#water ask

I’m not really keen on them, birds drink by scooping water up in to their beaks not by linking a tiny surface in the hopes that a fluid will come out.  It’d take a bit of training to get them used to the concept, plenty of time spent at home ensuring they aren’t going dehydrated and then you’re needlessly getting them to use this device when bowls are already a much simpler option.  Water bottles are much harder to clean, being plastic most of the time they build up a ton of bacteria and it’s very difficult to get in to all the edges and deepest parts to clean them correctly.  The metal components can easily rust, it’s just something that happens naturally with age but can also occur faster when their beaks scratch the metal allowing it to break down and rust a lot faster than expected. 

If your problem is them pooping or throwing things in water the very simply solution is to get a dish cover or just move the location of the dish, water bottles aren’t really necessary to sort out those issues.  If the use of a water bottle is more for your convenience, thinking you won’t have to change out the water as often then that’s just incorrect thinking.  You’d still have to change the water frequently and you’d have to thoroughly scrub them with soap every day due to the increase in bacterial buildup. 

(cont) im washing my hair and body, so we never share water at any time, but im still a bit worried. do you think its still okay? if not, what are some other bathing methods? we've tried a spray bottle and a shallow tub, and she wasnt super into either of those. thank you for your time!!

I would likely not share the bathroom with her while you shower, there is potential that enough of the product would splatter or emit fumes when heated that may have no effect on us but may affect them. You could turn on the shower and let her have a go, return her to a cage to dry then go have your shower as an option.  

If you don’t want to do that here’s a ton of things you can try to get her more comfortable with bathing otherwise

put beads/ plastic toys in a shallow dish and leave it around for her to explore on her own terms, she’ll start playing with the toys and may end up getting herself wet and that should stimulate her to bathe

hang wet leaves (lettuce) sometimes birds like to nibble at it and get sort of wet, this simulates a response they would give in the wild where wet tropical leaves drop water on to them and many enjoy bathing that way

Bowl placement, my Mia refused to bathe unless the bath was directly in the sunlight from the window, experiment with new locations and see if anything particularly interests her in bathing more

“bathe” yourself, with Mia, she wouldn’t bathe unless I participated.  I had to put the bowl in the sun and start tapping my fingers on the surface, she would then fly on over and start bathing for as long as I flicked the water.  Be careful with this one with parrotlets, some of them start getting aggressive with that sound the same way they do with plastics.

Different temperatures, some birds really hate cold water, one of my canaries used to be super picky about the temp of the water, if it was slightly off he wouldn’t bathe!

If he’s still alive and well he’s probably drinking, a bird would not be doing so well after about 2 days without water! They really don’t drink all that often, I usually only see my guys drink around 2-4 times a day (4 is really unusual) so there is a strong chance that he’s drinking, you’re just not seeing it. They get a lot of fluids from fresh fruits and veggies along with sprouted seeds so visiting the water dish doesn’t need to happen too frequently. If you see him defecate and notice the brown or green stool, white urates and the clear fluid urine then he’s definitely drinking, if he wasn’t there’d be little to no urine and potentially increased urates.  If you pinch the skin a dehydrated bird’s skin will take more than a second to return to it’s normal state, the skin around the eyes may also appear over-wrinkled, and the bird will generally be lacking energy.

How to get birds more interested in water

They get a lot of fluid through fresh foods like sprouts and fruits but they should still be drinking regularly from a water dish by scooping water up in their beak and tipping their heads back. If your bird is not actively drinking you may want to get them seen by a vet as they can become easily dehydrated and there may be an underlying cause for this.

How to get birds more interested in water 

Other things that may help drinking specifically is soaking seeds, soaking pellets, or placing fresh foods in shallow water and replacing it once they’re done eating.  Letting a water drop hang off your finger and let them drink that way as well as showing them where the water dish is are things to do as well.