FINCHforum

I always had birds growing up and we always used a water bottle (for rodents and such) with them instead of an open dish of water. Is that uncommon? All the new birds i've gotten in the last few years only know how to use a dish. I have to teach them to use the bottle. Once they figure it out they profer it to the dish, I assume because the water is always fresh. Is there a reason most people dont use them? Is there some harm in it that i'm unaware of?

Great question! I'm interested in what others have to say.

The ball waterers are great for good quality water supply, IF you are 100% sure that the water is getting being released i.e. no blockages and is not leaking as what happens to some. A good quality product should offer those guarantees.

I once saw a breeder that had a 100 cages set up on automatic ball waterering system. It worked like a dream and was hooked up to the main water supply.
I had to teach his birds how to drink normally

I use them in my aviaries but usually provide a bath for backup. They drink from both.

An aviary I recently visited, with several hundred cages, uses water bottles. I recently bought a box of used water bottles - the guy had some 50 cages on bottles. So, yes, there are aviaries out there that use only water bottles. I certainly agree with the cleaner water theory.

One drawback with adding anything dense to the water, like GSE which I use, is it can settle to the bottom making it way too concentrated. Even ronivet settles to the bottom.

Thanks! I was a little worried that I was hurting them in some way. I always thought it was a better and cleaner way to do water. I do put a dish of water for them to bath in, but it gets dirty VERY quickly. I'm also paranoid about bottles not working... I've had them block before so I check every day and my larger non-breeding flight cage has several bottles on it just in case.

I resorted to using ball bearing water bottles since the water dishes became soiled really quick.

I too worried about the fact that water bottles can malfunction, and not allow water to come out. That's why I also setup a minimum of 2 water bottles for every pair, and keep a mental picture of the water level. Be sure to have a tiny scrubber too, as algae can grow inside the nozzle.

The other posters are correct in that the birds must first learn to use the water bottles before taking out the water dishes.

Best!