Keeping water bowl clean

[MonicaMc]

You should just put a camera on her and record her doing it! LOL

 

[strudel]

Seriously, I don't know where all the stuff comes from. It's elevated, she's elevated, there's no bedding or anything up there. Maybe it's all her feather powder. Do cockies have that? She seems to like sitting with her feet in the bowl. If I pick her up when she's been there, she'll have wet feet....

(she PLAYED with stuff tonight. She grabbed it and everything. YAY!)

 

[Anansi]

Yup, cockatoos, tiels, and African greys all sport that trademark feather powder.

Seems to me that water just fascinates her. Finding everything she can to drop off in there, getting her feet wet... sounds like she's just having fun. What if you gave her an alternative source? Like say a shallow bath dish on the floor of her cage? Maybe she would leave her regular water dish clean if she had an even bigger water source to play with? (Of course this would hardly help with your previously stated compulsion to keep her water receptacles clean, as this would only provide a larger source of "decorated" water, but at least her water dish itself might not get quite as fouled.)

 

[strudel]

Thanks, I don't think she's playing with it. I have given her "baths" in her main cage and tried showers. She's not that keen.

I don't care so much that she's messy, just that her drinking water isn't all full of rubbish. I don't want her drinking water that will make her sick. That's where the OCD comes from... (reading this forum doesn't help, I'm terrified of every disease, every hazard)
I really don't want to put a bath in her indoor cage. It's hard enough keeping anything clean, without it getting wet as well.

 

[RavensGryf]

Early on when Robin was a little boy, he used to INSIST on sitting backwards on his food AND water dishes (like a toilet). There was no placement or anything I could do to help it. Finally, I had no choice but to buy him hooded crocks. I don't even see those anymore. That is the big thing that I think about concerning getting Robin a new cage. Most of the cages have the dish rings that fit a different size from the special hooded crocks that he unfortunately NEEDS. I know he hasn't 'grown out of' that habit. Weird bird!

Raven makes soup in his water. If I'm home I can just change it, but the days that no one is home from morning to night, it does make me cringe, but nothing I can do about it. I just clean the water bowls everyday. I'm thinking, while it's not ideal with bacteria in there, most likely it won't cause anything bad if it's changed soon as I get home.

* I have a question about the water bottles. Even though nothing can get dropped into the water, the plastic bottle inside still grows bacteria. How do you clean it out? Isn't the bottle neck narrow? I'd consider it if I knew how to easily clean it.

 

[chippy]

I change and clean the water twice a day.

 

[MonicaMc]

RavensGrif, they do make bottle brushes (akin to a toilet brush, only smaller!) so it's easier to clean the insides of the bottle. I think you can also get even smaller brushes that could fit into the spout of it, too.


Where I work at a doggie day care/boarding place there are three rooms for dogs. Each room has two stainless steel buckets. On weekdays, those buckets are exchanged out at least 10-12 times during the day. The two bigger rooms have 3 sets of buckets, totaling 6 altogether for each room. One set drying, one set in use and one getting soaked. The ones getting soaked are in some sort of sanitizing solution. I don't know where they get the stuff but it has made me wonder if it's safe for bird use. Whatever you put in it has to soak for at least 10 minutes then allowed to air dry and it's fine to use again. (doesn't really beat washing by hand, tbh! especially considering dog drool and mud...) I just haven't bothered to look into it yet.

F10 Biocare appears to be a similar product in that it is used to sanitize various things and at the recommended dilution can be used to clean dishes, then left out to dry.

http://www.f10biocare.co.uk/clinicguideline.pdf



Doing something like that might help to ensure that a water bottle with spout is kept cleaner if you can't reach all areas to ensure it's clean. However, I've never done this before so it would probably be best to look into it more before trying it.

 

[strudel]

My bunny bottles don't seem to get mucky at all, but you can put them in the dishwasher, or as mentioned, use a bottle brush in them. If they did go mouldy you might be able to soak them in Milton? I don't know, I just use white vinegar. The old fashioned way of washing bottles was to use a handful of rice in water and shake that about inside. I just run them through the dishwasher.

 

[jenphilly]

strudel has the best suggestion about vinegar. Vinegar is excellent for routine cleaning. You can use it daily to help keep it clean! If you put some in with a little hot water and shake vigorously, does a great job!

Vinegar is a great item to keep around for routine cleaning. I use it for rinsing sprouts too, excellent properties with no worries about using chemicals or anything harmful!

 

[strudel]

You can use it daily

A vet told me to add apple cider vinegar to my chook waterer to keep it from going manky (it does go manky out there in the big waterers in the heat/light). I haven't gotten around to it, I just swap out the waterers and wash them. I don't know whether other birds can drink water with vinegar in it but according to that vet, chooks can.

 

[RavensGryf]

You can use it daily

A vet told me to add apple cider vinegar to my chook waterer to keep it from going manky (it does go manky out there in the big waterers in the heat/light). I haven't gotten around to it, I just swap out the waterers and wash them. I don't know whether other birds can drink water with vinegar in it but according to that vet, chooks can.

Thanks. Yes parrots can have vinegar in water. Robin had yeast in a fecal sample and vet prescribed AC vinegar in water. He got yeast the vet said because my husband kept giving him too much bread products behind my back. Busted!

 

[thekarens]

You can use it daily

A vet told me to add apple cider vinegar to my chook waterer to keep it from going manky (it does go manky out there in the big waterers in the heat/light). I haven't gotten around to it, I just swap out the waterers and wash them. I don't know whether other birds can drink water with vinegar in it but according to that vet, chooks can.

Thanks. Yes parrots can have vinegar in water. Robin had yeast in a fecal sample and vet prescribed AC vinegar in water. He got yeast the vet said because my husband kept giving him too much bread products behind my back. Busted!

Just curious, how much AC vinegar did you add to the water?

 

[RavensGryf]

Just curious, how much AC vinegar did you add to the water?

Now I don't remember sorry Karen I know it wasn't very much.

 

[thekarens]

Just curious, how much AC vinegar did you add to the water?

Now I don't remember sorry Karen I know it wasn't very much.

No biggy, I was just curious. I wouldn't think it would be much or it would change the taste of the water.

 

[strudel]

It's not much for the chooks....

How to Use Vinegar in Poultry Water | eHow