gcc is refusing to drink water.

[bonitabird59]

Hi, I have a very strange situation with my GCC. Recently, my conure has stopped drinking water from his water dish in his cage. He only wants to drink out of glass cups. He has a stainless steel bowl that he has had his entire life, that I wash and fill with fresh water daily. He does use this water dish to dip his pellets in water when he's eating, but he doesn't drink from it. Instead, he helps himself to any unattended glasses of water, or he will beg for my hydro flask by banging his beak on it and doing typical manipulative conure things. If no such glass is available, he will fly to the kitchen and stand near the Brita water pitcher I have. Basically telling me that he wants a glass of water. I'll be fully transparent and say that I am definitely reinforcing this behavior because I do give him water when he 'asks'. I have tried offering him his own water dish outside of the cage when he flies to the kitchen or is hunting for a cup, but he rejects it by biting me, throwing it on the floor and making a big mess, or just flat out ignoring it. I have tried different bowls, all made of stainless steel, but he is disinterested in them.

I understand that this issue is partly my fault because I would let him drink from my glass, but its getting to the point that his stools are visibly dryer/ less uric acid. I also understand that this can be considered a 'flock behavior' thing, where he wants to do what everyone else in the house is doing. I have tried literally drinking water out of his bowl to show him its good. Like lips to bowl. And he looks at me like I'm a crazy person, because I am!
Ive been feeding him moisture rich foods to kind of combat this, like watermelon, but this is not a permanent fix. He has a vet appointment (an annual) in the first week of August, where I plan to talk to the vet about this.

Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Jcas]

Birds are one of those rare animals that will be stubborn enough to do themselves harm. Any other animal and I would say to just tough it out and not give in but with birds you do have to be more careful. Have you tried offering him a glass dish in his cage? I sometimes use those little glass Pyrex containers as bowls for animals; they’re very sturdy.

 

[SailBoat]

Try change his water more often than once a day, especially this time of year as water can warm and develop a slim quicker. We change water every 3 hours and this time of year we add ice cubes!

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

I’m just here to say, I got so many giggles out of hearing about your GCC. What a character!
I LOVE him.
I like the advice from @Jcas and @SailBoat
If your little buddy wants to be a big boy, change it up for him. He sounds bored with his standard water dish. Thanks for sharing, I thoroughly enjoyed your post

 

[bonitabird59]

Birds are one of those rare animals that will be stubborn enough to do themselves harm. Any other animal and I would say to just tough it out and not give in but with birds you do have to be more careful. Have you tried offering him a glass dish in his cage? I sometimes use those little glass Pyrex containers as bowls for animals; they’re very sturdy.

Im really scared of him somehow hurting himself with a glass dish. He tends to throw bowls that aren't mounted, and I can't seem to find a glass one that can be mounted. When he's out of the cage, he likes to throw his dishes onto the floor if they're light enough. Otherwise he pushes them over the edge and onto the floor. He's rather rough LOL.

 

[bonitabird59]

Update: I don't know if this was a weird phase or something, but he's drinking water normally now lol. Thank you everyone for your replies, I really appreciate it!! <3

 

[bonitabird59]

Try change his water more often than once a day, especially this time of year as water can warm and develop a slim quicker. We change water every 3 hours and this time of year we add ice cubes!

I'm going to add ice cubes to his water and see if this encourages him. He has since started drinking water normally again, but it's still worth a try. Thank you!