Are you considering buying a water bottle for your bird, but don't know what to look for? When buying a bottle for a parrot you must consider the following:
-
durability
-
safety
-
ease of use
-
size
The size of the bottle is very important. Consider the size of the bird and size of the beak in comparison to the size of the bottle and spout. You don't want the expense of a bottle that you later find out to be suited for a canary when your bird is an amazon! You also want to consider what the bottle is made of. The cheaper alternatives are made of plastic in varying ranges of thickness. While plastic bottles may be OK for smaller birds those with larger beaks are more apt to do serious damage to the bottle. The heavy duty glass bottles (that normally resemble old milk bottles) are best for birds larger then a budgie.
You also want to make sure that the spout is made of a bird safe material. Some of the cheaper bottles have plastic spouts. You do not want to risk your bird being able to bite right through the spout and flooding its cage. Look for bottles that are outfitted with stainless steel spouts.
Is the bottle easy to use? Some bottles appear to be ok, but the ball will stick or is hard to manipulate within the spout which will restrict water flow. Other bottles may be easy for the bird to use, but hard for the human to change out on a daily basis. Even though the water bottle holds more then your average water dish, make sure to change out the water on a daily basis. So consider ease of use from your point of view.
There are many brands of bottles to choose from but I've found Lixit to be the best. Lixit bottle are the most popular brand and for good reason. Their water bottles come outfitted with stainless steel parts and the bottles are heavy glass that will stand up to a lot of 'beaking'. My birds each have a glass Lixit bottle and I am very pleased with them ... they are easy to clean, stand up well to large beaks, and do not leak.
Even if your bird has a bottle as it's water source also consider giving your bird the traditional bowl as well. Since many birds are natural "soup makers" giving them a way to wet their food will prevent attempted "dunkings" in the spout of the bottle. There are also some species that backwash for sanitary reasons, like amazons, so having a bowl of water is important. I personally use both water bowls and dishes. My birds enjoy drinking out of the bottles and will dunk their food in the bowls but then go to the bottle to actually drink. Please remember to carry out the same sanitary precautions with a water bottle as you would a bowl.
