Won't Drink Water from a Bowl

[Seabrook]

Hey everyone,

So my girlfriend and I got a Congo, she is 6 years old, and we are the 3rd owners. We've had her for about 3 months now and she is already really friendly and we have been successful in training her. But she came with this weird water bottle made out of a pipe and it has a little bar on it she pushes to the side when she wants water to dribble out. The problem is it is hard to clean well and and it doesn't really fit in her travel cage. We have tried to give her a bowl of water, but she doesn't seem to know how to drink out of it. Any suggestions on how to train her to do this? We have tried to get her to drink out of our glasses (even tried sweet drinks to get her to take a single drink), but nothing.

Thanks all!

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum! I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions. I'm sure others will.

 

[Jas]

Welcome!

You could drink out her old water bottle and a bowl also make a big fuss over the bowl and show her how cool it is and what to do.

 

[Seabrook]

Welcome!

You could drink out her old water bottle and a bowl also make a big fuss over the bowl and show her how cool it is and what to do.

Come to think of it, when I've tried to get her to drink out of my glass, she does try to bite the rim as if drinking out of it like a person. I'm imagining myself drinking out of a bowl like a bird and i have a very hilarious image in my mind, but you might be onto something haha. At this point, I might as well just give it a try tonight lol.

 

[Jas]

Come to think of it, when I've tried to get her to drink out of my glass, she does try to bite the rim as if drinking out of it like a person. I'm imagining myself drinking out of a bowl like a bird and i have a very hilarious image in my mind, but you might be onto something haha. At this point, I might as well just give it a try tonight lol.

Yeah will definitely be quite funny, the things we do for our birds sometimes.

 

[DQTimnehs]

I would just dip your fingers in the water bowl and touch her beak with your wet fingers a few times. Preferably while she's quite close to the bowl. You could splash the water a little bit. I'm sure she'll get it. The water bottle is much more complicated.

 

[LilSprout]

I might try putting some treats floating in it like peas or fresh herbs to add some interest

 

[Seabrook]

I'm liking the suggestions so far! Thanks! I will keep checking for further suggestions and try everything you all have mentioned and post back if anything has worked (or not worked).

 

[Princessbella]

Hey everyone,

So my girlfriend and I got a Congo, she is 6 years old, and we are the 3rd owners. We've had her for about 3 months now and she is already really friendly and we have been successful in training her. But she came with this weird water bottle made out of a pipe and it has a little bar on it she pushes to the side when she wants water to dribble out. The problem is it is hard to clean well and and it doesn't really fit in her travel cage. We have tried to give her a bowl of water, but she doesn't seem to know how to drink out of it. Any suggestions on how to train her to do this? We have tried to get her to drink out of our glasses (even tried sweet drinks to get her to take a single drink), but nothing.

Thanks all!

Welcome! My bird came bottle trained also. My advice is to keep the water in the bowl and eventually she will get the idea. Unfortunately, birds will do things on their own timetable. Bella still uses her bottle but she also uses the water bowl and when I travel with her, I don't even bring the bottle.