Water Bottles - Read This Before You Get One!

[Kevin]

A Water Bottle For Your Bird

Article: FreedomFlight

Are you considering buying a water bottle for your bird, but don't know what to look for? When buying a bottle for a parrot, you must consider the following:
- durability
- safety
- ease of use
- size

The size of the bottle is very important- consider the size of the bird, size of the beak, in comparison to the size of the bottle and spout. You don't want to spend twenty or more dollars on a bottle that you later find out to be suited for a canary, when your bird is an amazon! You also want to consider what the bottle is made of. The cheaper alternatives are made of plastic in varying ranges of thickness. While plastic bottles may be OK for smaller birds, birds with larger beaks are more apt to do serious damage to the bottle. Look into the heavy duty glass bottles (that normally resemble old milk bottles) for birds larger then a budgie.

You also want to make sure that the spout is made of a bird safe material. Some of the cheaper bottles are plastic spouts, and something you do not want to risk is your bird being able to bite right through the spout and flooding its cage. Look for bottles that are outfitted with stainless steel spouts.

Is the bottle easy to use? Some bottles appear to be ok, but then the ball sticks or is hard to manipulate within the spout, restrcting water flow. Other bottles may be easy for the bird to use, but hard for the human to change out on a daily basis. Even though the water bottle holds more then your average water dish, you want to make sure to change out the water on a daily basis, so considering ease of use from the humans point of view is beneficial.

There are many brands of bottles to choose from, everything from Oasis brand water bottles, to Lixit. Lixit are the most popular brand, and for good reason. Their water bottles come outfitted with stainless steel trappings, and the bottles are heavy glass that will stand up to a lot of 'beaking'. My birds each have a glass Lixit bottle and I am very pleased with them- they are easy to clean, stand up well to large beaks, and do not leak. Lixit also offers an interesting alternative to purchasing their bottle kits- they sell the bottle heads/spouts that fit in any standard size glass bottle (such as a snapple bottle), so that you can make your own waterbottles for a cheaper price.

Even if your bird has a water bottle as its source of water, also considering giving your bird the traditional bowl as well. Since many birds are natural 'soup makers', giving them an outlet to dunk their food will prevent attempted 'dunkings' in the spout of the bottle. There are also some species that 'backwash' for sanitary reasons, like amazons, so having an open source of water like a bowl is important. I personally use both water bowls and dishes. I've found that my birds enjoy drinking out of the bottles, and will dunk their food in the bowls but then go to the bottle to actually drink from. Please remember to carry out the same sanitary precautions with a water bottle as you would a bowl.

[hollyhawkz]

Wawa has a water dish as well but I always find food or toys in there. LOL He needs a bottle for fresh water source.

We went through many crappy type ones... Wawa would get them off the cage, or the ball would stick! A big 911 or I just didn't like them being plastic. He broke one plastic one by working it out of the two springs I had on it and dropping it to the floor. Or they would drip/leak.

I found the best bottle in the critter section. It is called a "super pet" but I can't remember the make..sorry. Pic attached - by the way, that is a little floating ducky in there ... too cute



Here are the perks:

* The spout is stainless steel with stainless steel trappings. It has a nice full size caliber and it does not stick!
* It has a hanger to set the bottle and it has a spring to clip on the cage
* Even better there is an indent in the glass bottle that the spring fits tightly into, holding the bottle against the cage!
* And the bottle is flat on the side where it snuggly fits onto the cage
* It is thick solid glass, near impossible to break you would have to throw it (I dropped ours on a hardwood floor & nothing)
* It is not small
* It is really easy to slide in and out of the spring!
* It was $10.00

It is the best bottle I have used over the past year!!!!!

[Lori~D]

Thats Funny Hollyhawk. I have many different kinds and thats the one I hate the most,lol. I just really hate the lid and spout set up. It gets hard to work with as it gets older and worn. My Favorite is the Water Buddy and the Lixit both with stems instead of balls. I have So little trouble with them. BUT they are plastic and get chewed. If we can get one with a stem and GLASS Id be happy dappy. They dont work with a vaccum so they dont ever leak unless they are broken. The bird doesnt have to "work" them to get a drink. They just stick the tip of the beak in (or some hook it with the bottom) and the water flows out. I will never go back to ball type water bottles. Oh and they do not drip at all even in the car on trips

[amanda143]

I just bought 10 water bottles on ebay and am already disappointed. The packaging says they are plastic but when I opened it, one was broken and it was clearly glass. My larger birds could probably shatter it. :/ They are "nice" bottles, luckily I didn't pay too much for them.

[ndeben]

I have often wondered about the type of water bottle that has valve,(bird butler) does any one use them.. I have the Lixit and one other one (dont remember the name,but it is the same ball design), the lixit, my love birds empty every day playing with it.

[SallyQZ]

I've used the Bird Butler for about 5 yrs and I love it! It's sturdy and well made, and I've never had any problems with the valve sticking or anything. However, once we moved to California, our water is so bad (hard water, lots of chemicals in it too) that I started getting some hard water scales on the spout.

I switched the birds to bottled water only and bought 2 new Bird Butlers. Tonka is good with his, but the galahs think it's great fun to stand on the spout and empty it while playing. Eventually they'll get bored (I hope...) and treat it as a waterer instead of a toy.

[rnocera]

I tried a cheapo water bottle with my GCC before spending more money on a lixit or some other nice one, and he learned that if he sits on the side of the cage under it and holds the button in, it's basically a shower. So, I guess water bottles are out. . .

[KrytterKrys]

Originally Posted by hollyhawkz

Wawa has a water dish as well but I always find food or toys in there. LOL He needs a bottle for fresh water source.

We went through many crappy type ones... Wawa would get them off the cage, or the ball would stick! A big 911 or I just didn't like them being plastic. He broke one plastic one by working it out of the two springs I had on it and dropping it to the floor. Or they would drip/leak.

I found the best bottle in the critter section. It is called a "super pet" but I can't remember the make..sorry. Pic attached - by the way, that is a little floating ducky in there ... too cute



Here are the perks:

* The spout is stainless steel with stainless steel trappings. It has a nice full size caliber and it does not stick!
* It has a hanger to set the bottle and it has a spring to clip on the cage
* Even better there is an indent in the glass bottle that the spring fits tightly into, holding the bottle against the cage!
* And the bottle is flat on the side where it snuggly fits onto the cage
* It is thick solid glass, near impossible to break you would have to throw it (I dropped ours on a hardwood floor & nothing)
* It is not small
* It is really easy to slide in and out of the spring!
* It was $10.00

It is the best bottle I have used over the past year!!!!!

I actually have the same bottle! I love it, and haven't had any problems with at all :)