The girls just got a water bottle and I am wondering how often should I change the water????

I know it is a dumb question but I heard every day or every couple days? What do you do?

Every day is the best.... It prevents bacteria from building up in the bottles. For my sugar gliders, I have two for each cage... I change them out every morning, one is in the dishwasher, and the other is on the cage

Oh yes, every day. I would never make my birds drink stale water

Ok, I have another question.

They have a Lixit Water Bottle. I don't know if you guys use those.

there is a water bottle with a stainless steal holder. I had to assemble the holder and screw it onto the cage using plyers and a screw driver. It took me at last a half our to do becuase I couldn't see what I was doing.

My question is, what do I do about cleaning that part. Obviously the bottle is easy to clean but I really don't feel like screwing and unscrewing the the bottle holder becuase I have better things I could do in a hours time.

Do I just wipe it clean when I clean the cage?

Yep, that would work well. You could also purchase a baby bottle brush. I use one of those for those 'hard to clean' places on the cages. They are only a couple of bucks to purchase.

I change the water in mine every day. I also put GSE in the water.

what kind of bottle do you use? Is Lixit a good bottle. Also, did you guys have to use tools to stick the bail holder (bottle holder) in the cage?

I just use water bottles for rodents and small animals (they have pictures of birds on them). A water bottle is a water bottle....lol

With the type of water bottles I get, they come with a metal hanger...very thin and it is easy for the bottle to slip out of it and fall to the floor. So I use plastic zip ties to attach the bottles to the outside of the cages. When I go to clean/fill the bottle I just pull it out of the zip tie and then slip it back into place when I'm done with it.

Forgot to add that Lixit is an excellent brand for water bottles. I have plans of working my way up to that type of water bottle, but they are pretty pricey.

Yeah, I payed about 20 bucks for mine. I like it but the thing that has me nervous is that it is screwed onto my cage with nuts. Just seemes so permanant but I am not at all worried about the bottle falling out

i swear by lixit bottles. I won't use anything else... But I am VERY particular when it comes to my babies.... furred or otherwise!

Yep..I have the lixit bottle..I just wipe down the metal holder when i'm cleaning the cage. Just leave it on there..I know it's hard enough to get it on there without any help. I know what ya mean about changing the water..they drink so little ya feel almost silly filling it up everyday but it's best that they get fresh water everyday. I need to get another bottle and see if I can get Nugget to use it. So far we have been using a the bowl..but I have to change it several times a day cause droppings or food get in it.

OH I agree. I gave them poland spring water and I fill the bottle halfway.

My question is how do I know if the two boogers are drinking out of it.

I must have demonstrated how the bottle works about 100 times in front of them but I have never witnessed them really drinking out of it.

Well this is how I did it (perhaps your demo is the same as mine)... after I installed the bottle, I said "come here, Pat" and tapped my finger nail into the ball bearing and showed him the water that appeared on my fingertip. He came over and looked. I showed him again, pointed out the water coming down and how it made the water inside bubble and move. Then I moved my finger away and let him try. And by golly, the little guy took a couple of licks and got water, and looked at the water bubbling inside and drank more, and more. It was perhaps the easiest thing I have ever trained him to do. I aided in the transition though by taking out his old water dish and having him focus exclusively on the new bottle. Figuring that, if given a choice, he would have gone to the familiar source. I monitored him closely to be sure he was drinking the water; be assured I wouldn't have let him suffer in thirst... not my baby... but without the old dish as a crutch, he was forced to convert. Same with his conversion from seed to pellet. He wasn't given a choice, and so both transitions went very smoothly.

As for knowing if they're drinking, you could mark off with tape or watch the water levels, although there could be some evaporation to figure in there too. When I first put it in, I paid closer attention for a while, and today I can still tell when he drinks, because I can hear the ball bearing make its noise. Hope this helps!

Jan (and Patrick)

THEY ARE DRINKING OUT OF IT!!!!!

I just caught Sunny usuing it and really lapping down some water with it. Her little tonge was goin crazy!