries. And also plain corn chips lol and sometimes dried bananas

 

[Rozalka]

Bourkes: not really
Zenek: yes

 

[pebbles1553]

How did you trick her!? tell me your ways!!!

well, it might work for other birds that would prefer eating soft foods, like Pebbles, so i warmed up a little water ( not hot!) and then poured it on her pellets, and she eats them without dipping. then i do that for a few days, and then one day i dont put water in her pellets, and she will think they are soft. When she bites them, they are hard, but for some reason, she doesn't notice or idk but she stopped dipping them in water after that to make them soft, and eats them hard. So, i dont think this will work for veggies and fruits, but it works well with pellets. 😊

 

[hiriki]

My lovebird is a major dipper!!! Less so now that I give my birds so much veggies--honestly I think their diet is mostly veggies at this point. But when she was mostly pellets she dipped every pellet in the water dish. I tried moving the dishes far apart and giving her a separate bowl for dipping but she made the dipping bowl disgusting and then just drank from it anyway and ignored the clean water so I scrapped that idea. She even liked to grab shreds of paper from her toys (she has a lot of toys with crinkles in them) and then roll them into little "straws," dip them in her water, and lick the water off of the paper. Like.... why?

The new flock member, Kiwi the GCC, is also a dipper, and sometimes I think he does it to spite me. He drops entire nutriberries in his water (despite my best efforts, he still doesn't really care for them, so it's like he's just using his water as a trash bin). He rinses his beak in his water dish and deposits the skin of corn kernels in there. I don't think he cares about his food being wet as much as he just likes getting the water dirty. And then when I have to scrub it for the umpteenth time in the day he likes to immediately jump in it and get his bird dust all in the the water. So rude smh.