Question about finches bath water.

[livinonaprayer]

Hi everyone. I'm wondering how deep you have the water for your finches bath. I usually put about 1/4 inch of water in mine.
Would 1/2 inch be okay? They usually splash out about half of it.
Can the water cover their legs or would that be too high?
Thanks.
-Arlene

[cindy]

No matter is I give some of my finches a little bath tub or a dish to bathe in they "love" their water cup (clear ones that come with the 30x18 cages) The nose dive in to the cup and stand in the water right up to their necks. Sometimes they are just a soaking in the cup.

[livinonaprayer]

No matter is I give some of my finches a little bath tub or a dish to bathe in they "love" their water cup (clear ones that come with the 30x18 cages) The nose dive in to the cup and stand in the water right up to their necks. Sometimes they a just soaking in the cup.

They certainly do love their baths. So it's okay if I give them 3/4" of water? I'm such a worry-wart when it comes to my birds safety.
I'll give them a nice container so they can spread their wings but one always just wants to use the water cup.
Thanks Cindy.

[ac12]

I make mine as deep as from the tip of my finger to the first joint, about an inch. When I first started I started at 1/2 inch, then gradually made it deeper as I watched the birds, to see what would work for them, and me.
I adjust this based on the bird, the bath and the cage.
If I want to limit the amount of water they splash into and out of the cage, I reduce the water level.
For new fledglings and juveniles, first time with bath, low water level...so they won't drown.
For larger birds, deeper so they can get more of their body in the water.

Examples for the same bath different cages/birds.
- my juvenile zebras, who are also in a cage that I want to limit the splashed water, I put 6 oz of water
- for my zebras in a cage that I do not have to worry about water damage, 8 oz.
- my societies (bigger than the zebras) I put 10 oz of water in the bath.

I switched my birds to water tubes, cuz they were pooping in their drinking water. Now they poop in their bath.

[dfcauley]

I think an inch is fine..... If they are adult birds I really don't think the danger of drowning is as common as some think. I have a fountain and I have never had a bird drown in it.

I did have a fledging get into the bottom and sit for a while and couldn't get out so I had to intervene. Now I put hardward cloth over the bottom if I have fledginings in the aviary.

[Pukasand]

I use a frisbee as a bathtub. I fill it as full as I can manage without spilling. They love it. When there are chicks I make it more shallow.

[livinonaprayer]

ac12, that's a pretty good rule. Yeah they love their baths.

dfcauley, I'm going to work them up to an inch. They're good sized zebras. I think they'll enjoy it.

Pukasand, The frisbee is a good idea for a larger cage. I tried a shallow container and I think I made more of a mess than the birds did.

Thanks for your replies.

[ac12]

I currently use an outside hanging bath with a top, which contains most of the water. Any water that escapes goes into the cage, not out onto the floor and onto other furniture around the cage.

When I used a bowl in the cage, it was SHALLOW. This was because they would splash water all over the place, and the more water they had the farther outside the cage they would splash.

[SuzE]

No matter what I give my societies to bathe in, they use the drinking cups that came with the cage. And about 10 times a day. They seem to bathe more having the babies but even before they were swimmers. Yes, mine dive in head first and "soak" also. Strangest thing, tho, my RCCBs only bathe about once or twice a week. And then it is a fast dip. Should I maybe warm up their water a little?

[dfcauley]

I don't know.... but my birds just LOVE to bathe. They all bathe several times a day.

[Leda]

LOL thats funny Cindy. Would like to see a picture of one of your birds soaking up to his neck!!!!! My Stars are finally taking baths, and every dat too!!! No more dirty faces!!!

[lovemyfinch]

No matter what I give my societies to bathe in, they use the drinking cups that came with the cage. And about 10 times a day. They seem to bathe more having the babies but even before they were swimmers. Yes, mine dive in head first and "soak" also. Strangest thing, tho, my RCCBs only bathe about once or twice a week. And then it is a fast dip. Should I maybe warm up their water a little?

I am not quite sure where I read it, but it was stated that they prefer cold water, and that it is good for their feathers.

[cindy]

No matter what I give my societies to bathe in, they use the drinking cups that came with the cage. And about 10 times a day. They seem to bathe more having the babies but even before they were swimmers. Yes, mine dive in head first and "soak" also. Strangest thing, tho, my RCCBs only bathe about once or twice a week. And then it is a fast dip. Should I maybe warm up their water a little?

I am not quite sure where I read it, but it was stated that they prefer cold water, and that it is good for their feathers.

Next time they do this I'll try to get a picture, I have a few that just stand in it. I feel like asking them if they want bubbles and a little rubber ducky!!!!

[Domenic]

This is probably just something I've personally observed, but my birds enjoy luke warm water to anything else I've offered them. But in a mixed cage birds usually follow the leader so if one of them likes luke warm water the rest will think it's the best thing since sliced bread. Same thing with food. If you have one bird that likes it the others feel like they are missing something and next thing you know everyone likes it.

[ac12]

Domenic
I had 1 society that would not bath. His idea of bathing is splashing his beak in the bath. His 2 cagemates on the other hand seem to thoroughly enjoy bathing. Then one day I saw him IN the bath splashing like the others. Monkey see, monkey do, just takes time.

I have to get my gouldian juvs back to bathing. They were fostered by the societies, so they did bath. But I had them w/o a bath for a week while I had the cage divided. That week seems to have been enough that they almost forgot how much they did bath. I was hoping the other adult gouldian would copy the juvs and start bathing, but no luck. But the adult did copy the juvs and started eating pellets.