bird bath solution

debbyloo · Post by **debbyloo** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:03 pm

I am moving my birds to a new cage shortly, having had major rust/flaking paint issues with my old one due to water being splashed onto the bars daily with enthusiastic bathing. I have been using those shallow, round, clear plastic bird bath containers (lexit or lixit?) that attach to the cage side and the water just goes everywhere. The bird baths that attach to the cage door and protrude outside the cage never fit any of my doors. Does anyone have a solution they have come up with that they are satisfied with for finch baths - ie, one that the finches are not afraid to use, but will keep most of the water contained in the bath?

Also, any suggestions as to how to teach all the birds how to drink out of the "water buddy" type waterers? I know to continue to make water available some other way, but I am thinking they will just continue to drink out of their "regular" dish (which they can also bathe in), and never have to learn how to use the water buddy. Just trying to contain the water and not ruin this cage too!

Thanks for any suggestions.

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:51 pm

I'm also having trouble getting my male goldbreast to drink from the water buddy. The female has tried it at least once. (She's always the first to try anything.) But I don't have openings for a lot of feeders, etc. in my small 3/8 inch wire and don't want to cut more. So I only put the buddy in for a few hours when I'm home to watch them. Each time I put it in I leave it longer... I think they will eventually get used to it. They know there's water there, just nervous of how different it looks.

I put a cement perch in which he wouldn't go near either!

He's such a "chicken"! I finally found one that was a brown color and put that in, and he finally decided it's OK!

The female now loves it and loves to wipe her beak on it. He's still a bit hesitant, but will go to it because that's where the water is.

As far as keeping water from the bath away from the bars.... I use a terra cotta plant saucer. It offers them a good grip. They were also timid of it at first, so I lay a spray of millet half in the water, and they got over it real quick! Now they love their baths. I set it right in the middle of the cage on the floor, where no perches are above it. They spatter pretty well all around it...gets the paper good and wet, but doesn't quite reach to the wire cage sides.

Edited to add - try breaking off a small quarter inch or so piece of a toothpick and tucking that in to the buddy, just enough to get the water dripping very slowly. That get's their attention and lets them know where the water is. Once they've seen it drip for awhile take the toothpick out to stop the dripping. But every time I put the buddy on, I tap the pin til there's just a drop of water hovering over the rim... so they'll know it's there. I think they haven't figured out that they can touch the pin to get water out.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:10 am

I know every here seems to love the water buddy..... but personally I do not like them.

I know that I do have an open aviary and can't really use those anyway, but when I put a bird in cages I don't use them then either.

I suppose the idea is to keep the water clean. I change all water in the aviary AND cages if I have them there, twice a day. I have three sources of water in my aviary. One hanging bird bath, one fountain and one large bathing bowl. They bath and drink from all three. I add some sparkle to the water and let it go....... to hard for me to try and keep bathing and drinking water seperate.

debbyloo · Post by **debbyloo** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:21 am

Yes, I think it is probably a lost cause to try to keep birds from drinking out of their bath water! I am not concerned about that, but just really really want to find a way to offer "bathing facilities" in my new flight cage that will contain most if not all of the water and prevent it from being splashed onto the sides of the cage where it will cause rust problems. I have been racking my brain for days now - anyone have a solution that works for them? My cage doors will not accept the attachable type of bird bath, and I know finches can be skittish about entering an enclosed structure. I am willing to build/modify something but just need some ideas!

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:15 pm

Until I got my fountain/tube waterer to hang properly so it wouldn't leak, I left the bath water in all the time. But now that I adjusted the waterer to stay upright and not empty out while I'm at work, I don't leave the bath in. It's only in the cage for a couple of hours in the evening.

When I come home from work I give them fresh water in the tube waterer, then put the saucer of bath water in and they come down right away to bath. I l love to watch them bathe.

I then go about my other chores (feed the cat, clean her toilet, walk the dog, etc.) and last of all I remove the by now almost empty bath saucer and clean the cage.

Works out well since the bath water gets wiped off anywhere it splatters, and the damp cloth is then used to wipe a few poops off perches, etc.
So although they may drink from the bath water while they bathe, it's only there for a short time. The wood cage isn't soaking wet all day. And the birds can't count on bath water, and have to drink from their regular waterer the rest of the day.

debbyloo · Post by **debbyloo** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:09 am

After wandering the aisles of our local Petsmart, I purchased something I plan to modify for use as a bird bath. It is the Pet Lixit 64 oz. wide mouth water bottle (Product Description: Item: 2754652
Rabbit Water Bottle 64 oz at the Petsmart website). It appears to be made out of the same type of semi-translucent plastic as a milk jug but a bit thicker. It has a flat side so it can sit on the floor of the cage. Size-wise, it looks like it is perfect for finch bathing. If I unscrew the metal drinking part and use a hobby knife to modify the opening so it is finch friendly, I think it will work great to contain most of the splashing bath water! I will keep folks posted as to the results.

