Is there a way to train birds to drink from a water bottle?

[parrotntn]

Is there a way to train a bird to drink from the water bottle??? Cecil came with one already intact.
Dood didn't and we put one in there, but he just stares blankly at it. Water is in it, changed daily, and it's at the end of the tube.
Thanks!
Mark

[Missi]

I would just kind of press on the little ball at the end of the tube so a few drops come out and say "Mmm! Water!".

[kensbuns]

I dont really know if these bottle are really good for birds. First of all if not kept exceptionally clean they grow bacteria in places you cannot reach. I say put in a dish and forget it. And if the bottle stops working who would know.

[parrotntn]

we have a dish..and it is CONSTANTLY full of poop. I mean, it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to keep it clean even for an hour. He sees it, he poops in it, we've moved it and he follows it.
It's almost undoable.
However, I did see some sort of outside system that might work. will check it as well. Yea, I'm not real fond of them either, but I'm less fond of constantly dirty poop water.
It's not good for them.
Mark

[cfulhage]

If you do switch to a water bottle, make sure you check if very often to make sure its working properly. The little ball can get stuck, leaving your birds without water. I do agree, if your birds are pooping in their water, you need to find an alternative water dish. What about something like this: http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Prod...yID_15420.aspx

I use these in my travel cages and they work great.

[parrotntn]

Thanks, we saw one like that at Petsmart and it looked good. Should have went with first instinct
We'll try that. On the upside..it's ANOTHER TRIP TO PETSMART! haha
I dunno why Dood want's to poop in the water so much.

[cfulhage]

My tiel does it too...we just move the water dish around every week, and that prevents him from doing it. I guess it takes him that long to figure out how to get his long tail in the position to allow him to dirty up his water! I'm just sure he does it on purpose!

[kensbuns]

what about a hooded dish???

[stepht25]

We use one of these for the tiels wateer dish. http://www.birdsafestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=802 A little expensive - and for some reason I'm thinking I actually found some on a different online store for quite a bit cheaper - but can't remember because it's been almost 2 years! It took some adjusting to get the right height over the bowl where they would still stick their head in for a drink - but not get on the bowl and just poop! But eventually we got it right and now they just sit on the hood and poop - but it doesn't land in the water!! We tried a few covered dishes - but I hate having to undo a nut and bolt 2x a day (I seem to have butter fingers when it comes to those and it takes me 5 tries to get them back on without dropping them! I'm more likely to get a hand cramp from trying to hold onto them then get them on right!)

[Freedomoflight]

True- water bottles grow bacteria. If you get the right water bottle, they do not have any unaccessible places for cleaning. I have the lixit water bottle systems http://www.birdalog.com/index.cfm/S/...er_Bottles.htm for all my birds, and they work fantastically. All they are is the bottle, and the spout. To clean the spout you can buy the water bottle brush http://theperchstore.net/bbe2.html which is very effective.
Frankly- no matter what you do your bird is going to turn its water into bird soup. Its in their nature. And an open bowl of water full of parrot food that your bird has dunked is just inviting bacteria to breed.
What I do, personally, is each bird has a water bottle, and each has a bowl. That way since I am gone during the day and cannot be constantly changing water, the birds always have a clean drinking source. My bottles have not leaked, stopped up, or anything of the sort. The birds took to the bottle immediatly as well- they appear to love using them.
FYI- the covered dish that someone posted- if you have a small bird I recommend against using it and placing it in your cage. I read an account somewhere of a person using that dish in her cockatiels cage, the cockatiel went to take a bath in the dish, and drowned because she could not get out because the dish was too deep, and the cover prevented easy escape.