Budgie not drinking :(

[Ranaki]

Hi all I'm a first time bird owner (and new here) and I got a budgie and his name's Mochi. I'm posting here because it's been about 3 days now since I got him and he hasn't been drinking anything... His poops aren't that wet and it's progresively losing moisture the longer he hasn't been drinking. I've tried putting in a water dish inside his cage and am already waiting for a new water container for his cage to come in as the one I have now broke and isn't really the best... I'm so worried for him and I don't know what to do no matter where I look :[ what should I do??

 

[Birdbabe]

Can you give him water based food..?.red leaf lettuce is good.. or offer a small flat plate with lettuce and water in it..may entice him to possibly bathe..and drink..you've only had him 3 days. .hes figuring things out.. just keep the water available..maybe hes drinking when your not looking?
@Lady Jane ?

 

[Sparkles99]

I'd try different kinds of water dishes at different heights, just in case.

 

[Ranaki]

Can you give him water based food..?.red leaf lettuce is good.. or offer a small flat plate with lettuce and water in it..may entice him to possibly bathe..and drink..you've only had him 3 days. .hes figuring things out.. just keep the water available..maybe hes drinking when your not looking?
@Lady Jane ?

I see, okay I'll try and do that tomorrow for him, thank you!

 

[Shezbug]

Budgies drink very little so it’s hard to tell when they have had a drink, you also very rarely see them drinking unless they’re really comfortable with you.

I suggest monitoring poop and maybe even sharing a pic of the latest poop.

You could also hang some wetter veggies for your little one, something like lettuce or cucumber. Make sure your water dish is close to the food dish as that will also make it easier and more tempting for your bird to drink.

 

[Lady Jane]

Good suggestions here. You are not watching him 24/7 so he most likely drinking and you dont see. Signs of dehydration in birds are lethargy, eyes sunken in and wrinkled skin around eyes.

 

[Britnicorn]

When I first brought Raiju home I didn't see him drink, ever. In fact, I rarely see either of my budgies drinking water.

A good trick my vet taught me is to line the cage bottom with wax paper when you're wanting to check them so the poop stays fresh long enough for you to get to it, that way you can see if the poo is truly losing moisture or if it's just not as fresh when you see the poos

Edit to add: I also wonder if the poo is just "losing moisture" because your budgie is calming down a bit so their poops are going back to normal. The first couple of days when I brought Raiju home his poops were super watery and out of whack from stress, once he started getting used to my home they became less watery

 

[Gernyak]

Try giving it from a glass dish, which is shallow.Helped my NyaNya drink too!

 

[BirdLady13]

I'm not sure if I'm confused or if I should be worried by your statement "I've tried putting in a water dish inside his cage". Has he had constant access to water? If so, it's likely he's been drinking when you're not there or paying attention. Bird poop can become watery when they're stressed, so it's possible he's settling in now after moving in with you and his poop is actually just normalizing.

 

[Ranaki]

I'm not sure if I'm confused or if I should be worried by your statement "I've tried putting in a water dish inside his cage". Has he had constant access to water? If so, it's likely he's been drinking when you're not there or paying attention. Bird poop can become watery when they're stressed, so it's possible he's settling in now after moving in with you and his poop is actually just normalizing.

I meant that as in I had a shallow water dish as well as a water silo in his cage at all times so he had access to it, but it's been more than a week now and thankfully I've seen him start to play in the new water container I got him a week ago

 

[BirdLady13]

I meant that as in I had a shallow water dish as well as a water silo in his cage at all times so he had access to it, but it's been more than a week now and thankfully I've seen him start to play in the new water container I got him a week ago

Ah I see. It might be a good idea to switch solely to a bowl then.

 

[Ranaki]

Ah I see. It might be a good idea to switch solely to a bowl then.

yup! That's what exactly what I did