using attachable bird bath as main source of water

[limeslide]

Has anyone employed this method to water their finches?

My finches love to bathe, they currently have a big ceramic bowl in their double flight cage that they love to be in. However, it cannot be removed through the smaller doors in the double flight, and must be removed from the large cage doors, from which the birds can easily escape from. My birds are used to me, they are not scared and will even come up to see what I am doing.
What I am currently doing to clean their bowl is scurrying the birds to one side of the cage, sliding in the divider, and then doing what I need to do. I have been doing this since I have received the flight, which was a week ago. The birds do not scare anymore when I bang the side of the cage to get them to move to the other side of the cage, and it is becoming tedious having to open the door and literally push them to the other side of the cage.
I have tried tube feeders, however they are cumbersome and do not fit through the cage bars.
I do not want to limit their access to an open source of water, as they love to bathe, so I was wondering if it would be possible to allow attachable bird baths as their main source of water?
These are the ones I am talking about:
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/img-sh ... ide-tn.gif

Thank you for your help.

[EyesofFreedom]

I am currently using one almost identical to that... it just has a white bottom... as the only source of water... they drink out of it just fine... and I change it out every day

[limeslide]

Awesome, thanks EyesofFreedom.

[EyesofFreedom]

No prob

[Sally]

Purists will say you need to have a separate source of water, such as tube waterers, but in reality, even when the birds have both a bathtub and a tube waterer, they will sometimes drink out of the bathtub. Watch the wild birds at a birdbath in the garden, they will drink and bathe out of that same birdbath. As long as the water is changed out often enough to keep it fairly clean, and the birds don't throw so much water around that they almost empty the bathtub, I don't see a problem with it. And those hang-on bathtubs are so easy to take down, rinse out, and replace. I have some of those Lixit baths that are attached to the inside of the cage, they are lovely, but what a pain in the rear to take out and replace each time.

[debbie276]

I don't see why it wouldn't work and if you need to have 2 water sources maybe you could have 2 attachable bird bath.

[mayble]

I've just gotten my Societies to use that type of bath, and I had to remove their water dishes to do it.
They would drink from the bath, but they wouldn't go in it - they would bathe in their tiny water dish. So I removed the water dish and within a few hours they were all bathing - actually lining up and taking turns.
I'll probably give them their water dish back (unless I find a tube waterer that really and truly doesn't leak), but they certainly don't need it.

[Lisa]

Why not just use water bottles like these?

http://www.kingscages.com/SearchResults ... nd_%20Cups

Specifically, the one halfway down the page called Clear 14oz Tube C007? (Probably need to copy and paste the link above into browser rather than just click it)

These insert from the outside of the cage and hold a great deal of water. I have them for all my cages and the aviaries and they are wonderful! If they don't fit through the bars at first, you can force them through (that's what I had to do with the aviaries) and then when I need to change them, I insert them at the widest point (where I've forced it before and the bars are bent a little wider) and then once in, just slide it up or down to adjust the height. (Hope that makes sense!)

[Diana]

I have separate tube water sources because they tend to poop in their 'swimming pools'.

[Ginene]

My crazy finches will bathe in the tiny cup of their water tubes, if they don't have access to their bath. Lol! Then they smell like vitamins . I have to change the water in my zebra baths multiple times during the day because they always poop while they're bathing. Little piggys...

[Zebrafincher]

Because my birds (canary and two finches) love to bathe, I used a large plastic container, partially filled, that allows them to totally enter and bathe. I also keep a smaller container for general drinking water in each cage, because they won't stop pooping in the water!

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Water is water - just keep it clean. Bob

[lou]

Some of my birds will always take a drink before taking a bath also
lou