Parro’Talks Nutrition - Water
Your parrot needs fresh water at least once a day, but more likely to be twice daily, given their bathing and food dunking habits! Typically, you’ll find pellets, veggies, or maybe even a piece of toy in the water dish. Also, from time to time and depending on the bird, you’ll be surprised to find your parrot soaking wet, having just taken a dip itself in the water dish! These things can obviously encourage the growth of bacteria, and you’ll want to change out that water sooner, rather than later. Make sure you use filtered water, as unfiltered can contain a lot of minerals that can be damaging to your parrot’s health in the long term.
Speaking of growing bacteria, I’ve found that it’s best to purchase a bunch of stainless steel bowls (that you can use for both food and water), which can be found at a pretty cheap price - online or offline. For reference, you’re going to want a minimum of three per day (one for water, and two for food) — it also helps to have more if you don’t wash them everyday! Plastic bowls and trays tend to chip and wear, and may contain harmful chemicals. Also, the plastic can harbor bacteria more easily than steel. I’d also stay away from plastic water bottles, with the spinning ball to dispense water. First, your poor parrot won’t be able to dunk itself every once in a while, and second, the mechanism apparently grows bacteria very easily. Stainless steel water dishes can be washed daily and are a better choice.
And finally, supplements! There’s a lot of wisdom out there, and a very common thing that I’ve heard is to add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to the water each time. I did this for a long time, but my most recent avian vet mentioned that while the ACV inhibits the growth of certain types of bacteria, adding it to the water just encourages a different type of bacteria to grow. So, on the topic of apple cider vinegar additives, I’m undecided. Worst case, it’s not going to hurt your parrot, it just might not have much of an effect on its health. Something that I have been adding to Time’s, my GCC’s, water is Sporlac - a Lactobacillus powder that helps build immunity especially for younger birds. Once a week, I also give him a drop of BirdPlus, another vet-suggested booster for Time’s immune system to provide him the essential minerals that are difficult for him to get anywhere else. However, note that you don’t want to combine vinegar and other supplements in the same water dish.
