NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/pets/birds/3034

Text File | 1992-12-29 | 1.7 KB | 37 lines

Newsgroups: rec.pets.birds
Path: sparky!uunet!nwnexus!seanews!eskimo!feathers
From: [e-mail] (Cheryl)
Subject: Re: New water "cup" for bird cage
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Keywords: dunking food
Organization: <<< ESKIMO NORTH (206)-FOR-EVER >>>
References: References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 00:41:18 GMT
Lines: 25

  Many bird owners and most breeders I know use the ball-and-tube water
bottles.  They have much to recommend them and the arguments against
them are not convincing.  Bacteria is so easily grown in water dishes
where feces and food can fall/be placed, and this is largely eliminated
with the water bottles.  I say largely because I had an enterprising
green-cheeked conure who loved to stuff food up the tube; he found it
highly amusing (parrots will turn *anything* into a toy).  Water bottles
do not prevent birds from bathing; you can either mist the birds or
provide them with a water bowl for bathing -- this is certainly
preferable to having them bathe in their water dishes; they need clean
water available at all times, but you ccan remove the bath water after
an
hour or so.  To those that would say, spend the extra time changing the
water dishes twice a day, I would say, why not instead spend the extra
time providing your birds with a mist bath or a bathing bowl?  It's
healthier than leaving them no alternative but to bathe in their
drinking water.
   This is not to say that I think bottle waterers are the only way to
go, but I didn't want people left with the impression that somehow
bottle waterers are inferior to water dishes.  Most serious
aviculturists I know use water bottles.  It's a standard practice for
very sound health reasons.
--
     Cheryl
     [e-mail]