Water Spas in the Conure's Cage

[debmorrow51]

I am a really new member to this site and hope those of you who have been at this a while can help. My husband and I have had 2 conures - a green-cheeked conure who LOVED water and played in her spa that fit in the side of her cage every day and NEVER wanted to get out of her weekly sink baths (she died after 5 years with us of what we think was a brain hemorrhage); and a "fancy" conure who HATED water, used her "spa" which we occasional tried to entice her to use as a toilet and spent her sink bath time trying to fly or climb out (she died 2 days ago of an unknown cause, very suddenly after 7 years with us). We are gong to get a yellow-sided green-cheeked conure this coming Wednesday. What is the consensus on having a water spa in the cage? Is it a good idea and should we start this very young bird out by acclimating him/her to water (taking it into the shower with us, frequent excursions into the sink, a spa in the cage, misting, etc. or should we let him/her make its own decision on water? How important is loving water? It seems to me it's a really good thing because it helps with general cleanliness and is a fun activity and can help keep him/her warm or cool (depending on the season and the temperature at which we keep the cage and water) but my husband disagrees and thinks it's just a pain to clean the spa every time the bird gets in and out of it (although the first bird NEVER defecated in her spa and played in it off and on throughout the day and we'd take it out at night and put clean water in each morning) and that the bird shouldn't get wet multiple times a day. Does anyone know, or have experience with whether one way or another is better for the bird or not? I'd like to start out doing the right thing with this conure although a water spa or not had nothing to do with either death. We are clueless as to the actual cause of either. Both were closely watched regarding only bottled water, careful with diet, exposure to toxins, etc. and regular vet visits (every 3 months). The second may have had liver disease due to having been given some cheese early on before we were told it could cause liver disease when she was 3 when we stopped. But of course, we don't know for sure. Anyway, I'd like to know what we should do about the spa. Thank you all in advance for your advice.http://www.parrotforums.com/images/parrots/green.gif

 

[SailBoat]

Sorry for your loss!

Water that sits for any extended time becomes toxic and the longer it holds water the more difficult they become for cleaning.

Forcing Parrots never seems to work! Do what you're Conure likes and enhance on it.

 

[debmorrow51]

Thank you, Sailboat! I'm inclined to put a spa in the cage and see what she does, switching it out every morning when we change the paper in bottom and generally "buttle" the cage. We brought home "Pepper," our new 10-week-old yellow-sided, green-cheeked baby yesterday and she's adorable. It was a long drive from her home in Kingsport, TN to our current RV location in IN, but she ate and slept her way through it and has spent a BUSY morning exploring her travel cage and much larger "home" cage. Eating and drinking and "beaking" everything in site. Nothing replaces Lily, but the holes in our hearts are filling.

 

[wrench13]

Same here, I am sorry to read of your losses. It really behooves you to try and get an idea of why your latest conure passed away. Some kind of congenital health issue is one thing, but if it was from a communicable disease, your newest baby could very well contract it too. Hoping that you really clean and sterilize (if possible) the cage she will be going into, same with toys or travel cage.

As far as Spas go, if you can thoroughly clean not only the bowl but the water delivery pipe or spout daily, then I dont see a issue. We have one thats really a cat water thingy, which Salty like to bathe in. We use a bottle brush, very small size, to clean out the water ;spout; in addition to the actual bowl.