A POLL : Water Bottle or Bowl ?

[GW.Joe]

Hi Everyone!

So years ago I taught my Zon to use a large glass water bottle (like for rabbits, rats etc) instead of a bowl
I also taught a Ringneck and Plett to do it (its very funny watching their tongue tap it over and over for water )

I think the water stays cleaner and they seem to drink more

Any thoughts? do some of you use a water bottle for your bird also?

Joe

 

[DanR]

I use a bowl... don't want Tango mad at me for taking away his ability to make soup

 

[JerseyWendy]

Bowls here, too. I tried getting my major soup maker (aka Ripley) to drink from an expensive Lixit bottle, and within less than 30 minutes he broke it. :54: Chew-proof my butt. Ripley is quite resourceful. :32:

Joe, I added the poll to your thread.

 

[Kalidasa]

Bowls also. I've always been worried that they would somehow get the ball-bearing out of the tube and swallow it.

 

[Terry57]

Bowls here as well.Half of my guys end up taking a bath in their bowl at some point in the day.

 

[labell]

I am not a fan of bottles I just feel that you can never get them clean enough with all those tight spaces between the ball and the metal. I change water at least twice a day here sometimes more if some one makes soup but none of mine do that often. Harley will dunk her dried fruit in the water then eat it but she doesn't actually drop it in she just dips it.

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm with Iabell here!!! I can NEVER get them clean enough. Food particles still gets in there believe it or not. I used to use water bottles since I had so many when I bred. I ended up ditching the bottles realizing how nasty they were and switched back to bowls. At least I can scrub the nic and crannys......

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm all for using water bottles, if you still clean them daily and the birds don't try "dunking" their food in the spout of the water bottle!

Myself though? I use bowls. I, too, wouldn't feel as if I could get the water bottles cleaned enough that bacteria or mold wouldn't grow in the spout.... although I'm sure that if I had extra water bottles (i.e. a minimum of 2 per cage, 1 in use at all times) and I soaked them in a cleaning solution, it wouldn't be so bad!

 

[mtdoramike]

I use bowls mainly because my birds loved to bathe in them as well.

 

[thekarens]

Bowl because to me it's more natural and I personally think birds prefer a bowl, though I don't think there's anything wrong with using bottles. Then there's the whole cleaning issue....bowls are easier.

 

[GW.Joe]

WOW, that is some amazing info, I didn't think of the bird chewing the ball out

Guess the bottle is out for my forth coming GW .....LOL

My dishwasher does seem to blast them clean enough though, I run it once with soap and then again with no soap to make sure it is rinsed well
(if anyone wants to use them for smaller less powerful birds)

And I do keep a bowl with clean water in for "bathing" and "souping" LOL
I found that my Zon would "mess up" his water bowl and then drink from his bottle

That was Fun, thanks everyone!!

Joe

 

[RavensGryf]

I've never used a bottle, but my concern would be the cleaning issue like others have expressed. Not only on the metal parts, but the inside of the bottle would grow a bacterial film after a while I would think, and I don't see how a bottlebrush can clean every inch of it in there. It works out well for many though.

 

[cnyguy]

At the suggestion of his avian vet, I got Ralph a water bottle. He reacted to it as if it were the biggest danger to parrot life everywhere. :11: He wouldn't go anywhere near it and gave the Quaker alarm call until I took the bottle away-- and that was the end of that experiment.

 

[Treehgr]

i actually have both for most of my flock. The eclectus uses his bowl of water as a toy, he dunks all of the foot toys in it, i think is challenging himself to see how many will fit in it. I fill my bottles only about 1/3 of the way so if forces me to clean them every other day. My babies like making soup too much to take the bowls away.

 

[Kinny]

Bowls all the way! All my birds love to have baths in their water bowls, for my Kakarikis i give them a normal size drinking water bowl, and then a bigger bowl for baths.. but of course they use both. Just seems more natural to have bowls, and I'd feel too mean taking their source of enjoyment away lol. But if your bird enjoys the water bottle, and it's not posing any danger, why not..?

 

[RavensGryf]

Since Robin is a weird bird, he has been using the ceramic hooded crocks (I don't see them in stores anymore). Early on I noticed he would refuse to stop sitting backwards in his food/water bowls and using them like a toilet constantly. Not just occasionally which I think is normal, but all the time. I HATE these bowls, but I feel I have no choice. Harder to clean, and you have to pick them up and take them out to see what is in bowl. Nearly 20 years I've been putting up with this, but as much as I'd like to try regular bowls again, I hesitate for fear he'd end up doing the same thing. I've never had a bird (nor heard of another one) that had this problem.

So, for my weirdo Robin, not just bowls... It's these stupid HOODED bowls!!

 

[Eugooglizer]

Bowls here also. But I do have a water bottle that I plan on adding to the cage soon just to see how he reacts to it. I'd like for him to at least learn how to use a water bottle since there might be specific situations where it would be more practical to use one than a bowl, but he'll continue to have access to both in his cage.

 

[Kiwibird]

Bowl. I don't think Kiwi would "get" the concept of a bottle, plus how would he take his afternoon baths? His dish never gets *that* dirty for me to be concerned anyways. I wash his dish every day and position his perches so that it is out of the "line of fire" so to speak. He gets cooked food and fresh produce, so he doesn't have to dunk his food in the water, as it is already moist. So long as there isn't poop or food that can spoil in there, I don't worry about feathers or seed husks. The only food he dunks are dry foods, like cereal or crackers (which are rare TREATS), to soften them up, which he does NOT get often enough for it to matter. Just an observation, but the worst water-foulers seem to be birds who get pellets and are smart enough to figure out how to soften them up in the water bowl or ones who's perches are directly above their water dish so they poop in it.

 

[Mekaisto]

Bowl here, but only because I've never tried a water bottle before

I think it might be hard finding one that's 'too proof, they'd probably knock it onto the floor and shatter it.

 

[LoriP]

Both. Snoopy has a bowl on her playtop -- mostly for dunking her pellets and toys in -- and a bottle in her cage. I clean the bottle by soaking it in white vinegar, which I understand is a pretty good disinfectant without being toxic. I also add a couple of drops of raw organic ACV to her water to inhibit bacteria growth.