Dunking food in water dish: the 30 second solution

[Kentuckienne]

From day on, we had to change Gus’s water several times a day because he had a habit of dropping pellets into the water. Watching him eat one day, I had an idea. (I know, you thought you smelled something burning!)

Gus’s food and water bowls are on the same side of the cage, on the inside, with the food bowl further to the back and the water bowl nearer the door, with the perch in between them. I saw him eat some pellets, then turn to leave the cage, dropping the uneaten pellet scraps into his bowl. It took 30 seconds to switch the positions of the bowls. Now, when he wants a drink he goes to the water dish and drinks. When he wants pellets, he eats them, and then usually turns to the door to leave, dropping any unfinished food into the cage. He hasn’t dropped any food in his water bowl sinc the switch!

I wonder if this is a common reason for food in the water? Parrots don’t wash their food like raccoons, after all. How much of it is simple ergonomics?

 

[Flboy]

I do believe conures are dunkers!

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

I have the same problem with Ducky.

 

[bill_e]

It certainly could be ergonomics in some cases but my Nike dips some of her pellets in the water bowl and then eats them. Even I will dip a pellet in her water before I hand it to her, she seems to like them wet. Occasionally she drops one in the bowl by accident and yes my bowls are set up just like yours and I'd bet if I moved the water it would stay cleaner. I only change her water once a day.

 

[Sunnyclover]

Ollie dunks and I change his water like 3 or so times a day. I don't mind because it make him happiest! When we travel he even sticks his pellets under his water bottle and try to shove them into the water spout to get them wet lol. I always have to clean it well after a trip. Smart silly boy!

 

[Scott]

Probably a combination of logistics and ergonomics.

Many of my birds will moisten dry foods such as bits of dense whole grain bread for a few seconds, then eat.

 

[adz1984]

Not the case for my master dunker, I put her pellet and water bowl on opposite sides of the cage with no perches inbetween but Bella will just climb the cage bars with a pellet in her beak (harrison coarse so they're pretty big) straight to the water bowl

 

[SailBoat]

The World has dunkers, droppers, and neat freaks! And, it appears that the further from the water bowl, the clearer the classification becomes.

 

[MooshieBird]

The food and water bowls on Mushka's tree stand are on entirely different branches so she has to work to dunk her food. I still have to change it three times a day minimum. She is better at training me than I am at training her.

 

[wrench13]

Salty = dunker, but only if he has pellets only in his cage. Other stuff is not dunked. Go figure.

 

[SailBoat]

Julio, Male, DYH Amazon: Limited Food Dunker - Only pellets and popcorn!

 

[clark_conure]

Birds dunk, I've actually thought of putting a small bowl of orange juice out but...I'm worried it might slip my mind some day and it going bad. So I just let clark have it by the capfull.

 

[Terry57]

Justice, our CAG, is our worst dunking offender. We added a second water dish to his cage, and he uses one for dunking, and the other for drinking. His dunking bowl gets everything dunked in there, food, toy parts...I'm so glad he keeps the other one clean, we change his dunking bowl at least 10 times a day and he usually has dunked something else before we even leave the room.

 

[Timneh]

Train your macaw to drink from a large glass water bottle, then you won’t have anymore problems, I would recommend changing the water in the water bottle every 2-3 days and wash the bottle once a week.
Kings cages website has large 32 ounce glass water bottles.

 

[Terry57]

Train your macaw to drink from a large glass water bottle, then you won’t have anymore problems, I would recommend changing the water in the water bottle every 2-3 days and wash the bottle once a week.
Kings cages website has large 32 ounce glass water bottles.

I respectfully disagree. I don't use water bottles, but if I did they would be changed at minimum once a day and washed completely daily as well. I think our birds should always have fresh water, no matter the delivery system.

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi's water dish is right next to his food dish and almost never has anything in it, save the odd feather than falls in by accident. I occasionally forget some (busy) mornings because it looks fresh and later on remember I never took the dish out that AM

My mom's amazon has her food and water on opposite sides of the cage and will carry select for items over to dunk (so did her male when he was alive). Parrots are such individuals!

 

[Timneh]

Train your macaw to drink from a large glass water bottle, then you won’t have anymore problems, I would recommend changing the water in the water bottle every 2-3 days and wash the bottle once a week.
Kings cages website has large 32 ounce glass water bottles.

I respectfully disagree. I don't use water bottles, but if I did they would be changed at minimum once a day and washed completely daily as well. I think our birds should always have fresh water, no matter the delivery system.

The glass water bottles are huge and hold a lot of water but if you can wash them once a day, it's much better for sure.
All my past parrots were trained to use the large glass bottles 32 oz.
I also provided fresh water in their cage bowl daily, they mostly used it to splash around in trying to bathe, especially in the summer.
Honestly they didn't drink as much from the bowl, they prefer to drink from the water bottle. They think the water bottle is for drinking and the water bowl is for splashing and some drinking, it's like the parrot knew drinking from the bottle is a cleaner water source.
Reason I know this is day and night from the other room you can hear when they are drinking from the water bottle and seldom see them drinking from the bowl of fresh water in the cage.
I think it's good they learn to drink from a water bottle, for medical and emergency situations and if they prefer it then they are happier too.
If I had to choose the glass bottle or a bowl I would choose the glass bottle but I like to use both. I also make sure the parrot bathes, that's really important.

A hydrated parrot is a healthier parrot.

 

[Timneh]

Bowl or bottle should never feel slimy.
Here is more information.
https://www.petcha.com/how-to-wash-and-disinfect-parrot-water-bottles-crocks/

 

[JohnH]

My too is a pellet dunker also.

 

[bug_n_flock]

I worked with a Palm cockatoo who would dip macademia nuts before cracking them! Silly thing, how could that have done anything other than make them harder to get a good grip on for cracking?