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:10 pm

Hope it works. Might be a bit thin for them to perch around the edges of it though? Or do you just mean to enlarge the opening a bit, so they go in one end only? Let me know, and post if pic if it works.

debbyloo · Post by **debbyloo** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:20 pm

Yes, I am basically going to enlarge the circular hole at the end of this clear plastic "canteen" looking thing to look less like a trap and more finch friendly. They will only be able to enter it from the one end. I thought about the thinness of the material and will probably add a piece of split bamboo or something like that cut to fit and slid onto the area they would stand on to enter so it will be more comfortable. Good point. Will keep everyone posted.

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:10 pm

dfcauley wrote:I know every here seems to love the water buddy..... but personally I do not like them.

I know that I do have an open aviary and can't really use those anyway, but when I put a bird in cages I don't use them then either.

I suppose the idea is to keep the water clean. I change all water in the aviary AND cages if I have them there, twice a day.

I also clean the water container every day. So for me, that wasn't the issue of keeping it clean. It was the leaking! Because I have a small wire opening (3/8") in my cage, I have to cut some wire to get waterer's plastic trough to fit it in the opening. I did cut one vertical wire out, to make the opening wider. Don't want to cut to make it taller as well, or that would leave an opening big enough for GBs to get out, if I don't cover it every time I take the waterer out to wash and refresh. So I had to cut down the trough to make it shallower. This made it tend to leak, and I found that the water had emptied out a couple of times. Good thing I was home, or those poor finches might have died of thirst.

Once I knew I couldn't trust the waterers to not leak, I started leaving the bath water in. I prefer not to, as it can get dirty. So I though the Water Buddy would be the solution. It doesn't leak at all, even if you move the cage around. So I hope to train them to use it so I can stop worrying about the waterer leaking. (I tried the Lixit bottles with the ball in the tube, and that type always leaks on me as well.)

In the meantime, I found that if I secure the water trough so that it stays absolutely upright, by putting a coil of wire between it and the cage wire to stop it from tilting back too much... it doesn't leak. (Not sure I'm being very clear here...

) So if they don't get the hang of the Water Buddy I'll continue to use the tube waterer. It doesn't have a big trough, so they can't bathe in it, and it seems to stay clean enough, considering it gets changed every day. But when I do roll the cage and stand around to vacuum, it still tends to drip a bit, where the Water Buddy won't.

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:14 pm

debbyloo wrote:Yes, I am basically going to enlarge the circular hole at the end of this clear plastic "canteen" looking thing to look less like a trap and more finch friendly. They will only be able to enter it from the one end. I thought about the thinness of the material and will probably add a piece of split bamboo or something like that cut to fit and slid onto the area they would stand on to enter so it will be more comfortable. Good point. Will keep everyone posted.

Ah, that makes sense now. Sounds like a good plan, if they will use an enclosed space. I've never used those plastic ones that fit in the doors, because they wouldn't work with my homemade cages, so saucers work fine for me. But this would definitely keep the cage drier, especially if you like to leave the bath in all day. And then the water wouldn't just end up all over the cage bottom, and the bath empty...

So they can enjoy it all day long. The bamboo sounds like a good idea, too. Sort of an entrance perch. Hope it works for you.

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:34 pm

I got a hang on outside bath, so I would not loose internal cage space.
It is a Penn Plax Bird Bath from PetSmart.

It has a clear plastic top, and a brown bottom that slides into a grove on the bottom of the clear top.

BUT BUT
It has a serious design defect...water WILL drip out onto the floor. In fact so much that I emailed the mfg and dealers of the problem.

The fix is to make a water drip ledge on the bottom of the sides of the clear top piece and just above the groove. The water will drip down from the sides, hit the ledge and drip into the tray, rather than drip into the grove and out.
ver 1 was made the first out of silicone sealant, but the birds pick at it and pulled it away from the plastic.
ver 2 was made using 5 minute epoxy, and so far has stood up to the birds picking at it.

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:40 pm

Debbyloo,

Wondering if that birdbath idea of yours worked or not...?

James · Post by **James** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:54 pm

A round 9" cake pan with a 4" round dish in the center might work but you would need to glue the small dish to the cake pan or they would move it around in the cake pan.

James

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:23 am

for the edge of the plastic jug, go to the hardware store an get a foot of vinyl tubing. Cut a short length, then slit it down the side, and slip it over the plastic. This is what I use on my feed trays where I cut the edge lower, so the finches can reach the food, w/o hanging practically vertical.

There are several sizes, so you might want to get a few, to see which one works best for your birds.

debbyloo · Post by **debbyloo** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:33 am

My modified bird bath from the clear plastic rabbit water jug thing worked fine. After several days the finches overcame their hesitancy over entering it and began bathing in it. It seems to keep the water contained nicely! Thanks for the idea about the clear plastic hose material for covering the cut down edge. That should do the trick. My split bamboo wanted to come apart and fall off when I washed out the jug between bird baths.

FINCHforum

bird bath solution

bird bath solution

possible solution?