Problems and Solutions [ feed cups and watering devices]

In my article a few months back about purchasing a new cage, I neglected to mention feed cups and watering devices. This column is designed to explore those areas in some detail.

Most cages come with two feeding cups, usually some type of plastic. It is interesting that with all that has been written about feeding birds pellets and/or seeds, and moist food, and treats, and vitamin/mineral supplements, that cage manufacturers have not figured out that you need more than two cups per cage. Maybe they feel you will want to have different sized cups for different uses. Or, maybe they believe that certain uses require special purpose devices which they are not willing to include in the price of the cage. Both ideas may be legitimate, and I have found, over time, that each cage may require a certain amount of variation in set-up, dependent upon the type of bird or birds in each cage, their activity level in the cage, the size and location of the cage, and their own peculiar eating habits.

The first two questions when buying feeding cups are what size, and covered or uncovered. As far as size is concerned, any cup that holds 6 - 8 ounces of solid food is large enough for all parrots from love birds and budgies to conures and the smaller mini-macaws. You might want to try a 12 ounce cup for the larger mini-macaws up to the medium amazons and African grays, and a 20 ounce cup for the larger parrots.

The question of covered cups is an interesting one. Some years back, I read in a bird magazine that budgies and some other small parrots would not eat from a dish that was partially covered. This didn't seem right since birds in the wild often eat under some cover for their own protection from predators. So, I tried out a plastic dish with a cover. Sure enough, my budgie immediately ate from the dish, as do all of my birds today. The advantage of a covered dish is that it is much more difficult for the bird to soil the food or water in the dish. This is especially useful if, like myself, you cannot change the food and water every day. (I'll get to the water problem shortly.)

The final questions are what materials should the dish be made from, how should it be fastened to the cage, and how should it be cleaned. Most dishes available today are made from some sort of plastic. This is fine provided your birds are not capable of cracking or breaking the plasticwith their beaks. Plastic is also fairly easy to clean, although it sometimes takes a long time to dry. For larger parrots, aluminum or stainless steel cups are designed to be impossible for the very strong and large beaks of the hyacinth macaw to get through. Also available are dishes made from glazed porcelain. These have the advantages of being difficult to break by chewing, and being easy to clean, and they often look better than plastic or metal. They have the disadvantage of cracking easily and must be bought with regard to the amount of lead in the glaze. Only one company, Fenix, guarantees that the level of lead in the glaze meets all federal and state standards at less than .003 parts per million.

There are a variety of methods for fastening the cups to the cage. For smaller birds, the cups that come with the cage may be sufficient for dry food and water. There are usually slots in the cage designed for them to fit into firmly enough that they cannot be overturned. Then there are the so-called "co-op" cups which are fastened through the bars with a bar and nut of some type. For round dishes, there are brackets, secured by a nut, that fasten through the cage bars, or wire hoops that hang inside the cage and hold the cup securely. Many smaller dishes, usually used for moist foods or treats, attach directly between two bars of the cage on a slotted end which is molded as part of the dish. The disadvantage of these is that they usually do not fit in cages with bar spacing of larger than 3/4 of an inch.

Dishes should be cleaned each time food or water is changed. Soap and hot water and manual scrubbing are sufficient (the mechanical action of scrubbing is very important) for most days. At least once a week, all dishes should be disinfected using either bleach, an iodine washing solution, or one of the new high tech disinfectants such as Wavicide. (More on this subject in my next column.)

My personal preference is for covered dishes. I use Fenix Feeders in wire holders for dry food. Moist food and some treats are given in "Crock-Loc" dishes, a type of co-op cup made of heavy ABS plastic that comes in various colors and two sizes. My smaller birds get the moist food and treats in small square cups that attach directly to the cage bars with molded, slotted ends. Finally the question of water dishes. If you can change your bird's water at least daily, than an open cup is probably o.k. I cannot do this, and there are three possible solutions for those of you in my fix. One is the use of water bottles. These keep the water clean and only the sipper tube fits through the bars into the cage. Water can be kept in bottles up to a week provided that they are thoroughly disinfected with each water change. The biggest disadvantage of water bottles is that they all drip. Do not buy any water bottle that does not have a ball bearing in the sipper tube. This cuts down on the dripping significantly. There are types sold with two ball bearings in the tube, and they work even better. If you do decide to use a water bottle, be sure to use enough absorbent bedding in the area under the bottle to keep the area dry between bedding changes and do that often!

A third water dish solution has recently come to my attention. The China Prarie Company of California sells something called the "Avian Fresh Water Device". This is a water bottle and sipper tube made of stainless steel. It has a built-in spill collector and waste water disposal container. Sounds ideal, but at $45 - $55 each, depending on size, I cannot bring myself to try it, largely because I would need 7 of them, and that's a good deal of money. But maybe, eventually.

Here are some sources for some of the products cited above:

Fenix Feeders and holders. This company also makes crocks and bowls of various sizes and depths for every possible size parrot. Available (among others) from:

Norshore Pets Inc.
650 Bennett Road
Elk Grove Village, Illinois 60007
1-800-245-6732

Todd Marcus Birds Exotic
Cinnaminson, Marlton and Tunersville
New Jersey
1-800-628-BIRD

Crock-Loc:

Morton Jones
925 Third Street
P.O.Box 123
Ramona, Ca. 92065
1-800-443-5769

Pet Warehouse
Dept. C17
P.O.Box 310
Xenia Oh. 45385
1-800-443-1176
1-800-443-1176 (after 5pm EST)

China Prairie Company
Ettersburg Star Route
Garberville, Ca. 95542
(707)986-7281 (fax or phone)