FINCHforum

Has anyone used this and will my Goldbreasted Waxbills be able to get water out of it?

The ordinary plastic water holder tends to sometimes drip and leak. (I had to cut it down to fit in the 3/8 inch wires of my cage. If it tilts just a bit the wrong way, then I'll notice the bottom of the cage is soaking wet and the water container nearly empty.)

I've left a shallow bird bath (4" diameter, with about 1/4 to 3/8" deep water terra cotta planter saucer) in the cage when I'm at work today, because I'm worried about it happening and emptying totally when I'm not there to notice. Was thinking of stopping and getting one of these bottles on the way home.

The Edstroms swear they don't drip. Just not sure if a tiny waxbill could manipulate it enough to get water out of it.

I'm thinking of putting one of these in too, just to see if my birds will get used to it. I figure on getting one for the guinea pig, and if I am getting one, might as well get two!

So I'm interested in what others think of it.

I don't have any of that brand, but I do use water bottles and yes they drip but not that bad. I like using them but you have to check them everyday and make sure they are working and I wouldn't remove the water containers they are using till you see that most of the bird got the hang of it. And I would think that they would be fine for your little ones once they figure it out.

I have some of the Edstrom water buddy bottles, and I have had mixed luck using them. My Gouldians were the first ones to figure out how to use them, but my Owls just won't. They would rather drink out of their bath water. I tried leaving the bathtubs out, but they weren't drinking, so I finally gave up, put their old water tube back on the cage, and they lined up to drink! My RCCB and Fire juvies figured it out, but my Strawberry juvies are also drinking from their bath water.

On another forum, someone once mentioned that they had problems with the tiny finches being able to work the valve. I do love them for the fact that the water stays so nice and clean. When I clean my tube waterers, they always have dirt in the bottom part. They aren't supposed to drip, and they don't, except for one that dripped all the water all over the tray. The O ring needed to be cleaned.

You will have to be very careful with these, to make sure that all the birds in a cage are using them. Usually, once one or two start using it, the rest catch on, but I have seen some of mine tapping at the side of the bottle with their beak, like they were trying to figure out how to get to the water.

I too, was interested in these Edstrom bottles. I bought some inexpensive all plastic type feeders with a small cut out that you line up with the part that fits inside the cage. After them dripping all over the place, I bought some glass tube type. Those don't drip.
Then I figured out if you don't line up the cut out with the tip all the way, it doesn't leak at all. Too much water was flowing in the cup and would just overflow.

atarasi wrote:I too, was interested in these Edstrom bottles. I bought some inexpensive all plastic type feeders with a small cut out that you line up with the part that fits inside the cage. After them dripping all over the place, I bought some glass tube type. Those don't drip.
Then I figured out if you don't line up the cut out with the tip all the way, it doesn't leak at all. Too much water was flowing in the cup and would just overflow.

Yes, that's my problem - and even more so because I cut the height down on the trough part, so it would fit in my wire. But if I turn so that less water comes through the cut out, it can actually stop filling the trough.

Thanks Sally, I only have the two finches, so it shouldn't be hard to tell when/if they figure it out. But its their size that makes me think they won't be able to get the water to flow. Depending on the price, I may still try it, since I only need one. If they just drink their bath water... then I'll go back to the cheap plastic ones. May just cut a larger opening in the wire, so I can use them without cutting them down. Didn't have problems when I used them in a 1/2" wire cage and needed to trim just a wee bit off the trough. But i guess I took too much off and they are now too shallow.

hfentj, I have tried the other type water bottles, and they always seemed to drip constantly for me, so hate to go back to them. I just worry too much about them maybe emptying entirely while I'm at work, and I really don't want to have to leave bath water in all day, in case they poop in that. So I'll continue my search for a better waterer, or else do as I mentioned to Sally, put a larger opening in the cage for the plastic trough style one.

Thanks for your input folks. If I find an Edstrom and the little guys figure it out, I'll let you know.

I have the Edstrom water bottle and have gouldians. I love love love it....To train them in the begining, I wedged the opening with a piece of tooth pick so It would drip just a bit. they got used to going to it for fresh water, then I took the toothpick out and they were able to trigger the water. It was a real easy transition from the regular water bottle with the bead. I have been using it for years and have no more dripping bottle and wet litter. The water stays fresh for days. I don't work for Edstrom or anyone who sells it, just love it.

yooper2nc wrote:I have the Edstrom water bottle and have gouldians. I love love love it....To train them in the begining, I wedged the opening with a piece of tooth pick so It would drip just a bit. they got used to going to it for fresh water, then I took the toothpick out and they were able to trigger the water. It was a real easy transition from the regular water bottle with the bead. I have been using it for years and have no more dripping bottle and wet litter. The water stays fresh for days. I don't work for Edstrom or anyone who sells it, just love it.

Thanks for the timp, yooper2nc. I'm going to order one today, and I use the toothpick trick to get the water dripping, and see how quickly the little guys will take to it. Sure hope they'll use it. It will solve my problems I'm sure, if they can only figure it out. I'll let you all know if it works.

Thats smart, the birds are likely attracted to the moving water.

Franny do let us know what you think of the Edstrom as well!

yooper2nc wrote:I have the Edstrom water bottle and have gouldians. I love love love it....To train them in the begining, I wedged the opening with a piece of tooth pick so It would drip just a bit. they got used to going to it for fresh water, then I took the toothpick out and they were able to trigger the water. It was a real easy transition from the regular water bottle with the bead. I have been using it for years and have no more dripping bottle and wet litter. The water stays fresh for days. I don't work for Edstrom or anyone who sells it, just love it.

We have Strawberries, Swees, and Goldbreast that use them just fine.

We have been using them for years and love them. We have found that once our customers buy one to try they typically end up switching over to them completely. They are great for traveling because they don't spill all over like regular water fountains often do.

We have also found that sometimes you have to train birds that have never used them. I'm going to try the method yooper2nc mentioned the next time we have to train new birds to see if it works better than the methods we have used in the past. In the past we would put new birds (after quarantine) in with teacher birds or hold the bird up to the tip when we placed them in to our regular population. We have had fairly good luck doing it that way, but I always like trying something new to see if it works any better.

Sean

I would hate to get one and my finches decided they didnt like it and chose not to drink from it. I use a water feeder that are usually meant for quail and chickens. They like that and they have a dish that they bathe in.

I have been using these "Water Buddy" bottles for years now with several gouldian, a star, an owl and 4 zebra finches. They work great. I am working to train several new gouldians and so far I have not seen them use it, so have left a water dish in the bottom of the cage until I see them at it. I will try the toothpick idea now. I think that may do the trick. The other new finches I have trained in the past just watched the others to figure it out.

I use a humminbird feeder, what I did is where the tiny holes where the hummers feed from I cut them up and made them large enough for my birds to drink from and it works great,the water stays clean for a really long time and I also have some bird feeders for wild birds in my cage so when I go out of town I don' t have to worry about my birds running out of food or water.

I finally had a day last week to try the toothpick drip method to try and get my new young pair of gouldians to take to using the water buddy. I stuck a piece of toothpick in and let it drip for a couple of hours for them to see. I then removed it and within about a week, I finally caught both of them drinking from the water buddy now. I had taken their regular water dish out part of several days and then back in by early evening, to try and get them to more likely try the water buddy also.