# Can water dishes be a drowning hazard?



## Cassie and luna (Jul 30, 2021)

I saw my new budgie Heidi taking a bath in her water dish today. It is large enough for her to put her whole body in it. 

I had an odd thought, Can this be a drowning hazard or are budgies too smart?

Thanks

Guilty!


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

From the picture I cannot tell how large the bowl is but generally they are safe and many birds will bathe in their water cup. How large is the bowl?


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## Cassie and luna (Jul 30, 2021)

I attached the pic of the water bowl above


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Tall glasses and the like are drowning hazards. Anything a bird can fall into and not spread their wings to fly out or climb out. I only ever let my budgeridoos perch on glasses if they're relatively empty.

Bowls like that are fine. Worst that's happened with me is they accidentally take a dunk because they slipped, but it's no biggie. You'll probably see some of your flock bathing in that, mine used to hop in the bowl or spritz it over their feathers with their head, and I had to change to a smaller bowl as I didn't like how unhygienic it was. They have their own dedicated bathing bowl that I let them use during out of cage time and it has effectively stopped any bathing habits within the cage's water bowl.

PS: your bowl has poop in it, you should probably position it somewhere with nothing directly above it so the birds can't drop bombs into it. Also clean it and change out the water immediately.


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## Cassie and luna (Jul 30, 2021)

Haha it's up as high as can be. It got pooped cos she had a bath.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

That's a great cage layout, good stuff! And yes, I'm glad the days of pooping in the water bowl during baths is gone. I had to change the bowl _soooo _many times in the day. Buy a plastic dog bowl and let them use it as a bath, mine love it. You can fill it up so it reaches halfway to your first knuckle (it should partially cover their legs, and not touch their underbelly), and over time add more water so they can become used to it.

I had an easier time getting them used to a see through repurposed bakery plastic container, as it didn't spook them. I just had to splash my fingers around in it for them to get the idea. They'll happily jump into the dog bowl now to bath.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Providing an actual bird bath or a shallow bowl with about 1 to 1 1/2" of water is recommended.

Take a look at the Lix-It bathing dish. My budgies all love theirs. They do also bath in their water dishes from time to time. 
Generally, it isn't a problem for budgies unless they are very young.








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## Marian (Jan 22, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> *Providing an actual bird bath or a shallow bowl with about 1 to 1 1/2" of water is recommended.
> 
> Take a look at the Lix-It bathing dish. My budgies all love theirs. They do also bath in their water dishes from time to time.
> Generally, it isn't a problem for budgies unless they are very young.
> ...


My flock have one of these on the outside of each of the big cages in the bird room. I fill with an appropriate amount of warm water and they queue up. They also have one of the electric drinking fountains that can be found on Amazon, likewise warm water and supervision with this one as I don’t want any curious bathers trying to nibble on the power cord! The non bathers favour a spray bottle that delivers a very fine mist, one little light green grey wing name of George goes nuts, managing some very entertaining body and wing positions as he does his best to get sprayed absolutely everywhere.


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## Cassie and luna (Jul 30, 2021)

I tried my budgies on a very light upward directed mist from a spray bottle. They both seemed surprised and moved away to a rain free area after a few squirts. I don't think that is their preferred bathing option. Which is a pity I thought they might take it as an opportunity to clean up


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## Nausicaa (Jul 22, 2021)

I have the same waterdish and I've used it both as a bathtub and as a veggie tray. It hasn't been their favourite to bathe in, but they do hop in at times. It's wide enough so a budgie can;t get stuck, but I still only put about an inch of water in just in case. 

Since the cage isnt too big (it's a medium vision one storey cage) I prefer baths that go on the floor. Surprisingly, my girls prefer porcelain out of all materials, perhaps they like the sound their talons and beaks make on the glass. I was just filming them easing their moult itches in two tea saucers. I've also purchased a children's electrical play sink which works with batteries and it recycles the water you put in like a shower, since I can't take them to an actual sink, like many people do. Haven't used it yet, but I turn it on often so they can get used to it. The sound of the tiny motor scares them a little still, but they're also excited with the sound of running water. I've also considered the flower fountain on amazon, because it's not as loud as the sink, but I live in an unfriendly-to-amazon-delivery country, so for now we're waiting for the toy sink to do its thing.


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## Cassie and luna (Jul 30, 2021)

My budgie bathes in it every night without fail and it's still winter here! 

I wonder what summer months will be like haha

I put the heater on til she dries off cos I worry about her going to bed wet (she can't bathe during the day?!).

Still it is cute to see her little head bobbing around


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## Nausicaa (Jul 22, 2021)

@Cassie and luna That's adorable! Never heard of a budgie bathing at night, but I have to say Iris goes bonkers when it's bed time, she zooms around, does all the acrobatics Dawn does during the day, then fights with her bed (=swing) until she finally does us all the favour and falls asleep. 

It's summer here and for the first time today I saw them displaying "wild" behaviour towards water even though the heat wave's over. Just like the popular YT video of a huge flock approaching a water hole shows, they'd dive bomb into the waterdish, take a sip, wet their tales then fly away and repeat. That was after they swam around for a good long time tho!


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